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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Too much glossy keyboards, but a worthy effort, June 29, 2003
Album number 2 produced by Ron Nevison, and it's a lot more polished, but without the cutting edge of songs like "The Wolf" or "Shell Shock" from their eponymous Capitol Records debut. That's been replaced by a slick layer of keyboard synthesizer icing. That could explain why they put more of a rock edge on the followup Brigade. Still, when I first got Bad Animals, I was already immersed into their previous catalog and thought it was a worthy followup to Heart.The Diane Warren-penned "Who Will You Run To" is a guitar and keyboard rocker warning against foolishly going it alone and with a new woman. "You found a new world and you want to taste it/But that world can turn cold and you better face it/Who will you run to when it all falls down/who's gonna pick your world up off the ground/who's gonna take away the tears you cry/who's gonna love you baby as good as I." Great guitar work at the end! "Alone" is the "What About Love" of Bad Animals, an archetypal emotional powerhouse of a power ballad, but with piano. It's one of my favourite songs by them. The synthesizers blast out with the refrain: "Till now I always got by on my own/I never really cared until I met you/And now it chills me to the bone/How do I get you alone?" Well, show me some collateral and I'll give you a loan. Alone, a loan, get it? OK, I'll knock it off! Their other #1 singles hit. Holly Knight gives Heart another wonderful single with the keyboard rocker "There's The Girl" punctuated by solid guitar riffs. And it's sung by Nancy Wilson, who gave Heart their first #1 hit, "These Dreams." The sad "I Want You So Bad", is highlighted by a backing choir. This used to be a favourite, but they seem to go overboard with the keyboards on this one. "Wait For An Answer" reminds me at times of Pink Floyd's "Learning To Fly" and Bryan Adams' "Somebody", only with a heavy keyboard frosting. The title track, written by the band, is another song revelling about nonconformists. These bad animals "got to push the grain or go insane." Ann really belts out the chorus and she gets a crashing drum beat from Denny, so that's good. "You Ain't So Tough" sounds like something Bon Jovi might do, except heavy on the keyboards. At least the chorus is catchy: "Lovin' you was an endless fight/I was wrong and you were always right/But look what happened when I called your bluff/When the truth comes out, you ain't so tough." "Strangers Of The Heart" while a good power ballad, wouldn't have made it in the Top Forty. The last two songs are Wilson/Wilson/Ennis compositions. "Easy Target" has more a rock edge, while the power ballad "RSVP" is about an invitation to a private affair. There's no doubt denying that Heart got to rock prominence in the 1980's. The cost of that is the introduction of songs done by other writers. In fact only three songs are written by the Wilsons. That's not to denigrate Diane Warren, Billy Steinberg, or the great Holly Knight, though. It's just that seeing as how Heart got by in writing their own songs for seven albums, seeing these other people seems to hint that they've sacrificed songcraft for glossy production. Still, Ann and Nancy's vocals are the saving grace of this worthy effort.
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by Heart 
