Customer Reviews

Dog & Butterfly

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sony Legacy has finally gotten around to remastering some of the Heart back catalog with improved sound and extra tracks. Being an old school Heart fan from way back in the beginning, I'm only too happy to replace my old CDs with the new improved versions.
While "Little Queen" was a little spotty in places, and "Magazine" was really only half an album, "Dog & Butterfly" was easily the band's best long player since their debut. It's highlighted by two of their strongest singles, the title track and "Straight On". The closing track, "Mistral Wind" is probably the favorite among a lot of the group's 70s fan base. It's kind of their "Stairway To Heaven".
The main concern with any reissue is sound quality. This remaster sounds terrific, from the funky opening lick of "Hijinx", to the soft gentle acoustics of "Nada One".
Aside from the improved sound quality, Sony is advertising several more reasons to buy the reissues. There are previously unreleased bonus tracks: this disc's best bonus track is a 1978 live recording of "Heartless". It shows Heart's ability to pull off faithful live renditions of their hits. Then there's a never before released ballad called "Feels". The Wilsons and Sue Ennis later reworked this track and turned it into the forgettable "Johnny Moon" from their 1983 "Passionworks" album. As presented here, it's very similar in arrangement to "Lighter Touch" which may be one reason it was passed over for release originally. The last bonus track is a 50 second acoustic guitar piece called "A Little Bit". This aptly titled track was recorded four years after the rest of the tracks here and it's inclusion on this disc is puzzling. It would fit better as a bonus track on a reissue of the band's 1982 "Private Audition" album. Maybe Sony hasn't yet made plans to upgrade Heart's other Epic albums yet.
The other extras, as advertised on the stickers that adorn the covers of these reissues, include liner notes and a track by track overview by Nancy Wilson. First of all, it should be pointed out that the same very brief liner notes appear in all three of these reissues (the others being "Little Queen" and "bebe le strange"). And the "track by track" overview is about one line per song (example: "High Time" - in the studio this was almost a gospel revival!). Not much inside information there, Nance. In fact, only 7 of the original 8 album tracks even contain an "overview", with the comment for "Straight On" conspicuously missing.
There are some nice photos in the booklet, which isn't really a booklet at all, but one of those annoying multi-panel things that folds out and out and out. Most of the photos are very, very small.
One other thing that stands out about these discs: they are the first I've bought that have the "FBI Anti-Piracy Warning" stamped on them. This threat of punishment "under federal law" is emblazoned both on the back cover and the disc itself.
So don't buy this disc for the liner notes, but if you're a Heart fan and you want to crank up "Mistral Wind" and hear it the way it was really meant to be heard, then by all means buy this reasonably priced gem. I give it 5 stars for the original 8 songs, sounding better than I've ever heard them sound.

If you are only a casual Heart listener you may be familiar with the title track and 'Straight On' thanks to the radio. However 'Dog & Butterfly' should be listened the whole way through to be appreciated. The second side should not be divided into separate tracks ('Dog & Butterfly', 'Lighter Touch', 'Nada One', and finally 'Mistral Wind'), but should be listened to the whole way through to truly reach the place where Ann's vocals want to take you.

You'll never hear finer vocal work than Ann Wilson, and you'll be hard pressed to find better Ann Wilson than 'Dog & Butterfly'. Her haunting voice brings forth such emotions as wanting, hurting, and yearning, but also demands attention, and can grow into a rage. If there is a better female vocalist than Ann Wilson I never heard her, and probably no one else has either.

Of course now Dog & Butterfly is a rock classic, but in 1978 the Wilson sisters wanted to keep doing what they love and make a record that was significant in their career. They achieved their accomplishment with an idea to create an album that was half melodic and half cut your teeth Rock'n'Roll. Besides the radio hit "Straight On,"(#18 on the singles chart)they made an album that brims with sophisticated imagery and melodies that visit both camps on many of the songs. My favorite tracks would be "High Time," the Zeppelinish "Mistral Wind," and the title track, which is a masterpiece of a song as it combines string acoustics with Ann's poetry and fades into a serene backdrop of sound effects. A significant piece of the band's history was the end result, and as Ann Wilson said several years back during an interview on the Bravo network, "It was a bottleneck time because Creem magazine was starting to write about us and we had a Rolling Stone cover or two, and there was the question of women being relevant to rock and women being credible in rock. They weren't sure about us, and so that album really was the one where we felt like we had to push. We had to prove ourselves."

I've been listening to this album for 20 years and have still not grown tired of it. The second half is a tour de force that still blows me away -- starting with the classic Dog & Butterfly followed by three of the most incredible songs to never get airtime -- Lighter touch, Nada One, and Mistral Wind. I would buy this album just to listen to Mistral Wind over and over again. If you don't have this album, buy it now! You will not be sorry.

There are many reasons to buy this album. It is a great concept work, with one side being rockers and the other side gentle ballads. What makes this cd really exciting though is a song called "Mistral Wind." It is a swirling melodic piece that whispers soft and finally peaks with thunderous abandon. The lyrics for this song are "visually exciting." A beautiful and poignant story painted with words and music. "Mistral Wind" is quite simply the most beautiful....song, I have ever heard. Heart in my opinion, is one of the great talents of rock and roll music. BUY THIS!

This album is a dilemma for me; Loving the Wilson Sisters like I do, and knowing that they are the core of all editions of this great group, you still need to take a step back and realize how really great Heart was in this first incarnation, brilliant musicianship, amazing song writing and unique ocherstration. I love every song on this CD, which is why I gave it 5 stars but... As an album it lacks concept and cohesion which is the hallmark of the two first albums, so I will tell you how I make it all better.

I have long had a favorite mix CD that was made by rearranging the order of the songs of Dreamboat Annie and Little Queen into one 80 minute CD.

