Track Listing

1. Barracuda
2. Silver Wheels
3. Crazy on You
4. Straight On
5. Dreamboat Annie
6. Even It Up
7. Magic Man
8. Heartless
9. Dog and Butterfly
10. Bebe le Strange
11. Tell It Like It Is
12. Mistral Wind
13. Sweet Darlin'
14. I'm Down/Long Tall Sally
15. Rock & Roll

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29516 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Customer Reviews

Telling it like it is
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.

Heart's greatest during their prime--and they play live too!
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.

Sounds like no other
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.