#35 – Alone, Bad Animals (1987)
written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly
For many, this is Heart. This is the band that ruled the videowaves with a power ballad that topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. And while hit is not my Heart, no one, certainly not could deny the way Ann Wilson owned this song so completely that it didn’t even matter that they didn’t write it. Listening to this song sends chills up and down your spine; not because it’s a particularly good song — it’s a fair to middling song at best — but that voice. Yes, it was Nancy’s tits and ass wagging all over the video, humping her guitar (it was an excruciatingly embarrassing time for the band, even as they attained immense popularity) but you couldn’t deny that Ann Wilson was the star of this song.
Alone was the first single from their ninth studio album, Bad Animals. It peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Top 200 albums in the summer of 1987, and was certified triple-platinum in 1992. Honestly, I thought this song would land much higher on my list of favorite Heart songs. I mean, Ann really does sound incredible. But honestly, the song is pretty lame, and all I really get out of it is the thrill of Ann letting loose. It’s the first of four songs from Bad Animals to appear on my list, which is actually pretty good. Heart only spawned two in my Top 40, and the follow-up, Brigade doesn’t appear at all. (Come on, it’s claim to fame was All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You. There’s really not much more to say about Alone, so here’s the video and we’ll move on.
Okay, and listening to this live version with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra does bring tears to my eyes.
#34 – Desire Walks On, Desire Walks On (1993)
written by Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Sue Ennis
Desire Walks On is a really interesting album. It was the first album that Heart decided to take back creative control after three albums worth of 80’s hit-making. They got rid of the big hair and cleavage busting outfits, and they wrote most of the songs. Sadly, the album didn’t do that well, peaking at #48 on the Billboard Top 200, and only yielding one Top 40 hit, Will You Be There (In the Morning) which only made it #39. Still, for me, it was like a breath of fresh air. Heart was on the way back. The Heart that I loved. And while Desires Walks On was a somewhat schizophrenic album, it has the distinction of being the album with the most songs in my Top 40 songs by Heart!
Anchoring my list, you’ve already heard that hard-rockin’ Rage at #40, and now the title track comes in at #34. A propulsive hard-rocker with layered synths, Desire Walks On is straight-forward rock & roller that brings the power back to Heart, but doesn’t quite capture the attitude of their early days. What it does do is bridge their 80’s rock with a return that something that feels like it belongs to them. It features scorching vocal by Ann, a funky bass line and some great rock guitar licks.
#33 – This Man is Mine, Private Audition (1982)
written by Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Sue Ennis
Private Audition is a curious album. I remember thinking it was a very underrated album, and one of my favorites, but when I went back to listen to it again in preparation for creating this list, I found several of the songs I remembered liking didn’t hold up very well. It’s actually a pretty uneven album (although still considerably better than its follow-up, Passionworks. Private Audition, their 6th studio album, spent 14 on Billboard’s Top 200, climbing to #25. It was the final album to feature bassist Steve Fossen and dummer Michael Derosier. There was only one single released off the album, and it was a pretty unusual choice to kick things off.
This Man is Mine did make the Top 40, climbing to #33 on Billboard’s Top 100, but it was very different from past Heart successes. I remember hearing it for the first time, and really liking it, but thinking, wow, I don’t know if I would have guessed that was Heart if I hadn’t known beforehand. I wonder if they were encouraged by the success of their previous single, Tell It Like It Is, which made it all the way to #8, and was their highest charting single to date. This Man is Mine was a homage to the Supremes, and a frankly embarrassing video was made to accompany the release. Fortunately, it wasn’t played very much. I loved the songs low-key vibe, Nancy’s slapping bass and electric guitar stylings, and, of course, Ann’s terrific vocals. Out of respect to the Wilson sisters, I am not including the video… just the audio track below.
#32 – Ring Them Bells, Desire Walks On (1993)
written by Bob Dylan
If you’re going to do a song that you didn’t write yourself, going with Bob Dylan is probably a safe way to go. Ring Them Bells, another cut from Desire Walks On has a spiritual quality that on first glance might seem to be an odd choice for Heart. Then they turn it into a trio, with Ann, Nancy and Lane Staley from Alice in Chains, and somehow it all comes together. With Ann’s voice powerfully anchoring the song, it’s a nice way to showcase Nancy without having her carry the entire thing, Staley’s gruff, strong vocals add a nice counterpoint and the three blend together surprisingly well on the chorus.
What’s lovely about this song is how it highlight’s Ann’s incredible vocal prowess from the point of view of restraint. While you can hear Nancy and Layne turn on the power and emotion in their parts at the appropriate times, Ann’s vocal parts are so effortless and natural; nothing seems strained or put on. She is right there in the song and it flows naturally, so when she does occasionally unfetter her voice and let it loose it seems as effortless as breathing, and as thrilling a a ray of light breaking through cloud cover.
#31 – Never, Heart (1985)
written by Holly Knight, Gene Black, CONNIE
If What About Love the first single from their 1985 Heart album put them back on the track of commercial success by hitting #10 on Billboard Hot 100, (it’s sitting at #59 on my personal list of Heart songs), then Never solidified their comeback by climbing all the way to #4, marking the first time that Heart earned consecutive top ten entries, and the first time a Heart album generated two top ten singles. It’s also the second and last song from that wildly successful album to show up here. As part of the barrage of song written by hit makers external to the band, as mandated by their new label, Capitol Records, Never is at least co-written by Holly Knight and Gene Black along with CONNIE, which is a pseudonym for Ann, Nancy and songwriting partner Sue Ennis. Holly and Gene were from the band Device, and Holly was pumping out hits for the likes of John Waite, Pat Benatar, and Tina Turner. Holly got her start in the band Spider — probably my favorite band that few people have heard of from the early 80’s.
It’s hard not to like Never with it’s upbeat melody and Ann’s playful vocal delivery. The video is nice enough, again putting the focus on Nancy’s prancing about (in fact the video starts with a shot of Nancy wagging her butt at the camera), but not so obviously trying to hide the fact that Ann isn’t a waif. In fact, I think Ann looks at her best in this video. I’ve also included a live version from 2010 that offers a look at what Heart would have done with the song if left to their own devices, bringing a “rootsier” approach, as quoted by Nancy. Still, it’s a great song, and probably a song that others could have done justice to as well, but Heart certainly makes it pretty memorable.