Heart - Brigade (13 tracks) +Album Reviews +Used CD available for Swap

Absolutely Incredible

C. VanDerhoof | Nashville, TN United States | 10/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is by far the best CD Heart ever made. I have everything that they have ever done that I could get my hands on. I love all of their stuff, including the Lovemongers, Nancy's CD Live at McCabes, solo stuff, import albums just for one song not released in the US, everything. But this CD rules. I bought it the day it was released in 1990, and 11 years later, it is still my favorite Heart CD. I love every song on this CD. Ann's voice is an amazing instrument. Unbelievable power, range, clarity and diction. I've seen them in concert 3 times, and she sounds just as good if not better live. It's too bad she never made a duet with Steve Perry. That would've just been an absolutely incredible to hear. My favorites on this CD are Under The Sky, Fallen From Grace, All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You, Wild Child, Secret, and Stranded. Nancy turns in her best vocal performance to date with Stranded. It is such a good album that it is hard for me to say which songs are my fave's, because I really love the entire CD. It is also an excellently recorded album, really sounds great. I also got the CD single for Stranded which has 2 unreleased songs on it, which are: The Will To Love - a ballad, which is one of my favorite Heart songs, and Cruel Tears - a slamming rocker. Both of them are sung by Ann. Unfortunately, this CD single is no longer available. It's too bad they didn't put them on Brigade, it would have rounded the CD out to 15 songs, and really put it over the top as one of the best rock albums of all time. When I recorded Brigade on tape for my car, that's exactly what I did. Buy this CD right now, I promise you, you won't be sorry."

Heart's heaviest albums kicks you-know-what!

Daniel J. Hamlow | Narita, Japan | 07/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When the 1990's kicked in, Heart returned to a sound that outdid the rock sound of their self-titled album. This is their heaviest album ever! Don't get me wrong--I like what Ron Nevison did for Heart, but he kind of overdid it with the synths on Bad Animals. Ritchie Zito kicked those synths in the head and replaced them with some bad, bad, guitars!The chugging opening guitar and blaring lead guitar of "Wild Child" serves to remind all dissers that Heart can still rock. This could've been on the Heart album. However, using titles of well-known songs in one verse, "Ring my bell, baby" and "Shake baby rattle and roll" is a bit much.Then comes a song by the Mutt, you know, Mr. Twain, which gained a bit of controversy because it's about a woman who gets impregnated by a hitchhiker after a magical one-night stand because her husband's sterile. At least it put Heart back in the Top Five. One analogy is wonderful: "We walked in the garden we planted to tree."The power ballad "Secret", on an illicit affair, is my favourite song on this album and I wasn't too chuffed that it didn't climb higher than the Top 60 on the charts. There is a wall of heavy guitar and the Wilsons powerful vocals that somehow just gets me going.Holly Knight gives the Wilsons "Tall Dark Handsome Stranger," which has a sound reminiscent of Bon Jovi's "Social Disease" what with the horns, but man, what strong guitars! Yow! OK, bloody great rocker, but did the title have to be such a big cliche?Diane Warren's great pen yields another power ballad, "I Didn't Want To Need You" which is another favourite. Power chords pound left and right in the stomping "The Night", coming closer to heavy metal than "The Wolf." This would be a great song to do live--just make sure the crowd doesn't get too rowdy.OK, some synth creeps in "Fallen From Grace", but chugging heavy guitars take precedence. The power harmonies in the main refrain work well. Heartfelt lines: "The tears left behind/won't wash from my face/The mid-paced, wistful "Under The Sky" is to Heart what "Dover Beach" was to the Bangles: let's run away together and spend quality time: "Shake the world off your shoulders/you have the perfect alibi/just because the world is wide." because "when all is said and done/darlin' we are the only ones""Cruel Nights", which has a backbeat like the Police's "Every Breath You Take" is another Diane Warren composition. The title nights are equal to "missing you nights", "what do I do nights." Without that wall of sound, Laura Branigan could've done this, as she too benefitted from Ms. Warren's magical pen."Stranded" is another power ballad that incorporates inflections from "What About Love." It's more powerful than its predecessor, but without the emotional depth."Call Of The Wild" is a decent rocker, but it's the Nancy-sung "I Want Your World To Turn," co-written by T. Kelly and B. Steinberg ("Alone" from Bad Animals) and its keyboards (not excessive) that makes a welcome change. Nancy's sweeter vocals and the catchy hooks in the chorus did it for me. Face it, after enough blaring rockers, one will simply tune out. And the Holly Knight-co-penned ,"I Love You" is a kind of goodnight keyboard synth lullaby after the barn-burning from the rest of the album.Producer Richie Zito should be credited for giving Heart a swift kick back into the rock zone after the excesses of Bad Animals. The fact that this did well given the emergence of grunge and hip-hop during the decade marks this as an artistic triumph for Heart and rock. However, two things kinda bother me. One, despite the great sound, the lyrics aren't of any really emotional substance except for "All I Wanna Do..." and "Under The Sky." Two, there's one member of Heart conspicuous by her absence--Sue Ennis. Given her substantial role in songwriting, I count her as a Heart member. She only does "Call Of The Wild" with all Heart members, and "Under The Sky.""

