Customer Reviews

Jupiters Darling

5 star:		(94)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Their glory days long behind them, Heart has nothing left to prove on Jupiter's Darling, their first release of new material in 11 years. And damn it if they don't remind us all over again of what a solid rock band they can be. Ann and Nancy Wilson's Led Zeppelin jones having been tickled in their side project as the Lovemongers must have unleashed their inner-Page/Plant, because they're writing and raging as they haven't since their debut. When they get folksy here it's Led Zep III and not Dog & Butterfly, when they rock its classic in all the best ways, and there isn't a ballad anywhere near as obsequious as "Alone". Proving one more time that chicks rock, and proving anew that old chicks rock, too.

Jupiter's Darling plasters a grin on my face every time I hear it. Of the 16 tracks, each and every one of them is strong, and many are absolute killers. I thought Ann and Nancy Wilson had given us their best in 1977 with Little Queen - and that was good enough. Now three decades later they've topped themselves. Barracuda, Love Alive and Dream of the Archer still form an unbeatable suite for this band, but songs just as good are here too. Heart had some overhyped stylistic resemblance to Led Zeppelin in their early days, but here it is more pronounced than ever. In fact, with Jupiter they fully pay off their artistic debt to Page, Plant & Co., delivering a performance that those masters would have been proud of if they'd done it themselves, both in the metal and acoustic realms. On "I'm Fine" Ann quite deliberately, and appealingly, goes over the line into outright humorous imitation. Ann's singing tears the roof right off the barn when she wants it to, astounding after all these years, and Nancy has never sung sweeter. The many pleasures of this album are magnified by the fact that it comes as such a surprise. If Ann and Nancy ever had any doubts, they can now sleep at night knowing they have truly met their full potential. Unless they have even bigger surprises in the works!

The title Jupiter's Darling derives from the story of a temptress who is a siren for powerful warmongering men. Stands to reason, as Ann and Nancy Wilson fronted the Lovemongers, and they are Jupiters' Darlings. But the info of a new Heart album coming out was a pleasant news--thank you, Eric Andrews. In looking at the cover, with the Heart logo from Dreamboat Annie and Magazine reinstated, I expected it to be a return to their classic stuff. Well, call it Dreamboat Annie and Little Queen coupled with some rock theatrics from the Brigade era, but with a churning sound akin to their greatest influence, Led Zeppelin. In other words, it's more pure rock, so don't expect any Ron Nevison-era synths.

The churning heavy blues-rock "Vainglorious" features the title in a lyric, and is a throwback to Led Zeppelin's "Living Loving Maid," and their own "Tall Dark Handsome Stranger" and "Devil's Delight"; in fact that song title is included in the lyrics.

The opening quiet guitar riffs at the beginning of the blues rock of "Make Me" recall that on "Crazy On You," while that of the verses and chorus is like "Black On Black" tempered by a "Crazy On You" instrumentation and tempo, while "Oldest Story In The World" features crunchy Led Zep power chords.

The mystery of life's equations is demonstrated in "Things," a folksy acoustic number with sung by Nancy with echoes of Led Zep's "Over The Hills and Far Away," followed by the mid-paced "Perfect Goodbye" which fits on Desire Walks On sans the synths. The title involves a simple farewell, no crying, no fighting, but where one becomes just another face in the file.

The dreamy flutes in the ballad "Enough" recall idyllic material like "Love Alive" and "Dreamboat Annie (Reprise)." A blast from the past indeed and a favourite here. Quite a contrast from the crunchy Soundgarden chords and riffs on the mid-paced "Move On."

With its Little Queen-era mandolins, the haunting "I Need The Rain" sung by Nancy is a favourite, where the rain is needed to hide one's tears: "let me stay dark and safe/and this crazy rain is my last escape."

With pounding drums and chords "I Give Up" is the only song involving longtime collaborator Sue Ennis. Not one of her best, considering previous work, but somewhat derivative, given a chorus melody like Meredith Brooks' "B--ch": "I give up, I give in..."

The loud Soundgarden power chords in "Vainglorious" recalls "Tall Dark Handsome Stranger" from Brigade, but without the horns. The mandolins return in "No Other Love" before the dolorous cello joins shift to the power ballad intensity.

A mingling of acoustic guitar, a steady quiet drumbeat a la Zep's "Ramble On" and vocals by Nancy yield "Led To One", while bluesy and Mideastern inflections characterize the mid-paced "Down the Nile."

That's followed by the Primus-like frantic alternative-tinged "I'm Fine," famous words people say before they have a breakdown, in this case a premillennial one, with references to the election of 2000, "chad confetti stuff", Y2K, and WW3.

The quiet acoustic guitar "Lost Angel" is a return to "Dog & Butterfly" ballad at the start, though it upshifts to fiert electric and bluesy rock mode. One of my favourites here. It calls for the title character to come and counterract the "coming fight." "Love bring your birds, bring your feathers of peace," sings Ann. One of my favourites. It ends with the quiet acoustic ditty "Hello Moonglow," benefiting from harmonies from both Wilsons.

