Album Reviews
Not to say that Nicks' fifth solo release, Street Angel, doesn't possess a certain flaky charm her rendering of the dusky mysticism of the Hollywood Hills is, to say the least, unique. Swirling with angels and rainstorms, Angel unfolds as an engaging effort, though it gets off to a creaky start.
"Blue Denim" is an ordinary single that falls into a formulaic rock beat, and "Destiny" anemically rehashes Nicks' bouncy "Enchanted" from The Wild Heart (1983). But six songs in, Angel finally takes off. "Unconditional Love" and "Rose Garden" are gorgeous. The willful "Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind" is one of Nicks' best songs in years. Even her nostril-flaring cover of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman" demonstrates a bizarre intelligence, the lyrics adapting strangely to Nicks' oeuvre of lost little women.
Street Angel neither flies nor falters but sits confused on a cloud. That's a pity. Nicks and her past producers were capable of a far more sensuous touch. "Silver Springs," "Sara" and "Leather and Lace," among others, were stunning songs that addressed the world according to Nicks without pretense.
Nowadays, singing more like a female Bon Jovi than the exuberant sprite she was in bygone Lindsey Buckingham/Richard Dashut years, Nicks flounders in gossamer and overpowering guitar licks, too entangled in her own fantasy to open her musical vision to the rest of us.
(Posted: Sep 8, 1994)
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- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.