Stevie Nicks Timespace ' The Best Of' (EMI)

Despite the fact that latter day Fleetwood Mac albums have tended to sound like little more than a collection of solo offerings from its members, vocalist Stevie Nicks has carved out her own recording career parallel, indeed with four LPs to her name she's surpassed the number of band offerings during the 80s. Timespace then collates her finest moments, occasionally slightly remixed and, for disciples of her sugar-coated sandpaper tones there's no denying the excellence of Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (featuring Tom Petty), Whole Lotta Trouble, Rooms On Fire and Edge Of Seventeen. More rock-orientated fans though will no doubt make note of two of the three new songs included here, the Bon Jovi-penned Sometimes It's A Bitch (pretty good) and the Bret Michaels-composed Love's A Hard Game To Play (pretty dull). Overall though, her powers of seduction are more than enticing.

***1/2 

Kirk Blows

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Stevie Nicks ' Street Angel (EMI)

Street Angel sees Stevie Nicks throw off her shackles, shawls and scarves and reinvent herself as a straight pop singer for her first album in the post-Fleetwood Mac age. Unsurprisingly, given her 'back to basics' slogan, she's turned to Britain for help from producer Glyn Johns and Andy Fairweather-Low, who shares the arrangement chores with ex-Eagle Bernie Leadon.

The result is an album that while not as deep as previous efforts, see Nicks claim back the high ground from Belinda Carlisle and the other Stevie wannabes who've prospered in her absence (Maybe Love is one of two songs co-written by Carlisle cohort Rick Nowells). Only the twee Unconditional Love and a cover of Dylan's Just Like A Woman, with the bard himself apparently (though inaudibly) present, dip from the standard. Street Angel does enough to remind us that no one sings Nicks quite like Nicks.

7

Michael Heatley

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Thanks to trackaghost for this article