Heart: Magazine (1978)

"Magazine" was released in March of 1978 as Heart's third album, and it saw the same amount of success as that of "Little Queen". As far as I'm concerned, there was only one single released from the album. The album is one step down from their previous two albums, but I would still consider it to be worth listening to.



HEARTLESS

The first single from the album. This is the only song that I know to be released as a single from the album. This is a song, that certainly has one of the best raw edge rock sounds I know of. A classic HEART tune.



DEVIL DELIGHT

Not bad.



JUST THE WINE

Not bad.



WITHOUT YOU

Originally recorded by Badfinger. The original song was recorded and released by the band, Badfinger. I do not, in no way, like Badfinger's original song. Heart had the right idea in re-recording this song as a cover. This is one hell of a cover and it will remain a favorite of mine. Two other artists have recorded this, some years after this album. One was Christopher Cross. His version was...okay. The second was Mariah Carey. Her version, in my book, stands right next to Heart's version.



MAGAZINE

The album's title track. Enjoyable.



HERE SONG

Okay.



MOTHER EARTH BLUES (Live performance)

Okay.



I'VE GOT THE MUSIC IN ME (Live performance)

Okay.



The album, in my opinion, does not quite match up with Heart's first two albums. But on the other hand, it is still worth the time and money. You want the album? Well, go ahead and buy it.

Tied with "Dreamboat Annie" for the best HEART album!

I am going to try to describe the original recording possibly in the most detail of all of the previous reviewers. In 1977, Mushroom released about 50,000 copies of this LP, which had a disclaimer notice on the back. We do not need to get into why, because you probably already know the reason from reading the other reviews. Descriptions of the '77 version. "Heartless" has rough lead vocals but great guitar work by Fisher and Leese. "Without You" has so-so vocals that were polished up for the '78 re-release. "Just the Wine" had a mellotron/Moog synthesizer solo replaced by a flute solo on the '78 version. "Magazine" had :30 cut out in the '78 version where a radio being tuned was originally heard and a faint part of the second guitar bridge in "Magic Man" was heard. "Devil Delight" lacks the echo of Ann's voice singing "Devil, Devil" as on the '78 version. "Here Song" remains the same on the '77 and '78 versions. "Mother Earth Blues" has two guitar solos on the '77 version by Leese and Fisher, the '78 version has only the Leese solo (as noted in the album liner notes), plus Ann imitating Robert Plant's vocals on "You Shook Me" was elimintaed on the '78 version. "I've Got The Music In Me" seemed the same. With all these oddities, both versions are good, however, the "guitar nucleus" of the band is displayed more prominently on the original Mushroom 1977 version. Maybe Ann and Nancy were already pissed at Fisher at this point? Who knows? It doesn't matter, the music is great. It's sad to think that Fisher and the Wilson sisters still have not reconciled, due to the knawing fact that the two Wilson sisters and the two Fisher brothers had their own musical orgies back in the hey day. Time to bury the hatchet people!

Uneven, but still a solid album

Magazine (1978.) Heart's third album.



When Heart was recruited by major record label Portrait, they wanted to release a collection of previously-recorded (but not yet released) songs as an album called Magazine. The record company refused to let them release it as their second album, and thus Little Queen became their second album. Ever persistant and wanting to release those recordings, Portrait finally told them that they could, provided it was done under Mushroom, the indie record label they previously played. Releasing it on an indie label would be better than not releasing it at all, after all. There are plenty of awkward stores and rights issues involving the release/recording of this album, but I'm not going to get into that stuff here (see the other reviews and fan sites for more info.) Read on for my review of Magazine.



Believe it or not, I am GLAD that the record company didn't let Heart release this as their first major label album. I am NOT saying I dislike this album (it actually f-cking rules!), but the fact of the matter is that this is one of Heart's more uneven releases, despite having some very good songs. The uneven nature of the album is due in no small part to the fact that it features recordings ranging from 75-78, but in some ways the uneven nature of the album is a strong point, in that it shows you just how diverse the group can be. Heartless, an amazing classic hard rocker, became the big hit from the album, and rightfully so. It's one of the group's first big hits to use a synthesizer (and I mean that in a GOOD way!) Devil Delight is one of the band's most underrated tunes, using hard and heavy instrumentation not unlike that of Black Sabbath! Not what you'd expect from Heart, but still damn good. The ballad Just The Wine features a backing orchestral arrangement, along with some excellent acoustic guitar work. The even covers the Badfinger classic, Without You (a song MANY artists have covered over the years.) Heart's take on the song is nothing short of excellent. Perhaps the strongest track present is the six-minute-plus title track, fusing elements reminiscent of a ballad with elements of mainstream rock. The synthesizer is a nice touch, too. Even the extremely-short Here Song is excellent, in that is shows the band's soft side off beautifully. Two blues-heavy songs (the latter being recorded live before the band recorded Dreamboat Annie) close out the album, showing off the band's blues roots (something that would be all-but-forgotten by the band on later releases.) In the end, this is a rare example of a rock and roll album that shows being uneven isn't necessarily a bad thing.



There are two major versions of this album available - the original LP version, and the CD version. Some of the songs feature differentiated tracks from the other (the other reviews do a better job covering this sort of thing.) Just be warned - if you're planning on buying the CD as a replacement for your old, worn-out LP, you're NOT buying the exact same thing (I'm really not sure whether or not a direct port of the vinyl made it to CD.)



Magazine, regardless of which version of the album you decide to buy, is a very good Heart album. Take my advice, though - if you're new to the group, this is NOT necessarily the best starting point, due to the album's uneven nature, which may give you the wrong idea about the band. If you're new to the group, Dreamboat Annie or Little Queen would be a better bet for a starting point. But if you're already a fan, Magazine will be a worthy addition to your collection.