Here's what I propose to do next.

I take out Magic Man and White lightning and Wine and from Dreamboat, and Barracuda and Kick it out from Little Queen, and ad in Straight on, Dog and Butterfly, Lighter Touch, Nada One, and Mistral Wind from Dog and Butterfly, I order them as seems to flow best starting with Dreamboat Annie, put the transitional Dreamboat Annie in the Middle and the Reprise on the end. A perfect album (at least for me).

So what about the other songs in Dog and Butterfly and the great songs I have just removed from two of my favorite albums?

I make my next album... Adding Bebe le Strange, and Even it up from Bebe le Strange and Heartless, Devils Delight, Just the Wine, and Magazine form Magazine . Take the rest of the songs from Bebe Le Strange and put them with Passionworks as they fit more with 80's Heart than 70's Heart. Take the Cover songs from Live and Magazine and various other albums and add them to a separate collection of Heart and Whirlygig CD's.

It is probably crazy to anyone else, but I bet any Heart fan would like my reshuffled CD's

But that's just me.

What does a band do when they're equally good at electric rock and acoustic? For Heart, they showcased both styles in this 5-star album. While "Stright On" and the title song were the best known, the overall best song is the finale, "Mistral Wind". Here an acoustic whisper builds into a fierce electrical scream and then comes back down with a beautiful piano and chime ending. Every time I hear this one I go into an almost hypnotic state. "Mistral Wind" is Heart's un-sung masterpiece, a hauntingly beautiful song.

Even though you may not find many reviews that agree with this one, Dog & Butterfly was one of the greatest musical offerings and moments in time in all of rock history. After the '80 follow up Bebe le Strange, it would never be the same. The magic and chemistry could never be duplicated again. This is not a negative review but a very honest one. Heart did in their first 4 albums what most bands could or will never achieve- absolute brilliance,life changing music, and near perfection. In 1978 Aerosmith and Heart ruled the musical world. Look for California Jam 2, you won't be disapointed. Everyone has that special elite list of recordings they wish they could share with the world. Dog & Butterfly is very near the top of my list. This was one of those life changing records that do exist. You are familiar with all the stand out tracks,but how about this one? - Lighter Touch. After many hours of playing time, you will arrive to the same conclusion, that is of course if you consider yourself an expert with a greater level of taste than the average radio listener. Ann had a passion for her music possibly like no one ever has or ever will. Thanx Wilson sisters for enriching my life the way that you did. I can think of no higher praise than what is written in this review. If you haven't owned this in 20 years, do yourself a huge favor and purchase it again for the tenth time.

Heart's fourth album. Half the album is mid-paced rock that isn't too consistent while the second and better half, which features four lilting [] ballads. They also gain a songwriter collaborator in Sue Ennis, who helped them out throughout their career, though her collaborations dwindled to one or two songs beginning with 1987's Bad Animals. Pity--more of her songs could have helped them more, but that's another story.

"Cook With Fire" begins with a live segment with pounding drums before accompanied by some Zeppelin-like guitars and harmonicas. It's a slow burner, coming to a boil towards the end. Ann really belts it out in the song's midsection as do the musicians.

The rocker "High Time" features some great classic and rhythm guitar work. As the song says, "it's high time for you" and "your time to live like you feel."

"Hijinx" has some bluesy influence and a steady drum and is okay.
The steady drum provides the rhythm for the catchy single "Straight On," helped by both sisters' vocals, Ann's being more resonant.

The next four songs alone could stand as an EP of the softer side of Heart and their justification of having existed. The acoustic guitar that opens the lovely title track and details a life in crisis, a "young world crashing around me/no possibilities of getting what I need" And such a lovely chorus: "See the dog & butterfly/up in the air he like to fly/the dog & but/below she had to try/She roll back down to the warm soft ground/laughing to the sky/up to the sky." The bridge also points to the alienation and coldness one feels. "We're getting older the world's getting colder/For the life of me I don't know the reason why/Maybe it's livin', making us give in/Hearts rolling in taken back on the tide/We're balanced together ocean upon the sky."

"The Lighter Touch" is an early power ballad with piano and strings and rock guitar. The emotion is really ratcheted up after hearing the title track, and there's a fiery guitar solo version of the chorus.

"Nada One" is along the same vein as "Dog & Butterfly", softer guitar and voices. There's a picturesque scene painted here: "Moonshone silver in your eye/Shown on my midnight blues from the sky/Paint the night with love till the burnin' sun/See the colors run/Nada one, nada one." There's a snatch of strings as well as a guitar accompanied by light clapping, and then a dreamy swelling of strings and vocals before things settle down again.

"Mistral Wind" uses the analogy of a ship sailing lost to an unknown dreamland. Example: "I have always held the wheel but/I let the wind steal my power/Spin me 'round lose my course/Nights run by like hours/Well, it would show me the way/To the deepest mountains/Too high and beautiful to be/Mistral, mistral wind"It begins soft and dreamy like "Nada One," then bursts into a crescendo of heavy guitars and power vocals, ending with Ann's fiery repeat of "Mistral, mistral, mistral..."

The first four songs I rate an average of 3.75, while the last beautiful four I give 5, rounding it to 4.375, or 4.

It's hard to believe I first bought this album over 20 years ago. It still sounds as fresh to me as it did then. This CD represents 6 incredible players at their peak, and is a must for any music fan. "Mistral Wind" is simply the most amazing blend of songwriting, musicianship, and studio expertise you will ever hear. Nothing in over 20 years has come close. It's a tragedy that guitar virtuoso Roger Fisher was gone after this record, because they never reached this level of recording excellence after. If you don't have this CD, buy it. You'll never be sorry.