"Taste The Human Heartbeat..."

Anthony Nasti | Staten Island, New York United States | 09/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"By 1990, Heart was well established as one of the most successful bands in America. They started out big in the 1970s' with big hits like "Barracuda" and "Magic Man, then hit a snag in the early 1980s'. By 1985, Heart was primed for a comeback. Their eponymous debut on Capitol brought them back to the top with hits like "Never" and "These Dreams". 1987's "Bad Animals" continued their run of hits with "Who Will You Run To" and "Alone". In 1990, the band released their third Capitol release, "Brigade". How does it hold up? Read on.

"Brigade" is one of Heart's finest albums. It was at this point that Ann and Nancy started to gain more creative control, as their last two albums were filled with songs that Capitol forced them to record (ie, ballads). This is much more of a rocking album than their previous two releases. The opening track, "Wild Child", is one of the heaviest tracks the band ever did. Highlighted by a forceful synth line and fierce guitars, it makes for a strong opener. Next comes the big hit off the album, the ballad "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You". Written by Mutt Lange, many people hate this song, but I for one love it. Ann gives one of her most powerful vocal performances on this song, and it deserved to become the hit it became and should get more respects than it actually has. Next comes my absolute favorite Heart song. "Secret" is a heartwrenching ballad filled with magnificent keyboard flourishes, a strong Ann vocal and great acoustic guitar work by Nancy. The next track, "Tall Dark Handsome Stranger" is a forceful rocker with sexy, seductive lyrics and a sultry vocal. "I Didn't Want To Need You" is a midtempo number, not exactly a ballad but not a rocker either. It's one of my favorite songs on the album. The keyboards on this song are fantastic.

"The Night" is an acoustic, midtempo number with cool, creepy lyrics and some out and out great guitar work. "Fallen From Grace" is a brilliant track and has a beautiful chorus. "Under The Sky" isn't as memorable as the rest of the album, but it's still a really good song. "Cruel Nights" could've easily been a hit single. The vocals are superb and the song is catchy and begs for repeated listens. Next comes "Stranded". Nancy takes on the lead vocals here, and she is fantastic. The acoustic guitar on here is beautiful on this haunting power ballad. A very underrated classic Heart song. "Call Of The Wild" is filler, but good filler. "I Want Your World Turn" I believe also features Nancy on leads vocals and she is great. This is a forceful, seductive number that should have been a single. Finally, there's "I Love You". It's a deent ballad and is a nice way to close out the album. It's kind of cheesy though.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend "Brigade". It's one of Heart's best albums. I'd call it a must have."

A Must Have!

toby-3196 | West Mifflin, PA USA | 03/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Brigade" from Heart is one of my all time favorite albums, it is such a treat to have an album like this in my colletion, "Brigade" is brillant, and I love every song on it, Heart was at it's best on this gem of an album. "Brigade" is probably my favorite Heart album to date, Ann and Nancy Wilson produced one of the best rock albums around when they released this masterpiece in 1990. The first song "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" became a big hit for them in 1990 hitting #2 and throw in a little controvesy and the song became much bigger then the girls could have imagined, the song is about how you can get into trouble, when your not careful about sex, then came one of my favorite Heart songs "I Didn't Want To Need You" I absolutely LOVE! this song I didn't even care where it went on the charts', I simple think this song is AWESOME!, written by Diane Warren the ladies of Heart give us another reason to love them, the way the song just flows is superb, and I never get sick of this song, next the ladies slow down alot with their next hit "Stranded", the song is so powerful and beautiful that it is a shame that it stalled at #11, but who cares this is a great song showcasing the softer side of Heart, and finally the forgotten release off of this album "Secret", this was sorely dismissed as the 4th song from the album, but it is such a well sung song and it should have done better. But to end there is wrong because this album is full of hidden gems, like "Wild Child" and "I Love You", when I bought this album it was a must have and thank God that I bought it because this is one TERRIFIC! album."

Highly Underrated

Chris S. | atlanta, ga United States | 08/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"By the time Heart released BRIGADE in 1990, they had completely fell out of favor with critics, as well as fans of their classic seventies work. This was only a slight deterrence, as the group was still riding very high on their mid-eighties comeback. The critical hatred seemed to continue with this album, which is sad because it easily outpaces their previous two records, and it my opinion remains their best studio effort. In a possible attempt to appease new and old, BRIGADE offers a marriaging of sorts between the guitar-crunch sound they perfected in the seventies and the power balladry/corporate rock sound of the eighties,and the results are first-rate. Though 'All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You' was the big hit here, this album goes so much deeper, and wasn't given the fair shake it deserved. 'Wild Child' and 'Tall Dark Handsome Stranger' recall the Heart of old, and provide Ann Wilson a chance to ignite her firecracker voice. The power ballads here aren't bad either(even the two Diane Warren tunes), and Nancy Wilson shines vocally on two of the album's best cuts, 'Stranded' and 'I Want Your World To Turn'. The album highlight, though, is 'Under The Sky', a gorgeous acoustic strummer that showcases the beautiful harmony work between the two sisters. A must for any fan of well-crafted, wonderfully performed music."

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