“This is music to miss your lover to, love songs that manage to stagger above the over-sentimentality of recent album oriented rock, due to Nicks’s distinctive delivery and beautifully arranged songs.”–Q
Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks (1991) is Stevie Nicks‘s first retrospective release. It contains 11 tracks from Stevie’s solo career and three new songs. Remix engineer Chris Lord-Alge remixed several tracks for this compilation. Stevie wrote detailed liner notes, explaining the inspiration for each song.
Track List
- Sometimes It’s a Bitch
- Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around*
- Whole Lotta Trouble**
- Talk to Me
- Stand Back*
- Beauty and the Beast
- If Anyone Falls*
- Rooms on Fire*
- Love’s a Hard Game to Play
- Edge of Seventeen*
- Leather and Lace*
- I Can’t Wait
- Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You*
- Desert Angel^
* Remixed by Chris Lord-Alge for Timespace
**Remixed by Tom Lord-Alge in 1989
^CD edition only
New songs
Jon Bon Jovi contributed one of the three new songs, “Sometimes It’s a Bitch.” Stevie initially had reservations about singing the song because of the word “bitch.” Jon deferred to the meaning of the song about life’s trials and tribulations and eventually convinced Stevie to record the song. Modern Records had similar reservations about the song’s title, issuing the song as “Sometimes (It’s a Bitch)” in its radio marketing campaign.
Stevie had a better experience recording “Love’s a Hard Game to Play,” a new song that Poison‘s lead singer Bret Michaels had written for her.
“[Bret Michaels] sat down with an acoustic guitar and played me his song. Sometimes you meet a person and you feel like you’ve known them for years,” she told the Denver Post in 1991. “After the hassle of getting ‘Sometimes It’s a Bitch’ done, he gave me back my laughter and self-esteem.”
The third new song was “Desert Angel,” a tribute to the military service personnel involved in Operation Desert Storm. The song appeared as a bonus track on the CD edition of Timespace.
‘Silver Springs’ dispute
Stevie wanted to include the Rumours-era recording “Silver Springs” on Timespace, but Mick Fleetwood had plans to include the song on Fleetwood Mac’s 25 Years: The Chain (1992). While Warner Records ultimately had control of the recording, the final say in the matter resided with Mick, who allegedly chose not to release the recording to Stevie. The decision caused friction between the two band members for many years. Stevie distanced herself from Fleetwood Mac and left the group altogether in 1992, along with fellow band member Christine McVie.
In 1997, Stevie and Mick finally resolved the “Silver Springs” dispute when Fleetwood Mac’s 1975 lineup reunited to record a new version of “Silver Springs” for The Dance.
In 2007, Reprise Records included “Silver Springs” Stevie’s third retrospective, Crystal Visions…The Very Best of Stevie Nicks.
Other remixes
Mixing engineer Chris Lord-Alge remixed many songs for Timespace, but some of them did not appear on the collection. These included “Battle of the Dragon” from American Anthem, “Sleeping Angel” from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and “Violet and Blue” from Against All Odds. The remixed “Battle of the Dragon” and “Sleeping Angel” later surfaced on the Timespace singles and the Japan-only release A Hard Game to Play. The remix of “Violet and Blue” remains officially unreleased.
Release
Modern Records released CD, cassette, and vinyl (exclusively through Columbia House in the U.S.) versions of Timespace on September 3, 1991. The compilation reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums chart.
“Sometimes (It’s a Bitch)” was the the lead single from Timespace. Its peak position on various charts is shown in the table below:
| Chart Name | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 56 |
| US Billboard Mainstream Rock | 7 |
| UK Singles Chart | 40 |
| Australia (ARIA Singles Chart) | 18 |
| German Singles Chart | 55 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 39 |
“I Can’t Wait” was also reissued for the European market, reaching No. 47 in the U.K.
Stevie supported the release of Timespace with a national tour dubbed “The Whole Lotta Trouble Tour.”
In 1997, the RIAA certified the compilation platinum for the shipment of one million units to retailers.
Promotional Video
Sometimes It’s a Bitch
Love’s a Hard Game to Play
Desert Angel
Whole Lotta Trouble (Remix)
News & Coverage
- Violet & Blue (Chris Lord-Alge Remix) September 3, 1991 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOiCzWKr-kM Unused remix intended for Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks (1991) More
- Queen of Mystic Rock tells all in Timespace liner notes September 28, 1991 - PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Stevie Nicks' new album, Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks, is a first for the diminutive, doe-eyed… More
- Stevie Nicks fans get more than a greatest hits album October 5, 1991 - Stevie Nicks fans get more than a greatest hits album with Timespace. They get an explanation. In the liner notes,… More
- Stevie Nicks writes a special song for Jane Goodall October 5, 1991 - THE INSIDE TRACK: Stevie Nicks will pay her own personal tribute to celebrated environmentalist Jane Goodall at The International Tribute… More
- Stevie Nicks, sounding like a survivor October 16, 1991 - Rock's 'funny little voice' sings a strong solo on pains and pleasures of her life (ENCINO, Calif.) The French doors… More
- REVIEW: Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks October 18, 1991 - Stevie Nicks Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks. Modern-Atlantic. ** Stevie Nicks is the most potent distillation of that psychic… More