Vocally, Ann and Nancy, the only original members of the group on this album, are as strong as ever, though the lighter lilting qualities of Nancy's voice, who sings lead on a record five songs per album, have receded slightly. They have retained Mike Inez, their bassist from Alive In Seattle for Jupiter's Darling. And strong support comes from guitarist Chris Bartock, who contributes on many songs. Yes, indeed, les soeurs Wilson still know how to rock.

WOW! Heart really digs down into the roots of their music on this gem. They are back doing what they want to do and what they do best...rock and roll! This falls into the non-commercial Heart category to join Magazine, Dreamboat Annie and the like. A must-have for any real Heart fan!

This beautiful recording is one of the best recordings lyrically, poetically and musically. When I read some of the other reviewers who were really down on the CD, it made me hesitate in buying JD but now that I have listened to the songs, I realize that these reviews reflect the thinking of individuals who are trapped in the past and can not grow with the music and the times. HEART has grown, musically and vocally. ANN WILSON's voice is driping with honey and fire! In songs like "Move On" and "Vainglorious," she can sing very playfully and in songs like "Down the Nile" she can sing very seductively but she can always come back to the heart wrenching sound of agony such as in the song "Enough." Wow! That song alone is worth the entire cd! She sings: "He makes the northern lights come dance for me again." How beautifully poetic and what a talent! I love how she fills her songs with the poetic imagery she is known for while NANCY WILSON rocks out the acoustic. "THE PERFECT GOODBYE" should have been in the charts! I love this CD! Listening to this is so exciting. I am glad to be alive to hear the beat of HEART!

I totally missed it when Jupiters Darling was released in 2004. I discovered it browsing the web one night in 2005 when I was wondering if Heart had been doing anything lately. I immediately got myself a copy. I admit that I had a bit of trepidation, as I had no idea where their musical tastes had led them in the intervening years, and they have certainly dabbled in a variety of styles popular at the time they have recorded. (Which as most know, hasn't always been a good thing. Just say no to synthesizers!)

My trepidation was somewhat realized, in that there are a couple songs I don't care for too much, as they seem to be more in the style of post-grunge alternative rock, which only occasionally appeals to me. That's not to say they aren't good songs, other Heart fans with a different range of tastes may like them a great deal better. The thing about this album is that it contains 16 songs. If you don't like a few of them, so what? There's plenty left to choose from!

As others have mentioned, Nancy's songs aren't a strong point of the album. Nancy really does have a beautiful voice. But Ann's is more powerful and has an edginess that propels it into greatness. Plus, I'm such an unabashed Annie fan that any song she doesn't sing gives me a bit of a withdrawal twitch. When in the right mood, I enjoy "I'm Fine", though ironically enough it falls somewhat into the category I mentioned above. I do really like "I Need the Rain". It's my second favorite that Nancy has sung, after "Stranded" on the Brigade album.

Quite a few of the songs are sort of middle of the road for me. I really enjoy listening to them, but they aren't the ones that tend to play in my head as I'm going about my daily business. Among those are songs like "The Oldest Story in the World", "The Perfect Goodbye", "Enough", and "I Give Up".

Jupiters Darling does contain several songs that have become some of my Heart favorites. Most of them slowly grew on me over the course of several listenings until they finally stuck in my head just as much as "Crazy on You" or "Love Alive". I'm hard pressed to say what my absolute favorite is from the album. At first it was "Lost Angel". But depending on my mood it could also be "Make Me" or "No Other Love".

"No Other Love" is interesting because it's so incredibly simple as far as lyrics go, yet it really does give me that "I'm flying" feeling. The instrumental arrangement for the song is perfect, first a simple beat and guitar, then adding mandolin, and finally a cello I believe it is, fully fleshing it out into a thing of beauty. I consider "Make Me" to be classic Heart in sound and style. It starts off with Nancy displaying her mastery of the acoustic guitar, then breaks into a rock rhythm while blending acoustic and electric. Not my top favorite on the album, but I really really like it, "Fallen Ones" is very Zeppelinesque in style, and is their most blatant homage to date.

So to sum up, Jupiters Darling is a very strong addition to Heart's incredible catalogue. If there's one overriding weakness to the album it's that it's not an internally consistent whole, due to the variety of music styles and number of tracks. This was an album that had to grow on me. I didn't immediately take to it, but I listen to parts of it it now as much as I do my older faves, which include Dreamboat Annie, Little Queen, and Heart. (Just to be complete, my newer favorites are Desire Walks On and The Road Home.) I consider Jupiters Darling to be a solid middle tier Heart album on my scale of most to least favorites, lumping it in somewhere near Brigade and Bebe le Strange. Ann continues to amaze and astound me. I don't think anyone listening to the album who didn't already know would ever guess she's in her 50's. Rock on!

p.s. I get the feeling that people who rated this album with one star are those who only liked the 80's albums and do not appreciate the true breadth of musical talent that the Wilson sisters possess. The 80's are done and over with. It's time to move on, just like those of us who originally loved Dreamboat Annie have moved on.

