Disco de Heart: “Dreamboat Annie”

This Cd is a classic for those of us that were there when it first hit the record stores. I remember un boxing it as a clerk for the Wherehouse Records. It sold like hotcakes. Great album by a great new band. I also liked the fact that it was on an indapendent record lable "Mushroom Records"

It would have been nice if they could have added that touch to this Cd release. I would rate this 10 on my scale 1-10

Again the whole album is awesome and only showed the pure power of a band led by the sisters Wilson.

Jazzman3

Heart's first album "Dreamboat Annie" is the best of their original studio albums. The songs "Magic Man," and "Crazy on You" were the two big hits, and two of the best of their career. But there are other fine songs among the rest, particularly the title track (which appears in three different versions) the pretty ballad "I'll Be Your Song," "Soul of the Sea" and "How Deep it Goes." What really places this album above most of the Heart catalog is the freshness of the songwriting. The band would never again produce a set of material as consistent or original as this one.

Overall, I would recommend "Dreamboat Annie" as the first Heart purchase for anyone interested in the band. Outside of their various greatest hits packages, it is THE one album to own.

Heart's classic debut album Dreamboat Annie was released in April of 1976(30 years ago).

Prior to Heart coming along, women were pushed to the background in rock and roll but there were some noted exceptions being Janis Joplin, Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac. Then Heart, which was fronted by The Wilson sisters (lead singer Ann and her guitar-slinger sister Nancy), put women into the forefront in rock and roll.

The Dreamboat Annie album introduced the world to a band which was previously known as White Heart until Seattle born lead singer Ann Wilson joined up with guitarists Roger Fisher and Howard Leese and bass player Steve Fossen. They had several drummers until settling on drummer Michael DeRosier and then subsequently Ann's sister guitarist Nancy Wilson rounded up the lineup after joining in 1974 (Ann and Nancy would write all of Heart's songs in the early years pretty much).

The group did well in Seattle and Canada but American record labels would not touch the band as US labels were more into disco so Heart signed with a small Canadian label Mushroom Records and released its debut. Was the album a masterpiece or was it lame, read on.

The album opens up with the rocker "Magic Man" which was about a girl who's spellbound with a man of her dreams, to the chagrin of her mother (turns out Ann Wilson wrote these lyrics about her own experience). Ann's vocals were amazing on this track and the acoustic work of Nancy was amazing and Roger Fisher's guitar work was unbelievable. Next is the first of three versions of the album's title track which was the short "Fantasy Child" version, which opens with ocean waves, Nancy's gentle acoustic guitar and Ann proving she can sing ballads as well as rocking out. This then segues into Nancy's classic acoustic guitar intro which segued into the rocker "Crazy On You". This rocker was inspired somewhat by The Moody Blues classic The Answer with its fast acoustic riff and then counter-balanced with the Jimmy Page-ish guitar fills from Roger. Next is the album's epic "Soul Of The Sea" which is another great track. It reminds me of Led Zeppelin's Rain Song in some ways and Ann's vocals here showed she could sing, croon and scream (she has the greatest female voice ever to come out of rock and roll). The first half concluded with the title track, which is a nice relaxing number and also had a bit of banjo in it but still a great song.

The great rocker "White Lightning and Wine" kicks the second half of the album off and is a superb song. Next is another ballad "(Love Me Like Music) I'll Be Your Song" and Ann and Nancy sing the track superbly and is one of Heart's best ballads. The rocker "Sing Child" is next and sounds a lot like Led Zeppelin and some of Ann's vocal phrasings resemble Robert Plant's and Ann does a superb flute solo here (and we thought Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson and Genesis' Peter Gabriel were the only rock musicians to use flute) and then Roger does a killer solo which just rocked. Michael DeRosier's drum fill in the song's fade-out was also excellent. "How Deep It Goes" is next and is another exquisite ballad which is a sweet song. The album closes with the reprise version of the album's title track and is slow in the same vein as the Fantasy Child version but a great version nevertheless. Then we have a flute solo then the band stops and an orchestra with tympani come in and help finish the song before Nancy's guitar comes in and Ann sings the bridge and ending lines with ocean breeze floating by.

Dreamboat Annie today still sounds fresh and was the album that broke Heart out nationwide and peaked at #4 on the Billboard album charts and sold over 2 million copies in the 1970s alone (not bad).

The album was re-released in 1986 by Capitol Records in the US to cash in on the success of the band's 1985 self-titled comeback album and is the only version available although Capitol did re-issue a remastered version in 1999 with a mini-LP sleeve.

Dreamboat Annie is still a classic and has aged well and doesn't sound like a 30 year old record. If you want a great intro to Heart, start with Dreamboat Annie and then buy all of their 1970s efforts.

RECOMMENDED!

Dreamboat Annie, Seattle band Heart's debut album, is definately a great addition to the collection of any classic rock fan- or really anyone who enjoys good music played with feeling by talented musicians. It's about 30 years old, but still sounds great- at turns soulful, groovy, folky, and melodic, but always interesting.

It kicks off with radio favorite "Magic Man", a tale of lost innocence made very distinctive by it's driving rhythm and almost psychadelic passages; followed by "Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child)", the first of three "Dreamboat Annie"s- this one being very folky and mellow, complete with the sound of ocean shore.

Next is "Crazy On You", an epic song about feelings of anxiety about the future, which, according to the sisters Wilson, was actually written while coming down off mushrooms. This is probably my favorite song on here- I love the acoustic guitar intro, and then that cool lead guitar riff which repeats throughout the song (you know which one I mean). This is another song which received a lot of radio play.

"Soul of the Sea" is another ocean song, with beach sounds, some classical strings, and an interlude in the middle somewhat reminicent of the Beatles' "Day in the Life" off Sgt. Pepper's. This is followed by the second "Dreamboat Annie"- like the first, but this time the whole band is in on it. Like the rest of the album, this one is full of great vocal harmonies.

"White Lightning & Wine" is a straightforward bluesy rocker about having a good time, followed by folky love ballad "(Love Me Like Music) I'll Be Your Song". "Sign Child" sounds almost out of place on here at first, being sandwiched between two ballads, but is still pretty decent. Out of all the songs here, it sounds the most blatently Zeppelin-like. Next is another ballad, "How Deep It Goes", this one with piano and strings. The album ends with the final "Dreamboat Annie"; this one with piano, strings, flute- and then a return to the acoustic guitar, and the ocean. Pretty cool.

There is almost a dreamlike quality running through the album, probably owing to the time period in which it was written, and some "psychadelic" influences on the band while they were writing it, methinks. If you're a fan of classic rock you should check this one out. I also recomemend it for any young fans of Led Zeppelin; Heart has sometimes been referred to as "Led Zeppelin's little sister", and not without reason- there is definately an influence. In any case, if you're looking for something on the mellow side, check out this rock classic from the 70s.

All my old records are in storage, this one included. This is the essence of my learning to like the music my kids enjoyed in the '70s and as another reviewer said, combines folk and all good things, including true musicianship. Am ordering the CD and turn this one up to full volume in the car, the way I first heard it on tape when my now 40-year-old was 16. Will enjoy this when I'm 90.