Heart - Red Velvet Car album review
Submitted by Mike 1 year 22 weeks ago
Sony / Eagle Records
by Laurie Lonsdale
Thanks to Ann Wilson’s impressive vocal range and power, and Nancy Wilson’s outstanding guitar expertise, the female rock duo of Heart rose to fame in the ‘70s with killer classics like “Barracuda”, Magic Man”, and “Crazy on You”. In the ‘80s it was songs like “Alone” that kept Heart on the charts, and they followed up in the ‘90s with the success of such singles as “All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You”. Surprisingly, almost thirty-five years after the release of their first album and major success, “Dreamboat Annie”, the girls are still at it.
Despite the supporting band member changes the Wilson sisters have seen over the years, Heart itself is still alive and well, and just yesterday released their thirteenth studio album to date – Red Velvet Car. Ten regular and two bonus tracks featured on this particular effort showcase differing styles as well as a myriad of new instruments for the band, including fiddle, banjo, dobro, mandolin, cello and autoharp. The change-up in Heart’s presentation might alarm some fans, but it needn’t – it’s the same Wilson sisters we’ve grown to know and love, and the album is solid.
As the name would suggest “WTF” is Heart’s brand of rock at its finest, while the title track of “Red Velvet Car” sees the girls stray into a bluesy mode. They dedicate “Queen City” to their hometown of Seattle, and the same holds true for “Safronia’s Mark”, though the latter draws influence from folk rock. “Sunflower” is a touching number written by Nancy for Ann as birthday gift, while “Sand” wasn’t written for Heart or its members at all. Instead, this particular song was the product of a band called the Lovemongers – an all-acoustic group that Heart assembled in the early 90’s.
All considered, Red Velvet Car is something one would expect to hear from Heart at this stage of the game. The women know their music and their audience well enough that they can experiment a little, while recalling exactly what pleases their fans.
