Classic Rock Bottom

 

 

 

Thanks to Scott, he made this week's pick pretty easy, 1982's "Private Audition" from Heart.

 

To be honest, I never heard of this album until about a year after it came out. Seemed to be realesed with little to no fanfare, or I was too busy to notice. I would think after the success of the previous studio album "Bebe le Strange" and the comp/live album "Greates Hits Live", both released in 1980, the streak would continue, but guess it wasn't to be since his album wasn't a big seller, with only one minor hit (and not the one it should have been).

 

Maybe this album and the followup, "Passionworks" were just bridge-albums offering a taste of things to come, since they exploded back on the scene in a big way in 1985. Maybe it was because of MTV, airing those videos every hour. Whatever, it worked.

 

(About "Passionworks": I clearly remember the song "How Can I Refuse" getting a lot of airplay, seemed to always hear this song and "Burning Down The House" from Talking Heads while cruising around Sacramanto during the summer of '83. Sorry, just having a memoy of the good ole days.)

 

Then again, there is a marked difference between ths album and the previous output. Much more mellow, much more pop-oriented. Again, a harbinger of things to come.

 

Not to say this is a disgrace in the Heart catalog. Some might feel this is one of the weakest albums in the Heart catalog, to which I disagree. I'll pick the mid to late 80's stuff as their weakest  (but bestselling) point along with "Magazine", of course. There's still some spark of the "old" Heart scattered throughout the album ("The Situation" and the kick ass "Citys Burning" come to mind) and then some other stuff which seems to be a bit experimental, kind of an attempt to fit into the 80's style of music. 

 

Heck, I could be wrong and this is the worst Heart album ever. I say give it a chance and it just might grow on you. Especially that first song.

 

 

Private Audition

 

1. Citys Burning*

2. Bright Light Girl*

3. Perfect Stranger*

4. Private Audition*

5. Angels

6. This Man Is Mine

7. The Situation*

8. Hey Darlin' Darlin'

9. One Word

10. Fast Times

11. America*      

 

 

 

 

Availability: A couple options out there: you can get the shoddy sounding original release which is OOP for around 11 bucks or spring for the remastered version which features both "Private Audition" and "Passionworks" for around 12 bucks.

 

 

The latest greatest MSoTW is SIMPLE. But not who you think it might be.

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Very tempted to blab the MSoTW out, I know this one 100%... but want to give RJ a chance ... Listening to Heart now...
I like the Heart album, oretty much every song but This Man Is Mine and Fast Cars. Im gonna break out Bebe Le Strange and Dog and Butterfly this weekend and reconnect with this band. Might even push me to listen to their new stuff when it comes out (Red Velvet Car) - I wasnt a fan of Jupiters Darling...
"Jupiters Darling" was a return to form, it reminded me of their 70's output. After those 3 from the 80's, they started turning it around with "Desire Walks On" and hit it out of the park with "Jupiters Darling".

But that's cool, not everyone likes every album!

"Red Velvet Car" is acoustic from what I understand.
I'll listen later tonight.
If I had the cash, I would update my Heart collection to all CDs. But I don't have said cash, so I still have the cassette version of the album. And being a huge Heart fan, I think it is a very good release.
Okay, that's Brad Delp on vocals. Probably RTZ or Orion The Hunter, or an album with Godreau (I'm sure I spelled that wrong). I really, really dig that song.
First time I've heard Private Audition. I think it's a good album. Heart should definitely be proud to have that album in their catalog.

As far as the songs go, you're right about City's Burning. But I'll trade you Angels for Private Audition and Hey Darlin' Darlin' for The Situation. I also really liked One Word.
I decided to listen to the album and give my review:

City's Burning - Really hard rocking song from the band, much riffage and Ann really belts out the lyrics.

Bright Light Girl - Uptempo track but a smoother feel to it than CB.

Perfect Stranger - Slower tempo but Ann's vocals give it a slightly harder edge in the chorus.

Private Audition - The title track was okay. Bit weird on its own but when you remember what Heart was in the early 80's, the song works.

Angels - Ballad....Ann's voice is a powerhouse but she does these softer songs so well.

This Man Is Mine - Okay, but one of the weaker songs on the album.

The Situation - Liked the guitar lines here.

Hey Darlin Darlin - Eh....

One Word - Loved this song....classy ballad vocal delivery with mix of heavier music at the end of song that is good.

Fast Times - Another hard rocker....love it!

America - soft fade out to the album. Interesting choice of song to close out with. Okay song but nothing all that spectacular.
And "This Man Is Mine" was the one song released as a single. Go figure.


There is a video for "Citys Burning", I'm gonna hunt that down now....
And here it is...maybe a bit cheesy? Note the absence of the drummer and bass player.


Barry Goudreau, Barry Goudreau, Barry Goudreau.... there I said it... :-)

MSoTW solved
Fine! Be That way!

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