Customer Reviews

Heart

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What The Cure was to new wave/punk, Heart was to rock n' roll. These songs overflowed with all the passion, excitement, romance and love that typical meat and potatoes, male rockstars of the era, felt too embarrassed to express. On this album, Heart is easy listening, hard rock, and progressive new wave pop, all at the same time. There's an excellent balance of guitar and synth with thrillingly uplifting moments and heart-melting ballads. The Wilson sister's vocals are lush throughout, but what really stands out are the songs themselves.

"If Looks Could Kill", is a solid dramatic rocker. "What About Love", is a dynamic ballad that features Grace Slick on backround vocals. Howard Leese lays a fine guitar solo. The last half minute pulsates double time with unbelievable excitement and conviction. You'll continue to hear the song in your head even after you turn off your stereo. "Never", is sexy and serious at the same time.

Written by Bernie Taupin, "These Dreams", has to be among the very best ballads of the 80's. This is Heart at its most romantic and seductive. It's medieval lyrical imagery gives it a timeless appeal. The song emblazons a gorgeous fantasy world upon your emotions. It's a better four minutes than any drug could ever give you.

"The Wolf", uses primal imagry to put down the unwanted advances of sleazy guys. It's guitar solo will floor you with a determined and indomitable hopefullness! "All Eyes", scores again with an alternately sexy seductiveness and lovestruck passion. "You don't have to say a word to get a hold of me/take me...shake me/Burning gravity baby/Look at me, look at me". What guy wouldn't love to hear those words from his girlfriend? And there's another triumphant guitar solo that's brimming with happiness. The plaintive ballad, "Nobody Home", is beautiful.

"Nothin' At All", has a pure pop genius. It's got that top of the world, 80's happiness to it. The guitar solo is simple yet very satisfying. The almost country, "What He Don't Know", is a decent soft rock ballad. The closer, "Shell Shock", is a bit cheesy, but displays an ample pop rock sensibility.

This album is very happy, warm, and hopefull. But unlike the shallowness of most pop music, it's happy in a deep and meaningful way. When you feel like the daily grind has bled away your passion, this album is the antidote.

Some Heart fans like to pretend that 1985's self-titled Heart album never happened, but the band's makeover as a keyboard-heavy AOR act gave their career a much needed shot in the arm, as well as some much deserved attention. Between the hitmakers brought in to contribute on songwriting to the shiny 80's production job, the band's self-titled album was as good an AOR album as you could hope for, and featured some of the band's biggest hits.

Sure, the band "sold out" and the material on Heart is much more radio friendly than their early material, but we're not exactly talking Starship's "We Built This City" here. The tracks on Heart are well-crafted pop songs that are written to take full advantage of the Wilson sisters' considerable talents. I was blown away by the glorious, dramatic "What About Love" and "These Dreams," and the infectious "Never" and "Nothin' At All" two decades ago (God, has it really been that long?) and am just as impressed today.

I can see how old-school Heart fans could have a problem with this album, but this is the Heart I grew up with, so I'll always consider it a classic album.

It is my opinion that Heart was never the same after the Wilson sisters dismissed lead guitarist Roger Fisher (Anne's former beau) and producer Mike Flicker. This was evident on their first album without their involvement, Bebe LeStrange (80). Fisher had a co-writing credit on one track, but he did not appear on the album. From that point on, Heart had lost their edge. At the same time, their commercial appeal was slipping. They made Private Audition (82) and Passion Works (83), but failed to have any significant hits. They were subsequently dropped from CBS (Sony) records.

As a matter of survival in the record business, Heart had everything riding on the success of this self-titled Capitol album. Producer Ron Nevison encouraged the Wilson sisters to use songs from outside writers, and he made Heart sound like Survivor with female lead vocals. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy most of the songs on this album. "What About Love", "Never", and particularly, Bernie Taupin's, "These Dreams" are very catchy pop tunes. Incidentally, "These Dreams" was orignally written for Stevie Nicks who rejected it. Heart had their first number one song, three more top ten singles, and an additional Hot 100 hit from this record which proves my point -- this is pure pop. Of course, that's not bad, it's just different.

For those of us who were fans from the beginning, the HEART album bears little resemblance to the rocking and soulful 70's band that made the classics, Dreamboat Annie (76), Little Queen (77), Magazine (78), and Dog and Butterfly (78). If you only know Heart from this 1985 pop album, you owe it to yourself to hear them the way they were.

If there was a recording or type of music that represents the music of my life it would be mid-'80s Heart music. This music affected me more than any other recordings I ever bought. I have never listened to a recording so many times as I did this 1985 release after buying it.

