The Other Side of the Mirror

Producer Rupert Hine was best known for working with the Fixx and overseeing Tina Turner’s Private Dancer. He coats this album in production techniques typical of the era: washes of synthesizer blend with acoustic guitars, tambourines, and heavily processed drums. The sound is ornate and even orchestral, but Nicks’ raspy vocals cut across like a flame through tissue paper. A perfect amalgamation of her taste for tune and voodoo, “Rooms On Fire” is Nicks’ most intense pop drama since “Edge of Seventeen.” Hine’s elaborate productions help to elevate the atmospheric power ballads “Ooh My Love,” “Ghosts” and “Cry Wolf.” And underneath all the layers of reverb and synth, “Long Way To Go,” “Fire Burning” and “Juliet” reveal some of Nicks’ sharpest melodies. “Alice” is slow-burning and hypnotic, a perfect late-‘80s corollary to her ‘70s classics “Sara” and “Dreams.” Still, the best performance might be her rendition of Johnny Cash’s “I Still Miss Someone,” draped here in a shimmering, sensual arrangement.