[On Ice]

This is a really interesting discussion. I agree with the general consensus that we've seen in other threads that Stevie's creative peak was between '73-'83 and changed significantly when the cocaine zapped her creative edge. The big change came with Rock a Little. There were snippets in that vast body of work that had a lot of promise, some great tunes that went horribly wrong due to bad production choices and a beautiful voice that had reached a pinnacle in tone just a year or so prior to this mess. That said, there were definite cracks in the vase on the Wild Heart with lyric choices that went outside the bounds of brilliance and into the ridiculous. Although she pulled it off because her voice sounded so amazing.

After Rock a Little, Stevie became consistent with inconsistency and started mixing moments of brilliance with songs that were empty vessels, uninspired and performed with no passion, no emotion and no self reflection about how she sounded. I can't help but the think that the 1976-'82 Stevie would have been horrified to listen to a song in the future drone on like When I See You Again, and many others in the same vane.

I have to say that I find the whole living legend thing annoying and feel embarrassed for anyone with that label. Being an artist is about being creative and remaining creative and listening to a song like Silver Springs, the creativity in that song shows a true artist embracing her craft. Stevie's last two efforts have been about creativity and she is finally bringing passion back into her vocals. I don't look at the Dance as being a milestone, sure it was well done but it too had the peaks and valleys pattern that plagued Stevie since 1983. The true shift in Stevie then I think is the present. She is even sounding good on the current tour. 24 Karot proves that she can end her career on a high note and to me if she finds herself waining again, and a great deal of self awareness and putting aside the ego would come into play, that she should make the decision to retire. I don't want to see anymore lows at this point.