Published on Dec 31, 1998
By 1983, Heart was a shell of its past glory days. Falling out
of favor with their fans amid rumors of substance abuse and the
departure of key band members should have spelled the end of the
road for Ann and Nancy Wilson.
So you may think it’s no surprise that you have never heard of
Passionworks, their 1983 release (and, at the time, their
final album for Epic). What might surprise you is that this disc,
while no blockbuster, isn’t the waste of time that you might
expect. It’s not a disc I’d go out of my way to sing praises about,
but you can detect a flicker of hope in the music and songwriting
that many thought had burned out.
Taking a little bit of a risk with the rhythms, the opening song
“How Can I Refuse” is a good first step in the right direction.
Flashing back to their days in the spotlight, this number could
easily have been a rock anthem had it been released in 1978 or
1979. Although it was included in the recently-released
Greatest Hits disc, this song remains a number waiting to be
re-discovered.
“Jealousy” isn’t quite as strong as “How Can I Refuse,” but it
does show that the passion was still very much present in the
vocals of Ann Wilson. Other numbers like “Language Of Love” also
show hints of promise, even though some of these are not fully
developed as they could have been.
Unfortunately, Heart was not quite ready to pull themselves out
of the abyss with
Passionworks. There was still a tentative sound to the band
(bassist Mark Andes and drummer Denny Carmassi were recent
additions for this album), and the songwriting doesn’t seem to know
where it wants to go. In a sense, part of the problem lies with the
time that this music was created. Rock radio was populated by a lot
of new wave bands, and good, solid rock was taking a back seat for
a while.
Now, I don’t know if I would call numbers like “Ambush” good,
solid rock; in fact, if I ever have to hear this song again, I’m
going to claw my eardrums out. But while songs like “Sleep Alone”
and “Heavy Heart” aren’t the greatest things that Heart ever
recorded, they’re not bad, considering the circumstances.
Heart was still one album away from their rebirth of popularity,
but
Passionworks could rightly be considered the bridge between
gigging at the Ramada Inn and headlining the stadiums again. This
disc is one that’s for the fans, but is worth checking out at least
once on the road towards discovering Heart.