Of course, there's no shortage of flaws in Nicks' work. In her worst recordings, she sounds as wobbly as a billygoat with strep. And all too many of her tracks suffer from glossy '80s production values (which, ironically, sound less contemporary than those from the '60s and '70s). Even her catchiest tracks, like "Stand Back" can be hampered by gauzy period synthesizer work. To boot, Nicks's solo songs often want for Lindsey Buckingham's canny arrangments. He focused her efforts like no one else.
Yet on her own, Nicks goes further in establishing a real character beyond her cartoonish witchy-woman persona. In fact, she can ultimately claim the fullest viewpoint of any of Fleetwood Mac's main writers. She's at once a victim, seducer, and observer of the men who litter the Hotel California, revealing them with an insight that The Eagles were too arrogant to admit.
In general, Nicks' best appraisals appear on the first disc of this set, which corrals 15 tracks from her first two solo works (including the underrated country ballad "After the Glitter Fades" and her biggest hits, like "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"). The second CD gets into trouble my necessity, since her career had meandered by then.
For true fans, the third CD holds the most value. It features rarities like a demo of a new song Nicks penned for Fleetwood Mac's reunion tour lastyear, "Sweet Girl"; a solo piano version of "Rhiannon" plus unreleased cover songs by other California bands: Tom Petty's "Free Falling" and Warren Zevon's "Reconsider Me."
Of course, with Nicks, the flaws can also draw us close. The harder we try to listen to the box set's tracks, the less ditsy her character seems. Apparently, there's more clarity to her crystal visions tahan we ever gave her credit for.
--Jim Farber
