Audio CD review:
Heart - Heart Greatest Hits: Live

Heart - Heart Greatest Hits: Live

Band: Heart Title: Heart Greatest Hits: Live Rating: Release Date: 1990-10-25 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Barracuda - Heart, DeRosier, Michael 2: Silver Wheels - Heart, Wilson, Nancy [2] 3: Crazy on You - Heart, Fisher, Roger 4: Straight On - Heart, Ennis, Sue 5: Dreamboat Annie - Heart, Wilson, Ann 6: Even It Up - Heart, Ennis, Sue 7: Magic Man - Heart, Wilson, Ann 8: Heartless - Heart, Wilson, Ann 9: Dog and Butterfly - Heart, Ennis, Sue 10: Bebe le Strange - Heart, Ennis, Sue 11: Tell It Like It Is - Heart, Davis, George [1] 12: Mistral Wind - Heart, Ennis, Sue 13: Sweet Darlin' - Heart, Wilson, Ann 14: I'm Down/Long Tall Sally - Heart, Blackwell, Robert 15: Rock & Roll - Heart, Bonham, John

Sounds like no other Maybe it was because of the digital remastering (a relatively new thing at that time). 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 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. Not a "Live Album" I figured the title Heart "Greatest Hits:Live", would mean all songs were live but only a select few are and there not even great hits IMO. The description of this cd is very very misleading. Good From the Heart I thought they sounded like they meant it like: Crazy On You, Barracuda, Straight On, Heartless (my favorite from them). Don't get me wrong, they looked a lot better in the 80's with stilletos and all that make-up, and puffy hair that could raise any skyscraper, but old Heart is a hell of a lot better than their newer stuff. Yep these vixens who were compared to Led Zeppelin as a hell of a rock band, boy oh boy, pretty damn close I might add. Anyways this album kicks serious butt. WHERE IS STRANGE EUPHORIA? Call Strange Euphoria" what you want, but it is a cool song and sounds like Ann and Nancy are on a LSD trip while singing. "Strange Euphoria" was the one of the "new" songs on this recording but it was deleted from the CD of this late 1980 release. It was a great song which was not replicated on 1997's Whirlygig even though Heart tried. The cover sports one of my favorite photos of Ann Wilson with the stand-off-ish, jacked up, over-confident look. . Excellent Introduction To Heart Before 1984 Hit Sensation (At that time I was looking for Definitive collection of Heart including 80s hits). Greatest Hits Live originally recorded in 1980 was one of my early CD purchases during early 90s but I happened to miss simply because it was dubbed as "Live" and I thought that was not I had been looking for. Time has changed and I happened to uncover this CD from the heap of my dusted CD collections. It has nine best tracks from their early works such as Dreamboat Annie(1976), Little Queen(1977), Magazine(1978), Dogs and Butterfly(1978), Bebe Le Strange(1980). On the back jacket name of the albums the each tracks are from are shown. Then the album become live recording collection during August and September 1980 tour. Live recording of BEBE LE STRANGE takes place at the stage side where the chat among members before the show can be heard. Interesting intrigue. TELL IT LIKE IT IS is unusually not live but studio recording and became single cut from this greatest CD. And then the ending live performance is LED ZEPPELIN classic ROCK'N ROLL. Alas, it shows their rock spirit. Yes, it misses PRIVATE AUDITION(1982) and PASSIONWORK material to be the early Heart collection. But the timing for the release was excellent because it was made when HEART was at their artistic height. Verdict: It is no doubt Heart fans' essential and 70s rock fans' paradise. Showing well how HEART had been during their early prime. Rating: 88 out of 100. Well-edited (particularly Silver Wheel and Crazy On You combination just as their live performance) and consistent. Transition from studio recording part and live recording part has been done excellently. Recommended for: Every Heart fan. Lots of 70s rock fans and the appreciators of recent Heart releases such as Desire Walks On(1993) and Jupiters Darling(2004). You can see a complete list of all Heart discography, or go back to the Heart tabs