Brigade

Heart | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 16, 1990)
• Original Release Date: April 3, 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000002UUT
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,557 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

1990''s power pop at their best

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Incredible, October 19, 2001

By 

C. VanDerhoof (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brigade (Audio CD)

This is by far the best CD Heart ever made. I have everything that they have ever done that I could get my hands on. I love all of their stuff, including the Lovemongers, Nancy's CD Live at McCabes, solo stuff, import albums just for one song not released in the US, everything. But this CD rules. I bought it the day it was released in 1990, and 11 years later, it is still my favorite Heart CD. I love every song on this CD. Ann's voice is an amazing instrument. Unbelievable power, range, clarity and diction. I've seen them in concert 3 times, and she sounds just as good if not better live. It's too bad she never made a duet with Steve Perry. That would've just been an absolutely incredible to hear. My favorites on this CD are Under The Sky, Fallen From Grace, All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You, Wild Child, Secret, and Stranded. Nancy turns in her best vocal performance to date with Stranded. It is such a good album that it is hard for me to say which songs are my fave's, because I really love the entire CD. It is also an excellently recorded album, really sounds great. I also got the CD single for Stranded which has 2 unreleased songs on it, which are: The Will To Love - a ballad, which is one of my favorite Heart songs, and Cruel Tears - a slamming rocker. Both of them are sung by Ann. Unfortunately, this CD single is no longer available. It's too bad they didn't put them on Brigade, it would have rounded the CD out to 15 songs, and really put it over the top as one of the best rock albums of all time. When I recorded Brigade on tape for my car, that's exactly what I did. Buy this CD right now, I promise you, you won't be sorry.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Taste The Human Heartbeat...", September 25, 2005

By 

Anthony Nasti "Tony" (Staten Island, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brigade (Audio CD)

By 1990, Heart was well established as one of the most successful bands in America. They started out big in the 1970s' with big hits like "Barracuda" and "Magic Man, then hit a snag in the early 1980s'. By 1985, Heart was primed for a comeback. Their eponymous debut on Capitol brought them back to the top with hits like "Never" and "These Dreams". 1987's "Bad Animals" continued their run of hits with "Who Will You Run To" and "Alone". In 1990, the band released their third Capitol release, "Brigade". How does it hold up? Read on.

"Brigade" is one of Heart's finest albums. It was at this point that Ann and Nancy started to gain more creative control, as their last two albums were filled with songs that Capitol forced them to record (ie, ballads). This is much more of a rocking album than their previous two releases. The opening track, "Wild Child", is one of the heaviest tracks the band ever did. Highlighted by a forceful synth line and fierce guitars, it makes for a strong opener. Next comes the big hit off the album, the ballad "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You". Written by Mutt Lange, many people hate this song, but I for one love it. Ann gives one of her most powerful vocal performances on this song, and it deserved to become the hit it became and should get more respects than it actually has. Next comes my absolute favorite Heart song. "Secret" is a heartwrenching ballad filled with magnificent keyboard flourishes, a strong Ann vocal and great acoustic guitar work by Nancy. The next track, "Tall Dark Handsome Stranger" is a forceful rocker with sexy, seductive lyrics and a sultry vocal. "I Didn't Want To Need You" is a midtempo number, not exactly a ballad but not a rocker either. It's one of my favorite songs on the album. The keyboards on this song are fantastic.

"The Night" is an acoustic, midtempo number with cool, creepy lyrics and some out and out great guitar work. "Fallen From Grace" is a brilliant track and has a beautiful chorus. "Under The Sky" isn't as memorable as the rest of the album, but it's still a really good song. "Cruel Nights" could've easily been a hit single. The vocals are superb and the song is catchy and begs for repeated listens. Next comes "Stranded". Nancy takes on the lead vocals here, and she is fantastic. The acoustic guitar on here is beautiful on this haunting power ballad. A very underrated classic Heart song. "Call Of The Wild" is filler, but good filler. "I Want Your World Turn" I believe also features Nancy on leads vocals and she is great. This is a forceful, seductive number that should have been a single. Finally, there's "I Love You". It's a deent ballad and is a nice way to close out the album. It's kind of cheesy though.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend "Brigade". It's one of Heart's best albums. I'd call it a must have.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart's heaviest albums kicks you-know-what!, July 10, 2003

