Heart entered a dark time between 1982 and 1984. While their 1980 released Bébé le Strange offered up the band's third top ten album, their follow-up, Private Audition (1982) only allotted the group a minor hit with The Man Is Mine. This should have been no surprise, as when planning the recording of the album, producer, Jimmy Lovine, informed the Wilson sisters that the album lacked any hits. Ultimately, the two would end up producing it themselves.
Private Audition was one of the last two albums I opted to track down in the band's discography. This was mainly for the purposes of having a complete discography from their 1975 debut through 1990's Brigade. I'd never heard any of the tracks from it, and frankly, when I purchased it, really didn't have the interest to. But, as I make a push to finally get through all those albums I've amassed over the years, their rotation has come. It's finally time to listen to it, and see what it's all about.
Let me go ahead and skip to the second song, which is the title track. It has almost a country vibe mixed with cabaret. It's not good. In fact, the album as a whole feels like a whole bunch of miss matched concept ideas thrown at a wall, with music styles not matching from track one song to the next.
It's interesting that Steve Fossen and Mike Derosier were fired after its release. Though varying reasons as to why will be told, depending on who you ask, one such reason boils down to creative differences. The two were cited as wanting to stay with the more traditional style which had made the band popular. Listening to Private Audition, each song feels like it's fighting with the other. Like I said, it's like a bunch of miss matched songs. One minute it's traditional Heart, the next a power ballad, country, cabaret, tap dancing intros, etc. It's a mess is what it is.
The sad part is that when Heart sticks to their guns of the tried and true, such as on the tune, Fast Times, and City's Burning there's potential here. The latter could very well be the best this album has to offer. It's both surprising and disappointing, but at the same time understandable. It was a new decade, music was changing, and this 70's band was navigating how to stay relevant on a new landscape. Obviously, by 1985 they found the answer to that, hitting with both fists with their self titled comeback album.
However, before that could happen, Heart had to first go through a bit more struggles ala their 1983 Passionworks. We'll get to that one tomorrow.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS July 9, 1983 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS July 9, 1988 |
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