Vinyl Vault Entry #2: A Toast to Stevie Nicks' Birthday with Bella Donna Limited Pressing

T&E writer Brian Denton honors Stevie Nicks' birthday by writing about her legendary '81 debut solo album, Bella Donna. He discusses the brand new 2020 all-analog remastered pressing on blue marble vinyl, and finding serenity in his favorite song "Outside the Rain".

​Album: Bella Donna (1981)
Artist: Stevie Nicks
Label: Modern Records
Genre: Rock
Pressing: 2020 Remaster on Blue Marble Vinyl

Why did you choose this record?

As I write this it’s Stevie’s birthday!! May 26th, to be exact. I actually discovered this special edition version of the album in a Stevie Nicks Fan Facebook page, and immediately ordered it from Vinyl Me, Please. I’ve always loved Bella Donna because of the life connections I’ve made in tandem with the music, but also because Stevie just suits me so well. But I specifically wanted to write about this album for VINYL VAULT because this limited pressing is fresh and new and reinvigorated my love of Miss Nicks.
 
 
What is the packaging like for this release? Are there any inserts or gatefold images?
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It’s fairly minimal packaging, nearly identical to the original ‘81 packaging, except higher quality and some neat metallic lettering on the front and back. The album comes with a quality print of a photograph of Nicks from that era, posing in her draped white princess-rags and ballet shoes. Oh, and the vinyl is marbled blue!
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What does it sound like?

That’s such a hard question to answer. It sounds like Stevie Nicks! Well, she had just come out of recording the album Tusk with Fleetwood Mac in 1979, and I really want to believe that Nicks was just so fed up with Lindsey Buckingham’s perfectionism and experimental musical decisions. Let it be known that Tusk is my favorite Fleetwood Mac album, but it’s very dry and unconventional, compared to Fleetwood Mac’s more radio-friendly albums. 
 
Bella Donna is a complete and utter rock album, but Nicks stayed true to her demure, witchy, solitary aura: she went full rock n’ roll on this album and didn’t look back. I think she felt so tied down by Buckingham - and maybe all of Fleetwood Mac -  and decided to go all out with her expressive and straightforward Bella Donna, working with other musicians (like Tom Petty and Don Henly) to produce a more approachable and fun album compared to the slow and artsy, double LP Tusk. Like I said earlier, I love Tusk but it can be a bit heavy and I think Nicks was ready for a project that would be a bit more empowering. 
 
It’s Nicks’ first solo album, so it sounds really inspired; almost like she was finally free to sing as passionately as she wanted and about whatever she wanted without really needing to be responsible to other musicians. Plus, with the connections she had in the industry Nicks got some really talented folks in the studio (Waddy Wachtel and Roy Bittan from the E-Street Band, to name a few), furthermore the album was the first of many to feature two staples in Nicks’ band: her two backup singers that are still touring with her almost four decades later: Sharon Celani and Lori Perry.
 
PS - The album went quadruple-platinum! And for the promotion of the record, Nicks went on the White Wing Dove Tour in 1981, being one of the greatest live shows I have ever witnessed (second-hand, of course, since I wasn’t even born in 1981).

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Favorite song:  

​"Outside the Rain". I discovered Fleetwood Mac while navigating some emotional and interpersonal stuff, and I really fell into the music as a source of serenity, if that makes sense, ha ha. Stevie Nicks was my ROCK, so I was steered by fate to her music. The song that hit hardest on her debut solo album Bella Donna were those of "Outside the Rain". “Maybe you never knew me / Maybe you thought that I'd never change / But you know I'm changing / You're wrong / And it's been like dying”. "Outside the Rain" is the ninth track on Bella Donna, and brings back all those painful memories of re-discovering who you were before getting wrapped up in miserable love. We can all kinda relate, I suppose. The lyricism is great, obviously, but even the instrumentation is so alluring and actually kinda gritty. Electric guitar riffs and flourishes, rhythmic backup vocals, and Stevie’s accusatory and detached tone, like she’s standing out in the rain. It’s such a good listen.
 
RIYL:

Tusk  by Fleetwood Mac (1979)
Now That the Light is Fading by Maggie Rogers (2017)
a retrospective by Linda Ronstadt (1977)
Wild Heart by Stevie Nicks (1983)
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