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Rating: With this album, which was commercially very successful, the group completed in 1985 their personal, progressive musical transformation from the early '70s-inspired Hard + Folk Rock, heavily influenced by Anglofile and particularly Zeppelin-like sounds, to the aesthetic and very American '80s AOR (Adult Oriented Rock), which was almost mandatory at the time to stay afloat. Even the cover says a lot (but not everything), with the quintet photographed in a studied pose, adorned with voluminous hairstyles, stirrup pants, embellished jackets, and other paraphernalia that today are so strikingly tacky and outdated. The presence of two beautiful girls in the lineup, after all, helps a lot, allowing them to flaunt a glamorous look almost effortlessly. And it's their definitive success, having previously been somewhat in the B league, neither unknown nor famous, and instead exploding with this eighth (!) album of their career to commercial heights, as already mentioned, remarkable. The golden period would last for three or four albums, until the early '90s: the general fixation for grunge would soon make life hard, then cause the group to sway and disperse (ironically, Heart is a group based in Seattle, home to Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and other friends and admirers).
AOR is bastard music: the instruments hit hard without daring a note or a roll more than necessary, the choruses make sure to remain simple and accessible despite being powerful and quick, the guitar solos rarely linger beyond eight, sixteen bars, the omnipresent keyboards "carpet" everything and dull any sharpness. Such crossover might risk satisfying no one: metalheads who would like a very different rage and dryness, poppers who feel their delicate ears are at risk, virtuosity seekers who may find themselves frustrated by instruments restrained from any genuine foray, and so on. The fact is that the genre sold mountains of records in the latter half of the '80s, perhaps too many: along with the pioneers and luminaires (Boston, Toto, Journey, Harem Scarem, Foreigner...), a whole series of disciples prospered for a while, whose names today mean nothing (Alias, Bad Habit, BB Steal, Biloxi, Blue Tears, Caught In The Act, Damn Yankees, Don Patrol, Drive She Said, Eyes, Fair Warning, Giant, Glass Tiger, Hardline, Jagged Edge, Just If I, Loverboy, Promise, Prophet, Quarterflash, Roadhouse, Shy England, Signal, Starship, Storm, Storming Heaven, Strangeways, Tall Stories, Tour de Force, 21 Guns, Unruly Child, Valentine, Vendetta, Von Groove, Wild Horses, Wings of Steel...), but each had their moment of glory, as record companies were giving anyone who tried to adulterate hard rock with catchy choruses a chance in those years.
Heart cannot be considered an elite formation in AOR, due to their poor songwriting aptitude and tendency to stylistically lean on models already developed by others: to be a bit mean, one could simplify by stating that in the '80s the group intended to gradually transition from recycling Led Zeppelin to recycling Foreigner and Journey. But there are also excellent aspects in their music: first and foremost, the supreme voice of Ann Wilson. The Wilson sisters (the brunette Ann, lead vocals, and the blonde Nancy, guitar and backing vocals) are not in the group just to look pretty, though it certainly doesn't hurt. Nancy plays the rhythm guitar perfectly, especially the acoustic one, and Ann is a true legend in the USA: stunning timbre, frightening power and range, proverbial temperament and generosity have long placed her among America's great singers, curiously among the least "exported" to the rest of the world. Yet, over there, even the old and the young know her. Ann's adult and intense expressiveness fits perfectly with her group's AOR turn. Comfortable in both the more (so to speak) riotous rock and the most heartfelt ballads, her always resolute and dramatic interpretation brings intensity even to the lightest and most "pop" episodes (in this occasion "Never" and "Nothing At All"). The habit of always expressing herself to the limit, without sparing herself, allows her insane and virtuosic excursions into prohibitive keys, taken without the aid of falsetto and therefore with unparalleled strength. For those who understand what singing means, also from a technical point of view, Wilson can only be a reference point.
