Customer Reviews

Brigade

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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."

"Brigade" from Heart is one of my all time favorite albums, it is such a treat to have an album like this in my colletion, "Brigade" is brillant, and I love every song on it, Heart was at it's best on this gem of an album. "Brigade" is probably my favorite Heart album to date, Ann and Nancy Wilson produced one of the best rock albums around when they released this masterpiece in 1990. The first song "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" became a big hit for them in 1990 hitting #2 and throw in a little controvesy and the song became much bigger then the girls could have imagined, the song is about how you can get into trouble, when your not careful about sex, then came one of my favorite Heart songs "I Didn't Want To Need You" I absolutely LOVE! this song I didn't even care where it went on the charts', I simple think this song is AWESOME!, written by Diane Warren the ladies of Heart give us another reason to love them, the way the song just flows is superb, and I never get sick of this song, next the ladies slow down alot with their next hit "Stranded", the song is so powerful and beautiful that it is a shame that it stalled at #11, but who cares this is a great song showcasing the softer side of Heart, and finally the forgotten release off of this album "Secret", this was sorely dismissed as the 4th song from the album, but it is such a well sung song and it should have done better. But to end there is wrong because this album is full of hidden gems, like "Wild Child" and "I Love You", when I bought this album it was a must have and thank God that I bought it because this is one TERRIFIC! album.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I actually preferred the late 80's "hairspray and synthesizers" Heart and Bad Animals to the band's early albums (which I also enjoy). I'm a child of the 80's, and those albums really knocked me out as a kid. I was hoping for more of the same from Heart's 1990 album Brigade, but instead the Wilson sisters seemed to slide into adult contemporary territory.

I suppose Brigade is best known for the hit single "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You", a song rivaled only by Alannah Myles's Black Velvet for the title of "song most likely to make me put my eyes out with a screwdriver". This single, which has probably been adapted into at least a dozen Lifetime Network movies, would have been easier to handle if there were any quality rockers on the album. Unfortunately even the harder songs lacked the charm of "Who Do You Run To" or "If Looks Could Kill". Brigade just seems sanitized and sterilized, even in comparison to Heart's "corporate" 80's material.

I'll give this one three stars, largely because even a bad Heart album is better than most. It's probably closer to 2.5 stars if I'm being completely honest. Despite the largely positive reviews here, I have a hard time seeing how this album would appeal to fans of either Heart era.

By the time Heart released BRIGADE in 1990, they had completely fell out of favor with critics, as well as fans of their classic seventies work. This was only a slight deterrence, as the group was still riding very high on their mid-eighties comeback. The critical hatred seemed to continue with this album, which is sad because it easily outpaces their previous two records, and it my opinion remains their best studio effort. In a possible attempt to appease new and old, BRIGADE offers a marriaging of sorts between the guitar-crunch sound they perfected in the seventies and the power balladry/corporate rock sound of the eighties,and the results are first-rate. Though 'All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You' was the big hit here, this album goes so much deeper, and wasn't given the fair shake it deserved. 'Wild Child' and 'Tall Dark Handsome Stranger' recall the Heart of old, and provide Ann Wilson a chance to ignite her firecracker voice. The power ballads here aren't bad either(even the two Diane Warren tunes), and Nancy Wilson shines vocally on two of the album's best cuts, 'Stranded' and 'I Want Your World To Turn'. The album highlight, though, is 'Under The Sky', a gorgeous acoustic strummer that showcases the beautiful harmony work between the two sisters. A must for any fan of well-crafted, wonderfully performed music.

After the multi-platnum success of their 1985 self-titled album, HEART took a turn to heavy keyboards for their 1987 Bad Animals. It was cool and all, but definitly not all HEART. Three years later, they returned with a perfect combination of electric rock, acoustic feelings and keyboard beauty! Ann's voice blasts with class on Wild Child, Tall Dark Handsome Stranger & Call Of The Wild... while at the same time soothing us on All I Wanna Do, Under The Sky and I Love You. Nancy & Howard shine in perfection with their complimenting guitars, and Mark & Denny set a solid foundation of rhythm! A powerful comeback from a very commercial whirlpool! A fantastic roller coaster of emotion and music! BUY IT!!!

The 1980s, at least the latter part of it, was when Heart began experiencing a commercial & creative renaissance. After being dropped by Epic Records in 1983 after the disappointment of PASSIONWORKS, Heart signed to Capitol for their 1985 self-titled album. The results were no less than astonishing, topping the album charts, spawning 4 top 10 hits (not to mention their first #1) & pretty much making Heart cool again.

They repeated the streak on 1987's BAD ANIMALS, proving Heart's comeback was no fluke. But as the 1990s got underway, even Heart's new identity was starting to show signs of wear. Grunge was slowly making itself known & bands that specialized in power ballads (like 1980s Heart) would be wiped off the charts. But before that happened, Heart gave the new formula another try on 1990's BRIGADE.

This album brought Heart 3 more hit singles, even if they were smaller ones now. "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" just barely missed the top, stalling at #2, but it's still a great song from the pen of producer & future husband of Shania Twain, Mutt Lange. The song caused a bit of controversy with its story of a lurid love affair, but it's still head & shoulders above Lange's other Heart song, "Will You Be There [In The Morning]", which would prove to be Heart's last hit single to date. Also, "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" remains one of my Uncle Tommy's favorite songs.

