Customer Reviews

Heart - Greatest Hits

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This compilation package is that good that I bought both the CD and the cassette. The cassette, you may ask why, is due to the 3 tracks that were left off the disc, "Strange Euphoria", "Hit Single", and the beautiful "Unchained Melody." Why those three were left off the disc, I don't know. I know a CD can carry up to 78 minutes of music and I don't believe that by leaving the missing three off the disc that they would exceed the time.

This was CBS' first compilation of Heart material, and the result is unique among the many 'greatest hits' releases that have come since. Maybe it was because of the digital remastering (a relatively new thing at that time). Maybe it was the running order: going from 'Silver Wheels' into 'Crazy On You' in the same manner as they were doing in their live shows really gives Nancy a showcase. Maybe it was the sheer power of 'Mistral Wind' which only increases in the live setting. Certainly it wasn't 'Hit Single' and 'Strange Euphoria' which were blessedly dropped when converted to CD. Maybe it was the original band (yes I know Roger isn't on the live tracks) at its height before the slide of 'Private Audition' and 'Passionworks' and the revamping of the band into 80's hair, cleavage, and power ballads. Whatever it is, nothing sounds like this disc, and it's worth having in your collection even if you've got all the discs that led up to it.

Four years and five albums into their career, the Seattle quintet led by those fiesty rock angel/devils the Wilson sisters, released a greatest hits collection (originally a double album) featuring singles on one record, live and new studio material on the other. Had they waited two more albums and included material from Private Audition and Passionworks, this would be a complete Sony/Epic compilation.

The selection of studio singles is reasonable, although again, I wonder why "Even It Up" had to be a single. The sequence of the ferocious and biting "Barracuda," gentle acoustic interlude "Silver Wheels" and galloping bluesy-rock of "Crazy On You" demonstrates the repertoire they established, be it rocking demons or softly singing angels. With "Magic Man" and "Heartless," their blues roots show through, and it's dreamy ballads like "Dog & Butterfly" that show that other side of them.

Then comes the live material, taken from various venues between August and September 1980, including LA, Seattle, and Las Vegas. A rousing version of "Bebe Le Strange" outdoes the original studio recording, especially the chugging guitar solo accompanying the "Ah, rock baby" segment.

Within the live material is their cover of Aaron Neville's ballad "Tell It Like It Is", which became at that time their highest charting single. I like it but it seems unjust that considering their rock roots, they had to do something pop, complete with horns, to crack the Top Ten once again. At least that fiery guitar solo rockified it a little.

A live version of "Mistral Wind" from Dog & Butterfly follows, and the guitar solo is like a blistering rock tidal wave, over which Ann lets loose with all emotion. I wonder if there were any lighters waving during this song.

The same is true for "Sweet Darlin'," which highlights Ann's vocal talents. Despite the kind of even distribution of songs in the studio songs section, this is clearly a showcase for Bebe Le Strange.

Then comes three cover songs, heralded by Ann's singing, "We're going to do old rock and roll for you. Is everybody feeling alright?" They do a rollicking and rocking medley of the Beatles' "I'm Down" and Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally." Ann is a real hellcat on the latter.

The album closes with a barn-burning version of Led Zeppelin's "Rock And Roll" as a dedication to John Bonham, who had died that same year. Fitting, as Zeppelin was a prime influence of theirs. And hear those cheers when those legendary drum beats boom! Ann's strong vocal power is felt when she sings, "lonely lonely lonely" immediately before the drum solo. A fiery guitar solo and flurry of drums end this classic number.

Three recordings were deleted due to CD space limitations. While I have no quarrel with the deletion of a selection consisting of weird nonsense talk and the minimalist jam "Strange Euphoria", their cover of the Righteous Bros' "Unchained Melody" should have been included.

Next up would be an audition of a private kind. Stay tuned.

Will they ever release this CD remastered with the 3 missing songs, Strange Euphoria, Hit Single and Unchained Melody?

This was the first greatest hits package ever released by Heart. Heart is my favorite band and I am only able to give this 4 stars because of the missing songs and the missing inner sleeve photos.

Those of us who bought this album when it came out, simply wore the damn thing out. When you enjoy an album like that you should be able to hear it on CD in it's original state. It kills me when a record label omits songs to squeeze the release onto one CD. I would have paid and still will pay the price to have this release in it's original line-up of songs. Kansas did the same thing with their live album, Two For The Show, as did Nazareth and Jethro Tull with their live albums.

Otherwise, Greatest Hits/Live is a masterpiece. Heart have released other greatest hits albums more recently and only one of them really defines the first years of their career better than this. However, I simply must have the 3 songs missing from this album. Won't somebody do something about this!

In November of 1980, Heart released their sixth album entitled, GREATEST HITS LIVE. This album, obviously, is Heart's first greatest hits compilation. The first nine tracks on this album are Heart's studio recorded greatest hits from the first five albums. There are three more of Heart's greatest hits included here, but those three hits are live performances from different concerts. And there are six new tracks on this album, where only five of them are live performances from different concerts, where the sixth new song is studio recorded. Read on for the info.

BARRACUDA
From the album LITTLE QUEEN (1977). Still an ultimate Heart classic.

SILVER WHEELS (Instrumental)
From the album BEBE LE STRANGE (1980). This song was never released as a single, but I'm guessing that Heart liked it so much, for they had to include it here. Not a bad instrumental piece.

CRAZY ON YOU
From the album DREAMBOAT ANNIE (1976). A great song.

STRAIGHT ON
From the album DOG & BUTTERFLY (1978). Awesome tune.

