Timespace: Best of

When Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac in 1974 they made the new and improve group the most popular band on the planet. Hit singles like "Rhiannon" and "Dreams" made Nicks stand out from the rest and in 1981 she recorded her solo debut album, "Bella Donna," which hit #1 on the Billboard album chart or the strength of duets with Tom Petty ("Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" #3) and Don Henley ("Leather and Lace") as well as her hard rocker "Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White Winged Dove)." Three other solo efforts followed: 1983's "The Wild Heart," 1985's "Rock a Little," and 1989's "The Other Side of the Mirror." Those four albums make up the source material for "Timespace."

Nicks had almost a dozen Top 40 singles from those four albums, all of which feature her distinctive voice (I want to describe it as almost a Janis Joplin type of voice without the hard edge, but that seems so woefully inadequate and I cannot come up with anything better). Not all of her singles are here, with both "After the Glitter Fades" and "Needles and Pins," the other duet with Tom Petty, from her debut album missing. But of course you have her highest charting single, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," and the gorgeous "Beauty and the Beast," with the wonderful piano bridge by Roy Brittan. "Stand Back," "Edge of Seventeen" and "Rooms of Fire," represent her hard rock side while "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You" offers another look at the softer side. There is also a "new" track to start off the album with "Sometimes It's a Bitch," co-written by Jon Bon Jovi.

While there is room to debate a few of the songs (I can replace both "Love's A Hard Came to Play" and "Desert Angel" with better tracks), I think there is agreement that the very best of the best of Stevie Nicks is here. If you do not have a Stevie Nicks album in your music collection, then this would definitely be the single CD to pick up to rectify that error.


Timespace:Best of Stevie Nicks   April 18, 2000
Fuchsia (United States)
13 out of 15 found this review helpful

I just bought this album at Goodwill along with The Beatles 1967-1970 for only 50 cents so it must have been my lucky day! I had never heard any of Stevie Nicks solo songs before purchasing this CD although I have always loved her songs with Fleetwood Mac(Gold Dust Woman, Rhiannon, Dreams, and Landslide are Fleetwood Macs best songs) I have always loved her beautiful voice and her witchy, romantic look and I was not disappointed with Timespace. I would probably give it five stars just for Beauty and the Beast and Edge of Seventeen but the whole album deserves five stars. Leather and Lace, Draggin my Heart Around, Room on Fire ect ect these are all great songs. I recommend this album to anyone who loves great music and I especilly recommend Beauty and the Beast and Edge of Seventeen because those are the two greatest songs I have ever heard.If you only want to listen to two of her songs try those and you will be hooked.


Stevie takes us into her magical timespace!   October 21, 2003
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

An excellent collection of Stevie's work. Some of the tracks have been given an additional polish through some subtle re-mixing by Chris Lord Alge (for dance fans: I don't mean remixed as in a new production, i mean the original masters re-mixed down in the studio). The young and foolish will finally realise where that guitar riff in Destiny's Child 'Bootylicious' came from (from Stevie's Edge of Seventeen), and where the current dance hits Rooms on Fire by Europa XL and Stand Back by Linus Loves owe their songs!

What makes this collection stand out is the wonderful sleeve notes in which Stevie tells us about what inspired each song, where she was in her life at the time, and any special anecdotes. These make the songs come alive even more. There are some magical and moving stories, such as the explanation behind Rooms on Fire.

For the person who said I Can't Wait sounds like a dentist's drill gone mad...well it's always sounded as frantic, with that rattling percussion. This track has not been altered in any way for this compilation. It's a very energised rock track that was also played in the clubs (there was a dancier remix at the time, by Steve Thompson, unfortunately not yet on any CD compilation I've seen).


Listen to the Witch   October 18, 2002
Lonnie E. Holder (Columbus, Indiana, United States)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

I couldn't resist the title because for a time she liked to be called The Witch, and she would dress the part in concert. I love her husky voice. Admittedly not for everyone. I also like that she can write music and songs. Pretty, sings well, writes well. What a resume.

Let's keep this review uncharacteristically (for me) simple, for a very simple reason. This CD has a 16 page booklet explaining in glorious detail the background of each song, who performed, who wrote the song or music, and some other sometimes interesting ramblings. So what can I add to the detailed explanation? It's interesting to know you've got 10 minutes of potential reading if you are interested in the gory details of how the Stevie discovered or wrote the song.

This collection is one of the rarities of rock, the true greatest hits collection. This collection has (to the best of my recollection) every one of her hits to crack the top 10 from 1981 to 1991 (7 total I believe), the year of release, plus a few other gems and lesser hits.

If you like Stevie, you'll love this CD. Once you have it likely you'll have all the Stevie you need, unless you just have to get more of that voice, in which case you'll have to go buy the albums, or Fleetwood Mac.