"Stranded" is another song from Heart that was a small hit, but deserved to do better. Nancy Wilson's passionate vocal is one of her best & proves that Heart could do the whole power ballad thing that was, in fact, a huge contrast to what they wanted their music to be about. "I Didn't Want To Need You" was BRIGADE's other hit, but this time, it doesn't quite measure up. Coming from the pen of ever-so-versatile songwriter Diane Warren (who's written a song for just about any artist today), the song seems to try too hard to rise above cliche & is a good reason why Heart was initially reluctant to do power ballads in the first place.

Elsewhere, BRIGADE is a hit-and-miss affair with one great song followed by a run-of-the-mill one. The opening "Wild Child" is a good reminder of Heart's roots as balls-to-the-wall (no pun intended) rockers & proof of their Zeppelin influence. "Tall Dark Handsome Stranger" & "Call Of The Wild" (never a fan favorite), on the other hand, are unsuccessful attempts at regaining Heart's rocks. The ballads are somewhat more successful, with "Under The Sky", "Secret" & "I Love You" shining bright. The last three songs show just how good of singers Ann & Nancy Wilson really are. No wonder they later formed their acoustic side project The Lovemongers.

Like most bands from the 1980s that specialized in power ballads, the 1990s saw their audience dwindle away in favor of the "woe-is-me" attitude of alternative. Unfortunately, latecomers to the power ballad trend Heart were among those being given the brushoff. The fact that their material was slipping in quality only furthered the backlash.

After 1994's middling DESIRE WALKS ON, Heart went on a hiatus that continues to this day. Even with no official announcement of breaking up, the Wilson sisters are apparently doing their own things recently. I'm not sure what Ann is up to, but Nancy released an acoustic solo live album in 1999 & is probably enjoying her life as Mrs. Cameron Crowe. So while the chances of Heart returning to the limelight are still unknown, an album like BRIGADE will keep us company until or if they do.

Wild Child: As with their other albums in this era, Heart kicks off their album with this big rocker written by Mutt Lange. Everything about the song is big--vocals, guitars, drums. Lyrically, it's just a song about good sex, but isn't that what rock and roll was originally all about? An entertaining opener. 8/10

All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You: One of the trashiest, most melodramatic and enjoyable songs Heart ever recorded. Written by Mutt Lange, the song tells the story of a woman who picks up a hitchhiker, has a one night stand with him in a hotel room, wakes up early, leaves him a note ("I am the flower, you are the seed, we walked in the garden, we planted a tree, don't try to find me, please don't you dare, just live in my memory, you'll always be there"), then runs into him years later while out with her child and she has to confess she picked him up because her husband was unable to impregnate her. The secret to performing melodrama is to play it with total conviction and that's exactly what Ann delivers in her lead. 10/10

Secret: The first of many sound alike power ballad penned by a hired gun songwriter. Nothing terribly exciting going on here; professionally arranged, performed and sung. 6/10

Tall Dark Handsome Stranger: Another hard rocker about a sexy man written by Holly Knight. I wish instead of using synthesizers creating a horn sound effect that an actual horn section had been used instead. 7/10

I Didn't Want to Need You: Now it's Diane Warren's turn to serve up a power ballad. Loud production, solid vocal, and a guitar solo, but the song is not that catchy and the lyric is pedestrian. 6/10

The Night: The Wilsons co wrote this song with then Van Halen lead singer Sammy Hagar. This song was inspired by Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire. This is a big building rocker that opens and closes with Nancy playing a bluesy dobro. One of the most interesting songs on the album that has too many similarily structured power ballads. 8/10

Fallen From Grace: Another power ballad that is distinguished with some strong harmonies from Ann and Nancy as they sing the chorus. If only the words were more interesting and the arrangement/production not so bombastic. 6/10

Under the Sky: This song in many respects represents a return to the acoustic sound Ann and Nancy approached to their softer material of the 70's. Though producer Zito weighs down the song with a big production sound, the acoustic guitars, the autoharp and most importantly Ann and Nancy's harmonies manage to overcome the production and make this one of the most special songs on Brigade. 9/10

Cruel Nights: Another power ballad from Diane Warren. Solid, professional, but nothing new or different. 6/10

Stranded: Nancy finally gets a turn at lead vocal with yet another power ballad written by a hired gun songwriter. Unlike some of the other power ballads, at least we can hear some acoustic guitar in the mix, though of course there is a big electric guitar solo for Leese to play. Nancy gives as impassioned and committed a vocal as her sister can. 7/10

Call of the Wild: Another rock song about sex. Nancy plays a blues harp which provides the track with its hook and distinctive touch on the album. 7/10

I Want Your World to Turn: Nancy takes the lead on this power ballad by Steinberg and Kelly. Lots of nature imagery in the lyrics which leads me to think that everyone was aiming for These Dreams part III. But this time the guitar is more prominent than it was on These Dreams or Strangers of the Heart. However despite Nancy providing an ethereal lead vocal, this song sounds pretty much like every other power ballad on Brigade. 6/10

I Love You: Another power ballad. This time Ann and Nancy had a hand in writing the song (in conjunction with Holly Knight). Some Beatles-esque harpsichord and synthesized strings are added to make the song stand out from the other ballads. Unlike the other power ballads led by Ann, this time she delivers a more restrained vocal on the verses, only letting lose at the bridge, and the song is a nice closer and a welcome break in the monotonous onslaught of sound alike, simiarlily arranged and structured power ballads. 8/10.

I bought this when it came out, it sounded good at the time, but boy has TIME hurt this album. I can hardly listen to any of it anymore. Great band, but this is where they bottomed out. Get their music from 1976-1985.