Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Even after 40 years at the very top, the small dip in appreciation as a new century dawned and countless hits that have kept the Wilson sisters very much in the public eye, there is no doubting the majesty that comes with a brand new Heart album, the possessive feel that the fingers and the mind takes hold of as they do their best not to crumble or fall into the pit of comparison and judgement to the three distinct areas of Heart’s discography.
If anything Beautiful Broken neatly lends itself to the Progressive Folk Rock in which the band announced themselves in during the 70s and the middle period, the full on explosive Rock, the harmony layered drive time special, attention grabbing and smoky cool of the 80s. Beautiful Broken sits somewhere in between these two vast empires and yet manages to break away from the recent past, the post 1990 arena in which the music became more mellow, perhaps arguably less dynamic but nevertheless full of subtlety and wisdom.
The empire of Heart is one that can never be diminished, the legacy too long, too important to ever let slide into the sea of forgotten treasures and this latest album steadfastly refuses to let Ann and Nancy Wilson and their collection of musicians from letting them or the listener forget that.
There is nothing wrong with being broken, broken only implies that something can be fixed, never tossed away, and whilst the last few albums have been gracious, they haven’t gone as far as knocking on the realms of albums such as Bad Animals, Heart and Brigade, the pomp and glory that comes with those glorious moments of revolution, nor have they reached the folk rock pinnacle of the band’s most scintillating and shining example of debut greats, Dreamboat Annie, that changes with Beautiful Broken.
Lively, bordering on intense and suddenly gleaming like a fresh coat of wax on the most dangerous of spirited Harley Davidson’s, one with the engine purring, growling, biting and eager to go on the lengthy highway, Heart’s Beautiful Broken is obsessive in its pursuit to bring back the memories of gladiatorial times, when they were without doubt one of the top ten bands in the world. That obsession is to be seen in songs such as Sweet Darlin’ the fantastic I Jump, City’s Burning and Language Of Love and it is an obsession that pumps out in glory, the praise to the band and production has to be there but it is to the two women, the sisters who for 40 years have kept faith, that the true endorsement of invigorating renewal lays.
A class act, a true refreshing bond come good; Heart are beautiful and loved.
Ian D. Hall