Snooze a little... ()

Co-producer Stevie Nicks reportedly spent a million dollars of her own money trying to pull this 3rd solo effort through...didn't that tell her something? "Rock a Little" is all effort, effort, effort...straining for pop credibility when only a dozen or so tough-rockers would have been sufficient. I've never understood why Stevie turned to pop song-meisters like Chas Sanford or Rick Nowells when she is perfectly capable of crafting a great album on her own. Clearly she was bereft of strong material. "Has Anyone Ever Written..." is such a glum wind-tunnel of a song that it zaps any smidgen of good will the rest of the record has managed to build up (and it was released as a single! Did anyone actually hear this song played on the radio?). "Rock a Little" (the song) doesn't rage--even when it's calm--nor does "I Can't Wait" (an obvious attempt to recapture "Stand Back" gold). With synths that make the tracks recall Hall & Oates outtakes, this isn't even a noble failure. It's a clueless failure. Stevie councils her friends continuously in the lyrics, but sadly, nobody counciled her. BEST: The Nightmare, I Sing For The Things, Imperial Hotel (despite a wayward arrangement). WORST: Most of Side 2.

One of her best ()

I can't understand people who say that "Rock A Little" is Stevie's worst album. I have owned this album for quite some time and must admit, I can't really get enough of it. And I'm not the one who thinks that way. My sister who's not into Stevie's music thinks it's great album. "Rock a Little" is a masterpiece in my eyes. I love songs like: "Rock a Little", "I Sing For The Things", "Talk To Me", "The Nighmare", "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You" and "If I Were You", but to be honest all songs are beautiful in one way or another. I love Stevie's voice on this album because it perfectly displays her emotions, inner frustrations and everything else she'd been through at that time.

I Want to Sit Across a Glass Table with Stevie! ()

Rock on Gold Dust Woman! This is a great album, from start to finish. "I Can't Wait" jump starts the album with great energy and fire. "Rock a Little" is a very special song to me, but some people seem to be quick to label it as bad, before they even give it a chance. "Sister Honey" is one of my favorites, the vague lyrics add so much to the song, who is Sister Honey? Who knows! "I Sing for the Things" I think is a heartfelt song from Stevie about her love of singing. "Imperial Hotel" is another one of my favorites! A song about her drug problems and her friends help, so caring! "Some Become Strangers" one of my favorite lines: "Part of me used to love you, part of me still does” sums up so many of our feels! "Talk to Me" one of her best songs to date, also showing us a nice side, if someone cheats on you, would you be nice enough to sit down and talk to them, "Oh, let the walls burn down, set your secrets free You can break their bounds, cause you're safe with me
You can lose your doubt, cause you'll find no danger Not here" I love that part! "The Nightmare" is a great opposite song for Stevie Nicks, I think, because she uses so many references to dreams, so it's only a matter of time before something bad happens. A metaphor for life put to music by Ms. Nicks herself! "If I Were You" is about someone who is rejecting love and Stevie tries to convince them they are in the wrong. "No Spoken Word" Great song, watch it live on the Red Rocks DVD! HAEWFY: touching and heartfelt, a Stevie counterpart to Christine's "Songbird"

Rock A Little lyrics define that time in Stevies life. ()

I really enjoy Rock A Little for its full blown production and synths. The strongest cuts are "I Sing For The Things", "Rock A Little" and "If I Were You". "I Cant Wait" is very 80's but a rousing song, especially live! Stevie has done worse and better, but I do like "Rock A Little" to this day.

Too bad for words... ()

What the good Christ happened here?? Bloated 80's pop and slick overproduction make for one of the worst albums of the 80's. Her voice sounds like a billy goat. Her songs are pedestrian and her lyrics are far too spacey. Clearly this album hasn't hurt her career. It charted at 12 and has sold over two million copies to date. She is one of the most influential women of rock inspiring artists such as contemporary rocker Sheryl Crowe and punk rock goddess Courtney Love. Yet, how could a woman of such influence turn in such a bad album. "I Can't Wait" is awful. How many drum machines were used on that song. "Talk to Me" is equally awful. The rest I can't even say how poor. Only "Some Become Strangers" and "No Spoken Word" muster up any kind of merritt.

Rock a LITTLE, she's being modest ()

Ok, so the album is a period peice and if released today would be shot down faster than the new Hanson album. When listening, you have to put yourself in 1985 and then you'll see the magic to this album. The album's opener, "I Can't Wait" is one of the best album openers of all time. It has an awesome beat and a full production that just begs for a large scale light show, I'm thinking lots of color strobes. "Talk to Me" is also an awesome song, to bad she didn't write it, but I don't think anyone could'ev done it better. The only weak points are "Some Become Strangers" and "Sister Honey", not to say that they are bad songs, they're actually very good, just not as good as the rest of this album. "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You" is unexpected on this album, but a great closer. I just have one question, why do so many people dislike this album?? I don't understand.

