Heart has already released a career retrospective (Strange Euphoria) earlier this year and are now adding to their legacy with their 14th studio album, Fanatic.
Nancy and Ann Wilson, Heart - Photo By Ros O'Gorman
The first album of new music from Ann and Nancy Wilson since 2010’s Red Velvet Car, Fanatic was recorded in hotel rooms and studios up and down the West Coast, with Grammy-winning producer Ben Mink back at the helm with the Wilson sisters drawing from their own lives and personal experiences as inspiration for their music. Dear Old America comes from memories of a military household and is written from the point of view of their father, a Marine Corps officer, returning from war (“When I get home, I’m going to own this town/Shine this medal/Wear that crown….”); Rock Deep (Vancouver) harkens back to the city where Dreamboat Annie was written; and Walkin’ Good (a duet with Vancouver resident Sarah McLachlan) captures the joy of finding new life in a new love.
The title song is a celebration of the Wilson’s life spirit: Ann and Nancy are fanatics about love, art, truth, and the belief that they can do anything together they set their minds to.
“What a crazy year we are having,” said Ann Wilson. “Our box set, Strange Euphoria, and our book, Kicking and Dreaming, each tell the story of our lives so far, personally and musically. Our new album, Fanatic, tells our story as it is now and brings it all up-to-the-minute. What a thrill to have worked with both Charles Cross and Ben Mink respectively on these, and of course to touch the musical magic Nancy and I have always shared together. Anybody want to RAWK??”
Released in 2010, Fanatic’s predecessor, Red Velvet Car (the first new studio album in six years from the groundbreaking Seattle-based band) entered the Billboard 200 best-selling album charts at #10, becoming the seventh Top 10 album of Heart’s career. Heart’s critically-acclaimed first album for Legacy Recordings marked the return of Heart to the Sony Music Entertainment family, reaching #1 in sales on Amazon.com on Sunday, September 5.
On June 5, Epic Records/Legacy Recordings released Strange Euphoria, the first definitive career-spanning, multi-label boxed set retrospective chronicling the seminal American rock band Heart, personally curated by Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson.
A carefully-considered anthology of biggest hits and best-loved songs set alongside deep catalog treasures, rarities, demos and live performances, Strange Euphoria includes three compact discs and one DVD in a deluxe box.
In addition, Tuesday, September 18 marks the publication of the HarperCollins hardcover edition of Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul and Rock and Roll, the avidly-awaited insider’s memoir penned by Ann & Nancy Wilson with noted Seattle-based author Charles R. Cross (Room Full of Mirrors – A Biography of Jimi Hendrix; Heavier Than Heaven – a biography of Kurt Cobain).
Since finding their love of music and performing as teenagers in Seattle, Washington, Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson have been an influential part of the rock music landscape. From 70s classics like Magic Man and Barracuda to chart- topping 80s ballads like Alone up to 2012’s Fanatic, Heart continues as an ongoing force in pop culture, inspiring women and men alike with the power and beauty of their music.
Despite their massive success, Ann and Nancy have always faced a different kind of scrutiny than their male counterparts in hard-rock and metal band, and had to face questions that no male rock star ever would be asked. Kicking and Dreaming allows Ann and Nancy to communication as directly with the reader as their songs do with fans. A first-hand chronicle of tumultuous inter-band relationships, thirty years of roller-coaster fame and continual reinvention, and, of course, the kind of excess that can comes from the surreal, and hyper-real demands of life on the road, Kicking and Dreaming is an intimate, honest, and a uniquely female take on rock and roll life.
Track List:
Fanatic
Dear Old America
Walkin’ Good
Skin and Bones
Million Miles
Pennsylvania
Mashallah
Rock Deep (Vancouver)
’59 Crunch
Corduroy Road
Fans looking for a first taste of Fanatic can watch this:
