Track Listing

1. If Looks Could Kill
2. What About Love?
3. Never
4. These Dreams
5. Wolf
6. All Eyes
7. Nobody Home
8. Nothin' at All
9. What He Don't Know
10. Shell Shock

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15008 in Music
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

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More from Heart

Rock the House Live!	Magazine	The Road Home [LIVE]
Dreamboat Annie	Alive in Seattle: DVD	The Road Home DVD

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The adage goes that a band has its entire career to create its first album, and the Wilson sisters, Ann and Nancy, never seemed able to top Dreamboat Annie, certainly one of rock's all-time strongest debut LPs. In fact, by the time they recorded this eponymous effort after switching labels, the industry had pretty much written them off as has-beens. Strangely, the 1985 release became one of the biggest hits of their career, scoring five hit songs. Of course, this was also where the band succumbed to outside tunesmiths and synthesizer-heavy MOR power ballads. Producer Ron Nevision even has Ann at times trying to emulate Madonna. Not a new direction but, frankly, a new band. --Bill Holdship

Customer Reviews

19th Century Romanticism Makes A Comeback
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.

Extreme Makeover
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. 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 "What About Love", "Never", "These Dreams" 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.

This album may be Heart, but there is no soul...
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.