Her sister Nancy is somewhat disadvantaged by the electric and "keyboard-oriented" trend of pop rock adopted by the group at this stage, she who, with her dexterity on the six and twelve-string acoustic, as well as the mandolin, excelled in those folk-hard rock episodes that echoed "Led Zeppelin III" (devastating in this regard is the live performance, frequently in Heart's concert setlists, of the Zeppelins' folk gem "The Battle of Evermore", with the two sisters singing the parts of Robert Plant and Sandy Denny, and Nancy pounding on the mandolin like and better than Jimmy Page: spine-chilling). The blonde guitarist redeems herself greatly by taking the lead vocals on the best (or at least my favorite) track of the bunch, "These Dreams", a romantically and intriguingly arranged ballad on keyboard layers and soft percussion. Nancy's voice, usually very clean and "flat," is enriched for the occasion with a slight hoarseness, apparently due to an incipient, concurrent cold, which lends her an unrepeatable charm as she softly describes the beautiful melody, a work of external pen like many other episodes on the album. The writing merits are indeed equally divided between composer Martin Page and lyricist, of EltonJohnian association, Bernie Taupin, who initially conceived the song for Stevie Nicks, defaulting to another blonde since the first hadn't liked it. "These Dreams" also marked the first single from the album and shot to the top of the charts, with its respective video in heavy rotation on MTV for months (even in Italy, during the Disco Music era) and thus making the tiny and fiery Fleetwood Mac singer quite envious. The album opens with the most energetic song among the ten present, entitled "If Looks Could Kill", in which unusual additional space is given to Howard Leese's competent lead guitar, which promptly intervenes whenever Ann takes a breath, effectively drawing attention to itself thanks to the beautiful phrasing, both incisive and melodic, mastered by him.
The quintet lineup is completed by the rhythm section, featuring Danny Carmassi on drums (renowned hitter, former Montrose and Sammy Hagar, as well as future Coverdale-Page and Whitesnake) and the also blonde Mark Andes, a truly versatile guy since he played bass as a kid in the blues-loving Canned Heat, as a youngster in the psychedelic Spirit of Randy California, and as a good lad in the rustic Firefall, before finding engagement with the two sisters. At present, the inseparable Wilson sisters are still going strong, with other companions and with the Heart group which, long past the glorious and glamorous season of twenty years ago, has regained the more genuine and heartfelt hard rock sound of their beginnings, tinged with folk (and more sincere and heartfelt), with the always graceful Nancy often and willingly embellishing and arpeggiating, as she knows, on acoustic instruments. Ann, the sister, for many years now heavily burdened physically from excessive indulgence and drinking, although she has lost much of her attractiveness, has nonetheless retained the phenomenal vocal and interpretative abilities of always. Talents available to all in the numerous formations albums, including this work which, while probably not their best, is historically and commercially of precise significance in their career.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 If Looks Could Kill (03:42)
Caught you in the act, can't put up with that
Messing where you shouldn't be
I wanna hear you say you're sorry
'Cuz nobody takes advantage of me
You're missing the mark, shooting in the dark
I'm pulling the wool from my eyes
Baby, don't push me further
It's gonna hurt you if it happens twice
(chorus)
If looks could kill
You'd be lying on the floor
You'd be begging me, please, please
Baby don't hurt me no more
If looks could kill
You'd be reeling from the pain
And you'd never lie again
If looks could kill
Living on the edge, hanging by a thread
I'm watching every move you make
You don't want to see my anger
So don't you make another mistake
Love is on the line, I ain't about to be kind
That's a promise and a threat
If I was you, I'd really cool it
Or risk a night you will never forget
(chorus)
I was a fool to believe in you
A sucker for every line
I'm a little less blind than I was before
I can see right through your design
(chorus) - twice
04 These Dreams (04:15)
Spare a little candle
Save some light for me
Figures up ahead
Moving in the trees
White skin in linen
Perfume on my wrist
And the full moon that hangs over
These dreams in the mist
Darkness on the edge
Shadows where I stand
I search for the time
On a watch with no hands
I want to see you clearly
Come closer than this
But all I remember
Are the dreams in the mist
These dreams go on when I close my eyes
Every second of the night I live another life
These dreams that sleep when it's cold outside
Every moment I'm awake the further I'm away
Is it cloak and dagger
Could it be spring or fall?
