My Picks for Best to Worst Albums.
Heart (1975-1987)
I have been a diehard Heart fan since the beginning. The early Heart music is by far, the most iconic of their recordings. Bands change and music changes. Heart was no stranger to these changes. Some albums became legendary classics while others faded away into oblivion. The following is my list “from worst to best” albums by Heart.
#9 Private Audition (1982)
This album was an unfortunate flop. I think the album cover itself had a lot to do with that. Some songs are good. I like the guitars on "City's burning". "Perfect strangers" is a good ballad, but that's really all it is. I do love Nancy's vocals on "Angels". The rest of the album sounds like an experiment in trying to find new sounds that simply didn't work on this album. By "Heart" standards, this album was a significant disappointment for diehard fans.
#8 Bad Animals (1987)
This was Hearts follow-up album after their monstrous success of their comeback album "Heart" in 1985. Their one and only hit off of this album was "Alone" - another ballad. Heart had gone through a lot of major band changes in the early 1980's, which also cost them their original 1970's iconic classic rock sound. As much as I do like the 1985 album, it was more commercial than any of the previous albums, and unfortunately, "Bad Animals" continued that commercialism.
#7 Magazine (1977)
This album came with a lot of controversy as you can read in this article. There was really only one great song on this album: "Heartless".
#6 Passionworks (1983)
I remember hearing "How can I refuse" on the radio for the first time, and immediately thinking that Heart had found their rock roots again. I am a huge Nancy Wilson fan, so no matter what she does, I'm probably going to like it. Such is the case with the song she sang on this album, called "Love Mistake". I don't know, just something about that song resonates with me. Hard to believe that this album came out 40 years ago this year.
#5 Heart (1985)
This is it. After several years of mildly successful albums, this was the comeback album that shot Heart back up to the top of the charts in the middle 1980's. It was a true departure from the original Heart music so well-established in the 1970's. This time it was more about the MTV generation and looking good on camera, and less about the actual music. The music is good on this album, but it was abundantly clear that things had dramatically changed in the band.
#4 Bebe le Strange (1980)
This was a true Heart rock album. My two favorite songs on this album are "Rockin' Heaven Down" and "Even it up". Straight ahead, in your face rock guitars and rock drums, and of course Ann Wilson's legendary vocals.
#3 Dog and Butterfly (1978)
Such an incredible album. "Straight on" and "Dog and Butterfly" made it to FM radio back in the day. Then, there's Nancy's "Mistral wind" masterpiece. I love this album for all of the acoustic guitar work.
#2 Dreamboat Annie (1975)
Heart's debut album garnered such monster hits as "Magic man" and "Crazy on you". It became abundantly clear to me that Nancy Wilson was already an acoustic guitar legend in her early twenties. Her introduction piece to Crazy on you, became an immediate challenge to learn for every guitarist who was paying attention that day, including me. One of my other favorite songs on this album is "Sing child", simply because of the guitar work.
#1 Little Queen (1977)
And my all time favorite heart album is "Little Queen". In true classic 70's rock style, the album cover echoed sentiments of Led Zeppelin influences. I believe that this album was the pinnacle of Heart's success early on. Everyone who knows how to air drum and air guitar, knows how to play "Barracuda". This was arguably, Heart's greatest song ever. Most non-musicians aren't even aware of the 5/8 and 7/8 odd time signatures in this song. "Love alive" was one of the reasons I saved my hard-earned paper route money to buy my 1979 Takamine 12-string acoustic guitar. Then, there's "Kick it out" and "Little Queen". Two great rock songs. Every song on this album is a story in itself. That is why it is my pick for Heart's number one album.
Heart released six later albums in the 1990's and 2000's, but they were less than successful for the times. The 1990's grunge era in modern music had changed everything - and even though Heart was from Seattle, they simply weren't a grunge band. I don't know any of those albums and that is why they are not on this list. Heart to me represents the classic rock of the 1970's and early 1980's. Beyond that, I began to lose interest. I will always be a huge fan of Heart because of how much their music influenced me as a practicing guitarist. I believe Nancy Wilson is the absolute reigning queen of rock guitar, and Ann Wilson is the reigning queen of rock female vocals.