Audio CD review:
Heart - The Road Home

Heart - The Road Home

Band: Heart Title: The Road Home Rating: Release Date: 1995-08-29 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child) - Heart, Wilson, Ann 2: Dog and Butterfly - Heart, Wilson, Ann 3: (Up on) Cherry Blossom Road - Heart, Sky, A. 4: Back to Avalon - Heart, Wilson, Ann 5: Alone - Heart, Steinberg, Billy 6: These Dreams - Heart, Taupin, Bernie 7: Love Hurts - Heart, Bryant, Boudleaux 8: Straight On - Heart, Wilson, Ann 9: All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You - Heart, Lange, Robert John 10: Crazy on You - Heart, Wilson, Ann 11: Seasons - Heart, John, Elton 12: River - Heart, Mitchell, Joni 13: Barracuda - Heart, DeRosier, Michael 14: Dream of the Archer - Heart, Wilson, Ann 15: Road Home - Heart,

Intimate I am a huge fan of the former, and a fan with less fanaticism about the latter. Typically fans of Heart fall into one of two camps, `70s album rock fans, or `80s Power ballad fans. But I also fall into a third category as a huge fan of the more acoustic pieces. Love Alive, Dreamboat Annie (the song), Dream of the Archer, etc are some of my very favorites from what is probably my very favorite band. I still recall when I saw Heart on their first headline tour supporting "Dreamboat Annie", and the first time Ann played a bar on the flute, I was hers for life. During that show which was curiously opened by a pop group (Player. . "Baby Come Back"), the crowd was in a very mellow mood, wanting to sit on the floor and wave the lighters. Ann was kind of befuddled about the reaction, and Said "Wow you guys really like the quiet stuff; Someday we'll come back and play a show like that. . . But tonight we're gonna ROCK & ROLL! To this day, it was one of the best shows I ever saw. But I still am waiting for that show. I wish I would have been in the club where "The Road Home" was recorded, because it is the show I always wanted to see. These songs are performed largely acoustic, give or take, and have a very intimate feel. A lot of performers use the line Ann does in this set of "Welcome to our Living Room", but it really has that feel. The versions on this song you can readily imagine being at one of the sister's houses and watching a jam session like this from them and a few friends. This is definitely a CD every Heart fan should own, but I think it is an album anyone would enjoy would enjoy, even if they didn't know they were fans yet. . "Welcome to our living room...." I personally don't like 'live' CD's because they often lose something. This CD is absolutely incredible. However, this CD brought it all together. The girls brought all thier greatest stuff, and then some, back to life with a twist. They went acoustic. . . and boy did they do a good job. It's hard to imagine some of their music done acoustically but it works well. 'How Do I Get You Alone?', 'All I Wanna Do' and, of course, 'Dreamboat Annie' are wonderful done this way. They actually sound like new songs! Some new items that are noteworthy are (Up On) Cherry Blossom Road, Seasons and their cover of River, an old Joni Mitchell song done exquisitely! Quite honestly, if you like Heart, or just Rock and Roll, you can't go wrong with this CD. Give it a try. . Heart - Acoustic And At Their Best The band decided to perform 5 "unplugged" shows at a small club in their hometown of Seattle in 1994 and recorded the results. This is one cool little album and if you are a Heart fan I would consider this a must buy. Many bands have done unplugged albums over the years to various degrees of success. In this case the unplugged format really plays to Heart's strengths and they pull it off with aplomb. The Heart band on this disc contain three original members The Wilson sisters and Howard Leese. Along for the ride on piano, bass and violin is former Led Zeppelin member John Paul Jones. There is also a drummer, bass player, background vocalist and a string section. The material selected for the album is well chosen for the most part. Stripped down versions of the hits are here, "Dreamboat Annie", "Dog And Butterfly", "Alone", "These Dreams", the unfortunately horrendous "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" (although this acoustic version is better than the original), "Crazy On You" (which works really well in this format), "Straight On" and "Barracuda". The more obscure album cuts are the real highlight here though with "Back To Avalon", and "Dream Of The Archer" coming across particularly well. The band also include several interesting covers including Nazareth's "Love Hurts", Elton John's "Seasons", and Joni Mitchell's "River". All are done very nicely and again fit well with Heart's overall sound. One new song "Cherry Blossom Road" is also included. Heart has put out several live albums over the years, but I think that this is the best one. If you like Heart at all this is well worth checking out. Ann and Nancy Go Acoustic Recorded live in a small Seattle club, this CD leaves behind the big production and shiny sheen that dominated their music for most of the 1980's. "The Road Home" is one of Heart's best albums (and that's saying something). What's here is really what makes Ann and Nancy Wilson so powerful - - acoustic arrangements and Ann's amazing voice. John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin did the arranging and producing - a great homage since the Wilson's have been very vocal about their love of Led Zep over the years. All the Heart originals here are just great and it's eye-opening to hear them played stripped down. Like another reviewer, I never liked "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" (really guys, what were you thinking when you originally recorded this for the Brigade album??) and was surprised to see that it was included here. This version is much better than the original, but the song is just lame (dumb lyrics). Of the covers, the best is Joni Mitchell's "River". I love Joni's version, but Ann makes this her own. Any Heart fan should own this album - and any fan of acoustic/folk rock should too. . Heart at Their Best I feel like it's the album where they put it all together and created something new and magical. The Road Home is not only my favorite Heart album, it's one of my favorite albums, period. Annie's voice (best female rock vocalist of all time) is as potent as ever and Nancy's guitar playing is matured and aged like a fine wine. Normally I don't care for covers too much, but the few included on this album are done well, especially Joni Mitchell's "River", which is a favorite of mine, and "Love Hurts". I was starting to list the standout cuts of their own material, but then realized that was silly, because they all are standouts. Each is a gem. I can't say enough about the instrumental and vocal arrangements for these versions. They retain what was good about the originals, but then transcend. My favorite cut on the album is Crazy on You. It wasn't a song I paid much attention to originally. Then I saw them perform it live in concert and it blew me away as they powered through it and it became one of my favorites. The version on The Road Home is drastically different from the studio version and their previous live versions. And it's all the better for it. It blew me away yet again, this time with a strong blues component mixed in with the rock. It's worth buying the album just for this rendition alone. The only weak spot on the album? "All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You. " It's a stupid song, I've always hated it, and why they ever thought it was a good idea to revisit it I have no idea. I conveniently skip over it every time. Thank goodness for the digital age. Hard core fans probably already have this album in their collections. Anyone else who is even mildly interested in Heart needs to get this one next as it highlights everything that is great about them. You can see a complete list of all Heart discography, or go back to the Heart tabs