Heart is the eighth studio album by American rock band Heart, released on June 21, 1985, by Capitol Records. The album continued the band's transition into mainstream rock, a genre that yielded the band its greatest commercial success. Marking the band's Capitol Records debut, it became Heart's only album to top the US Billboard 200 to date. The album was eventually certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)—in contrast to Heart's previous two releases, Private Audition and Passionworks, which were uncertified.
The album yielded the band's first number-one single, "These Dreams", along with four other singles: "What About Love", "Never", "Nothin' at All", and "If Looks Could Kill", with the first four singles reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. At the 28th Annual Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
In a 2022 interview, Ann Wilson stated that the album was self-titled because the band "didn’t write a whole lot of the songs on there, so that aspect of closeness with the work was gone and it was much harder for us to come up with a title that was real."
In 2024, Loudwire staff elected it as the best hard rock album of 1985.
Track listing
Notes Connie is a pseudonym for Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson and Sue Ennis.
Personnel Credits adapted from the liner notes of Heart.
Heart Ann Wilson – vocals Nancy Wilson – lead guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, background vocals; lead vocals Howard Leese – lead guitar, keyboards, mandolin, background vocals Mark Andes – bass guitar Denny Carmassi – drums
Additional musicians Peter Wolf – synthesizers, acoustic piano Mickey Thomas – background vocals Johnny Colla – background vocals Grace Slick – background vocals Lynn Wilson – background vocals Holly Knight – keyboards Frankie Sullivan – solo guitar ; additional guitar
Technical Scotty Olson – guitar technician Gary Clark – drum technician Ron Nevison – production, engineering Mike Clink – engineering assistance Brian Foraker – second assistant engineer Mike Reese – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California)
Artwork Rebecca Blake – photography Norman Moore – art direction, design
Charts
Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for Heart Chart (1985–1988) Peakposition Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 37 European Albums (Music & Media) 59 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) 18 Japanese Albums (Oricon) 30
Year-end charts + 1985 year-end chart performance for Heart Chart (1985) Position Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) 45 US Billboard 200 79
+ 1986 year-end chart performance for Heart Chart (1986) Position Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) 9 US Billboard 200 2
+ 1988 year-end chart performance for Heart Chart (1988) Position UK Albums (Gallup) 96
All-time charts + All-time chart performance for Heart Chart Position US Billboard 200 108 US Billboard 200 (Women) 32
Certifications
References