I think over all they were maybe about as prog as their big influence (LZ). That is to say they had some proggish moments but were mostly a hard rock band with several folkish moments(again like LZ).
I think over all they were maybe about as prog as their big influence (LZ). That is to say they had some proggish moments but were mostly a hard rock band with several folkish moments(again like LZ).
dude, im the guy here that admits liking bubblegum music ...it has nothing to do with being able to listen to something not deemed prog........this thread is really less about Heart but more of an inquiry on the prog definition itself: As stated earlier, Hearts music - especially on the first two albums -- has many proggish moments...The thread is more of an inquiry on how many proggish moments does a band (any band) have before given the "Prog" title.....
and, yeah, Ann is certainly one of the best in my book
Oh, I wasn't rippin' on anyone, just thinking aloud.
No, not "prog". They're better than prog.Make it a fourth.Oh, so true!
Y'know, the sisters have cited Tull as an influence as well. Remember that Ann played flute a fair amount on the debut album. I don't think Heart were as small "p" progressive as Zeppelin. Zep broke ground, the Wilson sisters just worked the same field. But they were once of those bands that skated across several rock sub-genres. Hard rock and folk were obviously their strong suits but there were elements of funk/R&B (see the Dog & Butterfly album), blues-rock, pop, and a new wave streak began at the end of the 70s until they became an AOR music video machine. Speaking of proggy songs, I rather like the arrangement and dynamics of this one:
I saw Heart on the tour for Little Queen, hanging over the barricade at front of the stage. Nancy was right in front of me. My brother was a few feet away and Ann's mike stand was in front of him. Nancy musta been about 22-23, strutting around in a leather mini-dress with that Ovation guitar. If I close my eyes I can see it now... Mercy.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
No
Folky, Harmonies, Flute, Double Neck Guitar, what the heck else do you need...
Heart prog? probably not.
they were innovative in the 70's
commercial in the 80's
and now just an shadow of their legacy
there are some songs that may come close;
Mistral Wind, Dream Of The Archer, Rocking Heaven Down.
Seriously, Dreamboat Annie is as close as they got to Prog, and yes, Ann did play flute on this album. I waited about 6 months after that album was released before finally buying it. The reason I held off? The feminine cover. While it does have it's mellow moments, it also can really rock, and their is some artistic songwriting.
When I finally purchased it, I felt really stupid for waiting so long to get it.
PS: You guys understand that every time one of these "prog or not" threads pop up, I give the exact same response, right? Some of you guys are taking my commentary way too seriously.
Back in the early 80's, there was a Canadian band called Toronto, with a similar format as Heart, ie several guys, a blonde girl guitarist, and brunette girl singer. In fact, I used to call them the Canadian Heart. Well, it turns out one of those big hits from the 80's, What About Love, was actually written by the blonde guitarist from Toronto! In fact, I understand the reason the band broke up was because Holly Wood (the brunette singer) refused to record What About Love. So instead, their big legacy is Your Daddy Don't Know, which I swear sounds like a knock off of Jessie's Girl (though I think someone on Youtube said Your Daddy Dont' Know actually came out first).
So particular purpose for bringing up such useless trivia. Just biding my time until my services are needed again.
When talking about Heart we must also mention the impeccable Howard Leese who was with the Wilsons for at least a couple decades, playing both keys and guitar. Helluva player, now works with Paul Rodgers.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Prog or prog, or not prog , whatever, I have a couple Heart LPs and they're proggie enough for me.
Although I agree that the sisters still kick ass I understand what the other poster is saying. I saw them live a little over a year ago, and the one thing that struck me from past shows that I have seen was that the rest of the band just seemed to kind of be background players. I mean…..they were all good musicians, but they all seemed very generic compared to past lineups of Heart that I have seen. I never saw the original band, but did see the 80’s and 90’s version of the band a couple of times and even the 00’s version with the pigtailed keyboard player a few years ago (can’t remember her name), and they always seemed like more of a “band”. The most recent show seemed more like The Wilson sisters with a group of backing musicians rather than Heart as a band.
It has been a while since I read the Wilson sister’s book (A good read if you are a Heart fan), but the band completely broke up in the mid-90’s when the sisters formed The Love Mongers. Leese joined Paul Rogers’s solo band in the late 90’s. When Heart finally re-formed in the early 00’s, my impression was that he was not asked to return. Again, it has been a while since I read the book so I may be remembering things wrong. Leese is still a member of Rogers solo band when he is not touring with Bad Company.
There was an instrumental they used to open their shows with. Ann Wilson played flute in that piece and it was reminiscent of Ian Anderson. The piece was a little Jethro Tull oriented. This was released on film and available on a Heart box set. Heart were influenced by Led Zeppelin. Zeppelin did have some Progressive Rock style to their writing and so Heart were influenced by Zeppelin to produce sections of music sounding Progressive for those moments of reflection. Heart themselves, were probably fans of Progressive Rock , just as some of us were in the early 70's and as a result, they added in snippets of Progressive Rock styles and approach to playing. However they were influenced by The Beatles and were inspired to create that kind of songwriting. Musically they have a spiritual voice of their own. Nancy Wilson was skilled at Classical guitar and Ann Wilson added progressiveness on different instruments, so in point they could have been a Progressive Rock band if they had desired to. In reality they chose the singer songwriter path. They are not Prog for that reason.
I heard Bad Company and Heart were offered a co-headlining tour together sponsored by Lipitor™; it was to be called the Bad Heart tour.
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