I just saw Heart 2 nights ago in St. Charles, MO (St. Louis area). I have travelled the last 2 years to Nashville and Milwaukee to see them, my favorite band since Dreamboat Annie was released. I had front row center the other night and they performed about 8 songs from this new album. Everything on the album is real Heart. The Heart you remember from the seventies. I bought the import version of this album with 2 bonus tracks which I suggest you buy.

The songs have all the acoustic flare of the seventies Heart and all the bone crushing rock as well. The new songs were beautiful in concert. Most concerts, when a band plays to many new songs you get bored and want to hear the classics. These songs made me yearn for them to do the entire new album that night. They did sacrifice a few songs I would have liked to have heard such as Mistral Wind, Rockin' Heaven Down, White Lightning and Wine and Sylvan Song/Dream Of The Archer but the concert was truely a moment to last forever.

In this review, I do not wish to go into song by song details. I just want to encourage you to buy this and go see them on the remainder of this tour. Ann and Nancy if you are reading this, I have and always will get goose bumps everytime I hear a song by Heart or The Lovemongers. You have made my life complete. You are and always will be my favorite, hands down. Love ya!

For Heart Fans...You are going to LOVE this new CD "Jupiter's Darling!"

HERE'S WHY TRUE HEART FANS WILL LOVE "JUPITER'S DARLING":

(1) Great Guitar Licks
(2) Super Vocals
(3) INCREDIBLE VARIETY, but the Same HIGH QUALITY

Ann & Nancy have done it again, and this new CD is going to introduce a whole new generation to the incredibly cool sounds of Heart-Music!

The very first song "Make Me" is HOT HOT HOT. The Guitar reminds me of the bit in "Crazy on You" and "Dreamboat Annie"

The 2nd song on the CD is Classic Heart Rock

The 3rd song "Things" sounds so much like Shania Twain, that 8 out of 10 people who know Shania's sound would swear it's her...but it's Ann coming through and coooooool! If Shania were to sing this song...I don't think I could tell the difference.

My favorite song is called the "The Perfect Goodbye" Ann's voice is So Beautiful...It's Perfect for this song.

The 10th song on the CD is my pick to be a huge Chart Topper, although they are not playing it on the radio yet. It's called "I Give Up" and it's got a kind of war-drum sound that people who frequent the bars are going to love to hear. I think it could be the number one bar song of the year.

the song "No Other Love" would be a Huge Success as a Movie Song. It's so memorable...and it's got such a quality sound...I really want to see this one with some great acting.

I've got much more to say, but I will finish with one final thing. The best part of "Jupiter's Darling" is that the songs grow. Everytime I hear the CD, I get more out of it, and so are the rest of the fans. Hey, come see what we are talking about by going to http://www.Heart-Music.com and become a "HeartMonger!"

Opening with a rousing acoustic guitar, you are ready to hear the old world winds of "Magic Man" as Ann kicks in to sing, alas it's not "Magic Man" but for the sisters who have been making power packed rock since 1976, this is still a really welcome comeback.

At 16 songs, the power and passion that is the Wilson sisters can end up being a little intimidating but for anyone who ever sang along with the likes of "Barracuda" or even "Dreamboat Annie", Jupiter's Darling is a great place to go. Ann proves she hasn't lost a bit of her vocal chops as she punches through "Make You" and then takes it down four notches for "The Perfect Goodbye", and ever since she proved what she can do on a lead with 1985's "These Dreams" Nancy (Mrs. Cameron Crowe if you're nasty) gets a few songs of her own, most notably on the acoustic "Things".

Wow! It has been years since ANY album this good came out! I just knew when I found out of this albums conception, that it would totally ROCK! I still had no idea! Boy was I in for a suprise! To be honest, all the things you hear about Heart going back to the old "Little Queen" and "Dreamboat Annie" don't cut it! This album is all that and more.
The first track, Make me, examines a great old feel with an opening that resembles "Crazy on you."
The next few songs are so contemporary and feel good, that you would think to be able to hear them on the top forty soon...I really hope so!
Ann and Nancy are still the queens of rock and roll. It's plain to hear! Of course there are alot of people bashing this because it wasn't their 80's ballad music. Well they can get the eighties tapes and forget about this! When I was into Heart, they were all that mattered...all that the seventies albums they put out were fantastic! Then in the eightes, they went pop and got even bigger. This is no pop. This is pure rock. Contemporary and LOUD! The way it should be! The way it was in the 70's when Magic Man and Barracuda were big! Any REAL HEART fan should check it out. But do understand, it is for the FIRST REAL Heart fans only!