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brigade (Audio CD)

When the 1990's kicked in, Heart returned to a sound that outdid the rock sound of their self-titled album. This is their heaviest album ever! Don't get me wrong--I like what Ron Nevison did for Heart, but he kind of overdid it with the synths on Bad Animals. Ritchie Zito kicked those synths in the head and replaced them with some bad, bad, guitars!

The chugging opening guitar and blaring lead guitar of "Wild Child" serves to remind all dissers that Heart can still rock. This could've been on the Heart album. However, using titles of well-known songs in one verse, "Ring my bell, baby" and "Shake baby rattle and roll" is a bit much.

Then comes a song by the Mutt, you know, Mr. Twain, which gained a bit of controversy because it's about a woman who gets impregnated by a hitchhiker after a magical one-night stand because her husband's sterile. At least it put Heart back in the Top Five. One analogy is wonderful: "We walked in the garden we planted to tree."

The power ballad "Secret", on an illicit affair, is my favourite song on this album and I wasn't too chuffed that it didn't climb higher than the Top 60 on the charts. There is a wall of heavy guitar and the Wilsons powerful vocals that somehow just gets me going.

Holly Knight gives the Wilsons "Tall Dark Handsome Stranger," which has a sound reminiscent of Bon Jovi's "Social Disease" what with the horns, but man, what strong guitars! Yow! OK, bloody great rocker, but did the title have to be such a big cliche?

Diane Warren's great pen yields another power ballad, "I Didn't Want To Need You" which is another favourite.

Power chords pound left and right in the stomping "The Night", coming closer to heavy metal than "The Wolf." This would be a great song to do live--just make sure the crowd doesn't get too rowdy.

OK, some synth creeps in "Fallen From Grace", but chugging heavy guitars take precedence. The power harmonies in the main refrain work well. Heartfelt lines: "The tears left behind/won't wash from my face/

The mid-paced, wistful "Under The Sky" is to Heart what "Dover Beach" was to the Bangles: let's run away together and spend quality time: "Shake the world off your shoulders/you have the perfect alibi/just because the world is wide." because "when all is said and done/darlin' we are the only ones"

"Cruel Nights", which has a backbeat like the Police's "Every Breath You Take" is another Diane Warren composition. The title nights are equal to "missing you nights", "what do I do nights." Without that wall of sound, Laura Branigan could've done this, as she too benefitted from Ms. Warren's magical pen.

"Stranded" is another power ballad that incorporates inflections from "What About Love." It's more powerful than its predecessor, but without the emotional depth.

"Call Of The Wild" is a decent rocker, but it's the Nancy-sung "I Want Your World To Turn," co-written by T. Kelly and B. Steinberg ("Alone" from Bad Animals) and its keyboards (not excessive) that makes a welcome change. Nancy's sweeter vocals and the catchy hooks in the chorus did it for me. Face it, after enough blaring rockers, one will simply tune out. And the Holly Knight-co-penned ,"I Love You" is a kind of goodnight keyboard synth lullaby after the barn-burning from the rest of the album.

Producer Richie Zito should be credited for giving Heart a swift kick back into the rock zone after the excesses of Bad Animals. The fact that this did well given the emergence of grunge and hip-hop during the decade marks this as an artistic triumph for Heart and rock. However, two things kinda bother me. One, despite the great sound, the lyrics aren't of any really emotional substance except for "All I Wanna Do..." and "Under The Sky." Two, there's one member of Heart conspicuous by her absence--Sue Ennis. Given her substantial role in songwriting, I count her as a Heart member. She only does "Call Of The Wild" with all Heart members, and "Under The Sky."