Road Home [Live]

The tempo for "Dreamboat Annie", despite being the Fantasy Child version, mirrors the original version, but then it has that lovely string section and flute in the Reprise version.

I've always wanted to hear "Dog And Butterfly" live and that's next. But the string section of the Seattle Symphony, including a nice oboe, really melted me.

The first new song is the bluesy "(Up On) Cherry Blossom Road", which due to the mandolin, I can imagine appearing on Little Queen. John Paul Jones of Led Zep, produced this album and does mandolin here. Ann introduces him as they launch into "Back To Avalon", which has the same engaging energy as the original despite the lack of electric guitars.

The most noticeably difference in Heart's scaled back music are their renditions of their two #1s and #2, "Alone", "These Dreams", and "All I Wanna Do..." In fact, when I heard the opening acoustic notes opening "Alone", I half-expected "Stairway To Heaven"--well, sort of. No Ron Nevison synths here, only an oboe and mandolin. And it's sad violins and a viola that provide the opening notes for "These Dreams." And "All I Wanna Do..." becomes a piano ballad.

I've heard the original version of "Love Hurts" by Nazareth and Joan Jett's cover, but Ann Wilson does it with such intensity, accompanied by guitar and piano, I really believe it.

Speaking of covers, they do heartfelt string-laden renditions of Elton John's "Seasons" and not out of place on the ballad side of their Dog & Butterfly album, and Joni Mitchell's "River." That cello and oboe on "River" adds to the melancholy of the song, with Ann still demonstrating the potent range of her voice at one point.

Ann really belts it out on the bluesy classic "Crazy On You", slowed down in the initial minute and a half, before things get more rousing during the remainder of the song. Speaking of classics, their rendition of chugging electric guitar classic "Barracuda" still packs a wallop despite its acoustic format.

"Dream Of The Archer" from Little Queen sounds much like the original, due to the mandolin and acoustic Led Zep-stylings.

The engaging title track, with its jangling mandolin, jamming guitar, and heavy drums, is looking to be a new Heart classic to be played on car radios on return homes from long trips.

A real treat is the interview in the booklet where one can learn the story behind the songs performed on the set. I don't know how I would've reacted to this had I bought it upon its original release, but now that I have it, expect to put this on heavy rotation.

The core (heart) of Heart is truly the talent of Ann and Nancy Wilson, and the acoustic setting for this album truly shows how their voices have improved with time, not needing to be hidden behind 80's production values or overly loud guitars.

The main highlights of the album are the songs that are starkly different from their studio counterparts, especially their 80's stuff. "All I Wanna Do" is performed at a much slower pace, telling the story much more effectively, and giving the song a new lease of life. "These Dreams" is even more enchanting, once again performed a tad slower, giving each ethereal line of the song just that little bit more resonance. "Alone" is "so 1987" and to hear it stripped down like it is here, really sheds new light on the song.

"Barracuda" still rocks, plugged or unplugged!

Finally, the sound quality of this album is superb, audiophiles will have NOTHING to complain about. Crisp, clean guitar sounds....wonderful bass....Obviously they took great care in making this release sound great!