I walk without a cut
Through a stained glass wall
Weaker in my eyesight
The candle in my grip
And words that have no form
Are falling from my lips
These dreams go on when I close my eyes
Every second of the night I live another life
These dreams that sleep when it's cold outside
Every moment I'm awake the further I'm away
There's something out there
I can't resist
I need to hide away from the pain
There's something out there
I can't resist
The sweetest song is silence
That I've ever heard
Funny how your feet
In dreams never touch the earth
In a wood full of princes
Freedom is a kiss
But the prince hides his face
From dreams in the mist
These dreams go on when I close my eyes
Every second of the night I live another life
These dreams that sleep when it's cold outside
Every moment I'm awake the further I'm away
These dreams go on when I close my eyes
Every second of the night I live another life
These dreams that sleep when it's cold outside
Every moment I'm awake the further I'm away
05 The Wolf (04:03)
You were born to privilege
Licking on a silver spoon
Think you gotta buy all your friends
Just so you can tear up the room
Your kind is a dime a dozen
I've seen it all before
A parasite in a good disguise
Just another wolf at the door
The wolf
Prowling in the nighttime
The wolf
Howling in the moonshine
The wolf
Gives you what you want but he ain't no friend of mine
You lay it on oh, so sweet
Just like that bad cologne
Just smiling tooth and nail
You gotta make your presence known
But you are only a lonely hunter
Some things you can't disguise
Just to look in the hallway mirror
Now it's howling in your eyes
The wolf
Prowling in the nighttime
The wolf
Howling in the moonshine
The wolf
Gives you what you want but he ain't no friend of mine
Silent, slick and stalthy
Slinking through your evils nights
You can see in the dark they tell me
The daylight burns your eyes
I know you're trying to track me down now
You're right on my trail
Your think you're going for the big big game
But you're chasing your own tail
The wolf
Prowling in the nighttime
The wolf
Howling in the moonshine
The wolf
Gives you what you want but he ain't no friend of mine
08 Nothin' at All (04:13)
I would walk home every evening
Through the pyramids of light
I would feed myself from silence
Wash it down with empty nights
Then your innocent distractions
Hit me so hard
My emotional reaction
Caught me off guard
It was nothin' at all (nothin' at all)
Like anything I had felt before
And it was nothin' at all (nothin' at all)
Like I thought, no, it's so much more
No one else
Has ever made me feel this way
When I asked you how you did it
You just say
It was nothin' at all
Now, I walk home every evening
And my feet are quick to move
'Cause I know my destination
Is a warm and waiting you
From our first communication
It was clear
Any thought of moderation
Would soon disappear
It was nothin' at all (nothin' at all)
Like anything I had felt before
And it was nothin' at all (nothin' at all)
Like I thought, no, it's so much more
No one else
Has ever made me feel this way
When I asked you how you did it
You just say
It was nothin' at all
Then your innocent distractions
Hit me so hard
My emotional reaction
Caught me off guard
It was nothin' at all (nothin' at all)
Like anything I had felt before
And it was nothin' at all (nothin' at all)
Like I thought, no, it's so much more
No one else
Has ever made me feel this way
When I asked you how you did it
You just say
It was nothin' at all
It was nothin' at all (nothin' at all)
Like anything I had felt before
It was nothin' at all (nothin' at all)
No, it was nothin' at all (nothin' at all)
Nothin' at all (nothin' at all)
09 What He Don't Know (03:41)
What He Don't Know
ALBUM � Heart (1985)
He don't know that you been coming around
He don't know that we been out of bounds
Things we do are better left unsaid
You and me can never keep our heads
What he don't know
Will never hurt him
What he don't know
Is I have changed
It's just a matter of time
Till it all comes down down down
Till he hears
The stories going round round round
What he don't know
What he don't know
Baby, I'm open to your every suggestion
Nothing you ask is out of the question
Things I wouldn't do ya got me doin�
And oh, what I wouldn't do for you
What he don't know
Will never hurt him
What he don't know
Is I have changed
It's just a matter of time
Till it all comes down down down
Till he hears
The stories going round round round
What he don't know
What he don't know
What he don't know
What he don't know
What he don't know
What he don't know
10 Shell Shock (03:42)
Shell Shock
ALBUM � Heart (1985)
I can snap my fingers and get quick results
I can wink my eyes and melt their little hearts
Something hit me brought me to my knees
Something hit me, no remedies
You came out shooting, you left me stunned
I know I'm losing it, look what you have done
Shell shock shell shock
You got me in your love lock
Shell shock shell shock
I can't escape it no I can't shake it
You crept up behind me
A rival to my heart
Hit me with your charms baby
Caught me in the dark
You made me like a bandit, made yourself a hero
I couldn't stand it, will power zero
You came out shooting, you left me stunned
I know I'm losing it, look what you have done
Shell shock shell shock
You got me in a love lock
Shell shock shell shock
I can't escape it no, I can't shake it
But I like it, I like it a lot
I like it, I like it a lot
Shell shock shell shock
Something hit me brought me to my knees
Something hit me, no remedies
You came out shooting, you left me stunned
I know I'm losing it, look what you have done
Shell shock shell shock
Shell shock shell shock
Shell shock shell shock
Shell shock shell shock
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