DREAMBOAT ANNIE
From the album DREAMBOAT ANNIE (1976). Ah, the infamous relaxing title track to their 1976 debut album. Love this song.

EVEN IT UP
From the album BEBE LE STRANGE (1980). Great song.

MAGIC MAN
From the album DREAMBOAT ANNIE (1976). Killer tune.

HEARTLESS
From the album MAGAZINE (1978). A good song, but not a favorite of mine.

DOG & BUTTERFLY
From the album DOG & BUTTERFLY (1978). Great song.

BEBE LE STRANGE (Live)
Original version from the album BEBE LE STRANGE (1980). I loved the original recording, and this live performances matches up with the original recording perfectly.

TELL IT LIKE IT IS
New song. The first single from the album. Blah.

MISTRAL WIND (Live)
Original version from the album DOG & BUTTERFLY (1978). Incredible live performance.

HIT SINGLE (Live) (Vinyl edition only)
New song. This track was deleted from the CD & Cassette editions because of CD Limitations. This would be the first of three selections deleted from the CD edition.

STRANGE EUROPHORIA (Live) (Vinyl edition only)
New song. Deleted song #2.

SWEET DARLIN' (Live)
Original version from the album BEBE LE STRANGE (1980). Not a bad performance.

UNCHAINED MELODY (Live) (Vinyl edition only)
New song. The second single from the album. I hate The Righteous Brothers' version, but I do like the way Heart does it here. Deleted song #3.

Medley: I'M DOWN/LONG TALL SALLY (Live)
This is a great performance.

ROCK AND ROLL (Live)
The third & final single from the album. I hate Led Zepplin and their music, but Heart's live rendition is just incredible. Just so you know, the members of Heart were huge Led Zepplin fans. Because of how in many of Heart's songs, Heart sounds like Led Zepplin, which is why the member of Led Zepplin call Heart, "Little Led Zepplin".

This is a great compilation to have. It gives you nothing, but the greatest of Heart from their first five albums, from 1976 to 1980. Great buy here.

Greatest Hits Live originally recorded in 1980 was one of my early CD purchases during early 90s but I happened to miss simply because it was dubbed as "Live" and I thought that was not I had been looking for. (At that time I was looking for Definitive collection of Heart including 80s hits). Time has changed and I happened to uncover this CD from the heap of my dusted CD collections.

It has nine best tracks from their early works such as Dreamboat Annie(1976), Little Queen(1977), Magazine(1978), Dogs and Butterfly(1978), Bebe Le Strange(1980). On the back jacket name of the albums the each tracks are from are shown. Then the album become live recording collection during August and September 1980 tour. Live recording of BEBE LE STRANGE takes place at the stage side where the chat among members before the show can be heard. Interesting intrigue. TELL IT LIKE IT IS is unusually not live but studio recording and became single cut from this greatest CD. And then the ending live performance is LED ZEPPELIN classic ROCK'N ROLL. Alas, it shows their rock spirit.
Yes, it misses PRIVATE AUDITION(1982) and PASSIONWORK material to be the early Heart collection. But the timing for the release was excellent because it was made when HEART was at their artistic height.

Verdict: It is no doubt Heart fans' essential and 70s rock fans' paradise. Showing well how HEART had been during their early prime.
Rating: 88 out of 100. Well-edited (particularly Silver Wheel and Crazy On You combination just as their live performance) and consistent. Transition from studio recording part and live recording part has been done excellently.
Recommended for: Every Heart fan. Lots of 70s rock fans and the appreciators of recent Heart releases such as Desire Walks On(1993) and Jupiters Darling(2004).

This is a good CD for someone that has had a taste of Heart to complete their Best Of- collection. Tracks are taken from Little Queen, Bebe Le Strange, Dreamboat Annie, Dog & Butterfly, Magazine, and several live preformances. The CD version, however, has 3 fewer songs than the two LP (vinyl) set. (The 3 missing songs are: Hit Single, Strange Euphoria, and Unchained Melody.)

If you're a Heart Fan, this is a great addition to your CD library. For the serious collector, while there are tracks here that you can't get anywhere else, I suggest that you find the vinyl version.

All of Heart's 70s hits are here, from the hard-rockin' Barracuda and Straight On to the melodic ballad Dog & Butterfly. And some wonderful live recordings. The live version of Mistral Wind is simply beautiful, all eight minutes of it. Starts out slow, and builds to an incredible crescendo. Their tribute to Led Zep drummer Jon Bonham, Rock & Roll, is exactly what the name implies. Sweet Darlin and Long Tall Sally are also live rockers worth mentioning. If you get this one, you won't be sorry.

This collection has all of Heart's big hits from the 1970s and thankfully was released before the group's series of terrible songs in the 1980s. There is, however, one major flaw: the c.d. has omitted Heart's live rendition of "Unchained Melody," which appeared on the cassette version of the same title. Ann Wilson's voice coupled with that song was absolutely incredible; it alone was worth the price of the cassette.

I remember the first time I bought this album. On vynal no less, The buzz was this killer version Led Zeppelins Rock n Roll. After listning to this album I discovered that this band really knew how to rock. I have seen Heart on two diffrent ocations and I was not dissapointed. I bought this Cd partly for the feel good memories that were good.

I now play in my own band along with my wife. We have used this cd to help us with ideas in our song writing skills. One thing is certin the Sister Wilson know how to write and perform a great song. Highlights are Dreamboat Annie, Baracuda, Magic Man great memories. It's great collection of early Heart. I think you would enjoy this remastered Cd.

Jazzman3