1985 Heart ~ Heart vinyl
Cleaned, and tested. Outer plastic sleeve on album.
Vinyl: VG+
Cover: VG
In 1985, Heart made a dramatic comeback, fueled by an equally dramatic alteration to their traditional sound. A successful hard rock band in the late 1970s, the group had nearly fallen off the face of popular music in the early 1980s before deciding to make a transition towards more mainstream pop/rock. The result was their self-titled record, Heart, which brought this American group its greatest commercial success, reaching quintuple platinum status and becoming their first and only chart topper.
Right from the jump, Heart delves into a full, 1980s hair band aura with the opener, “If Looks Could Kill”. Driving rhythms and clichéd lyric hooks rule the day, and this is not the last time they cover this territory, but overall may be the finest of its type. The fine, “What About Love”, begins with a slow and dramatic synth entrance leads to a fine verse with Ann Wilson’s vocals nicely floating above these richly orchestrated (albeit fake) strings. While the song is steady in its approach, it still has strong teeth, especially during the guitar lead by Howard Leese and during the outro which features excited vocals by Ann Wilson and a driving bass by Andes. “What About Love”, which was originally recorded by the Canadian rock group Toronto, was a Top Ten hit for Heart.
An original composition by the group, “Never” was another Top Ten hit. With a good mixture of bright keyboards and crunchy, distorted guitar riffs, the song features simple vocal hook which is one of the best on the album. A fresh musical arrangement during the third verse also adds some nice variety to the track. Co-written by Martin Page and Bernie Taupin, “These Dreams” was the biggest hit of all, becoming Heart’s first single to hit number one on the Billboard charts in early 1986. This fine, upbeat ballad is the only track to feature Nancy Wilson on lead vocals, who had a bit of cold when she recorded the track resulting in the happy accident of distinct raspy vocals. The track also features fine drum accents by Carmassi and a bridge section which is uplifting even as song maintains its dreamy, romantic vibe.
1985 Heart ~ Heart LP
All records are visually graded on the Goldmine Standard of Grading. In depth grading explanations may be found at
www.goldminemag.com/collector-resources/record-grading-101
MINT (M)
These are absolutely perfect in every way.NEAR MINT (NM OR M-)
A good description of a NM record is “it looks like it just came from a retail store and it was opened for the first time.” In other words, it’s nearly perfect.VERY GOOD PLUS (VG+) or EXCELLENT (E)
VG+ records may show some slight signs of wear, including light scuffs or very light scratches that do not affect the listening experience.
Very Good (VG)
VG records have more obvious flaws, lack most of the original gloss found on factory-fresh records. Groove wear is evident on sight, as are light scratches deep enough to feel with a fingernail.Good (G),
Good Plus (G+)
or Very Good Minus (VG–)
Good does not mean bad! The record still plays through without skipping, so it can serve as filler until something better comes along.POOR (P)
and Fair (F)
Records are cracked, impossibly warped, or skip and/or repeat when an attempt is made to play them.Sealed Albums
Still-sealed albums can — and do — bring even higher prices than listed.