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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding compilation of tracks, April 14, 2002
The first thing I would like to address on this Dutch import is the actual number of tracks on this album. There are 18 tracks on this album, not 17 as listed by Amazon.com's listing for this album. The correct sequence of the album tracks is as follows: 1. Barracuda 4:23 2. Little Queen 5:13 3. Kick It Out 2:47 4. Dream of The Archer 4:31 5. Cry To Me 2:52 6. Love Alive 4:16 7. Dog & Butterfly 5:20 8. Straight On 5:08 9. Lighter Touch 5:03 10. Nada One 5:21 11. Even It Up 5:08 12. Sweet Darlin 3:16 13. This Man Is Mine 2:58 14. Perfect Stranger 3:51 15. Tell It Like It Is 4:29 16. How Can I Refuse 3:53 17. Allies 4:44 18. Johnny Moon 4:00 ____________________________ Total Time 77:13 This release covers a period running from their debut album up to the time before the release of their self-titled album in 1985. Heart, has been referred to the female answer to Led Zeppelin, and it's easy to see why. The guitar licks and the hard rock/heavy metal sound resemblance of course, and also the use of mandolins. While this is a good collection of classic Heart tracks, I have a problem calling it the Definitive Collection since it is covering only a small fraction of their time in the business. Essential tracks like Magic Man, Crazy on You, Dreamboat Annie, Never, Alone, What About Love, and These Dreams found on other Heart albums are not included here. Dream of the Archer reminds me of the Led Zeppelin song The Battle of Evermore because of the mandolins. This album is great because it shows the range of Heart, since it is packed with hard rock cuts like Barracuda, Little Queen, Kick It Out, and Straight On. However this album is balanced with songs like Dog & Butterfly, Cry To Me, Lighter Touch and Nada One, which tend to be more on the softer side. While this is a good start in terms of building a Heart collection, I would also recommend getting their other greatest hits collections, namely the Greatest Hits, which covers their earlier years, and includes Strong, Strong Wind, Magic Man, Crazy On You, Heartless, Dreamboat Annie, Bebe Le Strange and Rock & Roll [Live], which aren't included on this album. I assume the last track is a cover version of the Led Zeppelin tune, since one cover track, Tell It Like It Is, is also included on this album. Their Greatest Hits 1985-1995 covers everything after this album almost. None of the tracks on this album are available on previous Heart Greatest Hits/ Best of albums. Heart's Greatest Hits: Live [Live] is another worth picking up as well, since the tracks I'm Down/Long Tall Sally and Mistral Wind are on this album. There are no inherently weak tracks on this compilation as far as I can tell. For some reason perhaps only known to Sony and the band, no tracks from Heart's debut Dreamboat Annie album were included on this album. The Dog & Butterfly album had four tracks included: the title track, Nada One, Lighter Touch and Straight On. No tracks from the Heart album Magazine made this album either. The Little Queen album had several tracks make it on to this album, namely the title track, Love Alive, Barracuda, Dream of The Archer, Kick It Out and Cry To Me. Bebe LeStrange contributes Sweet Darlin and Even It Up. Their Passionworks album offers this album How Can I Refuse, Johnny Moon and Allies. Private Audition contributes The Man Is Mine and the Perfect Stranger. That accounts for the 18 tracks, since Tell It Like It Is is a cover song. My recommendation is to get this disc, even though you can get virtually the entire CD's tracks if you buy the Dog & Butterfly, Little Queen, Bebe Le Strange, Passionworks and Private Audition albums if you don't already own all five of these albums. This album will complement Heart: Greatest Hits, and Heart Greatest Hits: 1985-1995.
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