It's a high-powered rock recording with power ballads mixed in. I saw a Heart arena stage show in Norfolk,VA in September of 1985 and may lightning strike me dead if I am not 101% honest in saying that I have never been so stunned, impressed, blown away, awestruck, mesmerized,or captivated by anything in life like I was by Ann Wilson's lightning bolt performance and stupendously glorified stage appearance along with Heart's incredible stage energy and unmatched professionalism in the live execution of this 1985 recording.

Every song on here is good. Too bad there isn't a DVD of Heart's 1985 music. Over twenty years ago this recording came out and I am still so profoundly affected by this recording & Heart's 1985 show. Ann & Nancy really struck gold recording these songs and their live `85 performance put me in a state of awe that I never felt before or after this show. I have never been thrilled like that by anything ever! Heart's 1985 recording is more than just music to me, it was an unforgettable life experience that's part of me forever. This CD is a memory picture of that experience.

Hopefully a Heart 1985 CD will come out that has bonus mid 1980s songs on it (like "Love Takes Over" which is on youtube as of 2011). I still have the cassette for this recording and can attest that this cd sounds like instruments are missing or severely faded especially on "If Looks Could Kill." Something isn't right with the process that put this recording on a cd.

There really isn't any reason I can rationalize it, but this is a landmark 80's album in the same mode the recording "Boston" is to 70's albums. It just sounds huge, a Phil Spectorish "wall of sound": Great melody combined with some grit tacked on to saccharine sweet hooks. This massive aural assault has bunches of decent, though big-time AOR, songs that help it, for the most part, hold up way past it's prime. Sure it sounds dated, but infectious, so if the mood is right, it still works. Unlike Boston's "Boston" (undeniably their best), it certainly isn't the best thing the Wilson sisters have ever done, however it stands on it's own as a unique sonic place in time which remains highly listenable. A guilty pleasure.

I got this CD way back when it first came out and I still enjoy it. It's a departure from the other Heart albums I owned, more shiny synthetic pop rock than their previous old school rock. But almost all the songs are good, some very good, and the new sound works great. Ann and Nancy still shine through regardless.

Here's a list of the songs on my version since I don't see them listed on the main page:

If Looks Could Kill
What About Love
Never
These Dreams
The Wolf
All Eyes
Nobody Home
Nothin' At All
What He Don't Know
Shell Shock

I absolutely adore Heart and hadn't heard this album in years! I actually purchased it for my mom and it hasn't left her CD player since.

While this album certainly isn't the same music Heart was known for in the 70s, it brought them back into the music spotlight and brought new fans. Some people who like to act self important wanna call this type of change "selling out", but look at all the other bands of the past who refused to change - most of them are nowhere and forgotten. Very few bands of that era have a sound that maintains through time. Put "bands of the 70s" in your search browser and see what comes up. There's maybe 5 bands on that list that continued to produce music successfully thru the 80s and 90s. And Heart is one of them. When it comes to entertainment, if you wanna survive, you gotta give the fans what they want. And that's what Heart did on this disc and a few more after this.

One of my favorite things from the 1980's was the synth-heavy pop-rock of Heart. Wow, how I love this album. Chock full of that classic 80's lite rock sound, with fantastic Ann and Nancy Wilson vocals. All around great stuff.

Now to start off there are two types of heart fans.There's the early Heart fans 1976-1983,and then there middle/later heart 1985-1993.I'm one of few or maybe many who thought there best album was this one.They shed that 70's sound entirely and went full throttle into the 80's melodic Rock/Metal sound.The front picture on the album says it all.They became 100% Hair/Melodic metal band.After this album though it was downhill I have to admit.In 1987,Bad Animals did just as good,but it lacked the toughness that this album has!
1.If Looks Could Kill(10/10)Excellent song.Nancy is one of the best guitarists.This song rocks!
2.What About Love(9/10)Their big radio hit from 85.I'm sure you've heard this one!
3.Never(10/10)Holly Knight(of Spider and Device)co-wrote this song and played the keyboards on this one.A great rocker with a catchy chorus!Holly Knight has wrote some great songs!
4.These Dreams(6/10)Another ballad of this album.Not Bad,but I never thought it was there best ballad.
5.The Wolf(8/10)Tough and fun anthem rocker.Ann's voice sounds great on this one.More fierce guitar work by Nancy!
6.All Eyes(8/10)A very fun song.Holly Knight also co-wrote this one as well.This song's alive with that 80's sound!
7.Nobody's Home(5/10)Another ballad.Not bad,but not the best.Fans of 80's Heart will love this one most likely!
8.Nothin at All(6/10)Not bad.A lot of bars across the country always have this one on the jukebox!
9.What he Don't Know(7/10)More of the same,another ballad type song!
10.Shell Shock(8/10)Fast and tough rocker.Nicely done!
The fans of 80's music and 80's Heart fans will love this one.This is a fine example of a time when music was good unlike today!For the price this cd is going for I say tha it's worth owning for your collection.It has some cool songs that are party favorites,well at least my partyn favorites!