CoronaVinyl Day 86 (Washington): Heart by Heart

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is Washington, and by that, I meant the state of Washington and not Washington, DC.  Of course, Washington came to be known for the grunge and riot grrrl genres, but I don't really have any vinyl from those genres.  What I do have, though, are a couple albums from one of the biggest rock bands to come out of Washington:  Heart.

Heart was formed in Seattle in 1970, and over the next several years, the Wilson sisters, Ann and Nancy joined the band.  The band moved to Vancouver when one of the members was trying to dodge the Vietnam draft, and after some turnover, they released their first album, Dreamboat Annie, in 1975.  That's one of the two Heart albums I have on vinyl, and the other is 1985's self-titled album.  I let my kids pick which album we were going to listen to, and they went with the latter.

Heart (the album) was a major comeback album for the band.  They had had some huge hits in the '70s, but their first three studio albums of the '80s -- 1980's Bébé le Strange, 1982's Private Audition, and 1983's Passionworks -- yielded only two minor hits.  After lead singer Ann Wilson teamed with Loverboy's Mike Reno for the Top 10 duet "Almost Paradise" for the Footloose soundtrack, the band decided to update its sound and to use outside songwriters to help.

The results speak for themselves, as the Heart album rejuvenated Heart's career.  It was the band's first #1 album on the Billboard album chart.  It also went to #3 on the Canadian album chart and #19 on the UK album chart, their highest-charting on the former since 1977 and their highest-charting on the latter up to that point.  Some of the band's most recognizable and enduring songs came from this album, and it had five singles that charted on the Billboard Hot 100 (still the most from one album for the band) -- "What About Love" (#10), "Never" (#4), "These Dreams" (#1), "Nothin' At All" (#10), and "If Looks Could Kill" (#54).  "What About Love" was their first Top 10 hit in five years, "Never" was their first Top 5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and "These Dreams" was their first #1. 

All in all, the album is a pretty solid example of mid-'80s rock, and it proved that the band could rock just as hard in the '80s as they did in the '70s. And as the album cover proves, they could dress the part as well.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "If Looks Could Kill"
This is my favorite song from the album.  It's the first track, and it starts the album off with a bang, letting listeners know that Heart was back.  The song is a rocked-up version of the synth-pop/dance original recorded by Pamala Stanley.  It's about a scorned lover talking to the dude who cheated on her while having a murder fantasy.  Hence, "if looks could kill, you'd be lyin' on the floor."  

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Shell Shock"
The last track on the album rocks as hard as the first.  Co-written by the entire band and longtime songwriting collaborator Sue Ennis, "Shell Shock" starts with a guitar riff that could have easily been from a Mötley Crüe or Ratt song, and the guitar solo is pretty solid as well.