ARE YOU JOSHIN' ME????? ()

Stevie, come on now...I have heard you do SOOO much better...What were you thinking? Those are some of the cheesiest beats I have ever heard! If I Were You is my favorite song on there..and that is bad considering it wasnt even released as a hit! And the 2nd best song, Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You was released as a single, but it didnt even make it as big as Talk To Me or I Cant Wait...those songs are so 80s and I think that Stevie got a little too wrapped up with synths and 80s pop sound that she forgot that she was in the ROCK Industry. Maybe if she had done the songs in the style of Bella Donna or The Wild Heart then maybe it could have been a chart buster instead of a chart buster wannabe..sorry Stevie =-(

Album shows Nicks isn't afraid to evolve into the 80s ()

This album is clearly a break-away for Nicks from Fleetwood Mack days. There is still a hint of the Fleetwood Mack sound in songs like "I Sing for the Things" and "Imperial Hotel", but she also has evolved with this album into a brave new sound. I commend her for going solo after hearing this album--even though it was 16 years ago. "Talk to Me" and "I Can't Wait" are refreshing sounds from the acoustic, folksy Fleetwood sounds.

The Rock Queen can't pull through on this mess ()

What the hell happened? It is surprising that the woman responsible for some of the best Fleetwood Mac songs, Bella Donna, or even The Wild Heart for that matter could turn in such a flawed effort. Let's blame it on fatigue and coke addiction. The album seems very reliant on synths and dated 80's pop. What were you thinking Ms. Nicks? You are one of the best female rockers. "Rock A Little" is very good and her vocals are near blues mama capability. "I Can't Wait" is a good song but you got to get rid of the synths for it to be a straight forward hard rock song. She does do some good yelling in the middle however. "Sister Honey" is pure R&B crap. Why even try if your genre is rock n roll? "I Sing For The Things" is a soft ballad but soothing. The sleeper on this album is certainly "Imperial Hotel" however her vocals seemed to be a little drown out from the music. It is a real nice rocker though. "HAEWAFY" is nice but it's just too soft for her. Come on now! Nicks was crowned the queen of rock four years earlier--prove it! Aside from that she is still one of the best female rockers in the business. Truly a gifted rock star. Rock on Gold Dust Woman!!!

Another Stevie classic. She does indeed ROCK!!! ()

What can I possibly say about this album? It truely does describe Stevie THE QUEEN OF ROCK!!! "I Can't Wait" is one of my favourite songs because it has an undescribable feeling to it. "Has Anyone Ever Written" has ALWAYS been my favourite ballad by her, too. And even today at 53, she still rocks.

BETTER THAN THE PREVIOUS TWO ()

EVEN THOUGH THE SNYTHS MAKE THIS ALBUM SOUND DATED BY TODAYS STANDARDS THERE IS MUCH TO ENJOY, I CANT WAIT IS AN 80s CLASSIC WHILE ROCK A LITTLE STILL SOUNDS WIERD, NO SPOKEN WORD IS STILL A CHILLING OMINOUS SONG EVEN TODAY & THE FINAL TRACK IS SHEER...BEAUTY A VERY DIVERSE ALBUM, VERY MUCH OF ITS TIME BUT STILL HUGELY ENJOYABLE.

Stevie Rocks A Lot!!! ()

"Rock A Little" is awesome. While "Bella Donna" is somewhat boring (except for "Edge Of Seventeen") and "The Wild Heart" is an imitation of "Bella Donna"-but better, "Rock A Little" is exciting, and it is Stevie at her funkiest! Stevie has some amazing songs on here and they are more electric than usual, but she still keeps to her usual dramatic writing so she doesnt sell out. "I Can't Wait" is fast and "Rock A Little (Go Ahead Lily)" is slow and mellow, but still rocks, "Sister Honey" is one of her best R&B songs, and "I Sing For The Things" and "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You" are beautiful ballads. "Talk To Me" is the most popular song, and "The Nightmare" is poetic and catchy. Since this is such a diverse album, this is a good reason to buy it. It is worth it!

She struck out the 3rd time ()

Bella Donna and The Wild Heart were HORRIBLY excellent albums with only the best studio musicians and the best of Stevie's songs. They were very much in her own style and at that, they were good. On Rock A Little, Stevie sold out. I Can't Wait belongs in a gay bar, Talk To Me belongs on some crappy 80's movie soundtrack and the only decent songs on it are Rock A Litte and Has Anyone Written Anything For You. New wave ruined pop. There's even a tympani in Talk to me. The rest of the songs on the album are boring and drab.

Stevie rocks more than a little on this platter ()

The approach of the last two albums has been discarded in favor of full blown pop production techniques which makes for startling moments such as the awesome power of the opening rocker "I can't wait" however, it tends to dilute the strength of some of the other tunes. Nonetheless, Nicks comes up with the goods here as were treated to the deserved smash hit "Talk to me", other great rockers like "Sister honey" & "No spoken word" and nice ballads such as "I sing for the things" and the sensitive quiet "Has anyone ever written anything for you". This album is almost experimental in a way as it acts like "Tusk" does for the Mac catalogue which shows the musical creativity that Stevie possesses which I think can get overlooked sometimes in favor of her undeniable writing prowess.