Heart – "These Dreams"

This song (and 'Jem,' secondarily) informed small girl Abbott the truth of What Pop Music Is. All the poetry of a Waterhouse painting filtered through a Julie Vallejo painting and a low-budget cartoon adaptation of Great Expectations. Music that was evocative, that had the same mystical 'make it up as you go along' quality of playing with friends outdoors. Synthesizers with all the twists and turns of the story told in her scared, sad, kind voice. I was a tomboy, but this song made it okay to fantasize about what was, to me, a world of the 'other,' of regular girls. This song was my first experience with the full-body electricity that amazing music delivers.

I think 'prog' is most associated with these lyrical themes...it blows my mind that something so strictly of its own soft genre adopted those tropes and then megacharged them, sitting comfortably side-by-side with generic dart-throwings at love and hope.

There's something out there I can't resist!

I went on a big Heart bender a few weeks ago and watched the videos for "Never" and "Nothing at All" over and over again.

lol i saw the 'never' video on an airplane tv once....fuckin funny vid with how dated it is but a classic song (even if i wasn't into 80s heart).

'these dreams' has a warm spot in my heart tho...reminds me of someone im close to

The sleeper from this phase of Heart's career is "Nothin' At All."

So, so glorious is this song. I love the giant, mega-successful Heart. I too love "Nothin' At All" and "Never" and, OMFG, "What About Love," and, well, some others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LLaeRUsWr0
drama/90125 prog

The sleeper from this phase of Heart's career is "Nothin' At All."

The s/t Heart album is the first thing I ever bought with my own money, and just a couple months ago I picked it up on cd for cheap. Surprised to find that, despite all the good singles on that album, "Nothin' At All" ended up being my present day favorite. Really, you can't go wrong with "Never," "These Dreams" or "What About Love" though. The latter two are especially fun to blast at full volume in the car (would be even more fun if they weren't mixed and mastered at earsplitting treble levels).

"alone" is still my go to 80's heart epic. ann's voice on that song, god... the catch in her voice at the end of that one amazing "alooooooooooooooNE!" kills me every time.

Oh yeah, I love "Alone" more than any other 80s Heart single. But it's hardly a sleeper.

Horrible, horrible song.

Robert Forster's cover of "Alone" is amusing.

A great song from a not so great band.

Is everyone on crack today?

Seriously -- Heart (who I was never a big fan of) have made some great, great singles, but their big-haired days are truly abhorrent (even the band itself has since disowned this period, if I'm not mistaken).

I'm not much a fan either way, but the big-hair period seemed a natural evo(devo)lution to me. I mean, they always wanted to be corporate rock stars!

seriously. there aren't enough stevie nicks recordings with trevor horn

this song rules.

<3 Heart

i'm one of those people who thinks that ann wilson had/has one of the greatest voices in pop and rock. so, i would pretty much listen to her sing anything. i think the 80's stuff is good catchy pop-rock. not that i ever listen to it. but i'm happy to hear it in the supermarket or wherever.

ann did complain about the things they were made to do in that period...and complained about how the cameras focused so much on nancy during videos, made her the 'sex symbol'

Yeah, it was pretty bad how Ann was only framed in the videos from the neck up.

They would also stretch the film vertically.

Thanks Alex.

Thought I'd ended up on the wrong site!

ann was kinda cute in the 'never' video.

shes ginormous now tho

70s ann was v sexy
i agree with alex that 80s heart was a big letdown at the time but they were facing declining album sales and the label pretty much dictated that they go big hair and hire "hit" songwriters

Actually, I confused "Nothin' At All" with "There's The Girl," which is the song I really like.

for the record corporate rock did suck the big one.

"Alone" is pretty amazing and the pinnacle of this stage in their career, which I mostly find weird and depressing because a surprisingly large chunk of my childhood was shaped by hearing "Magic Man" and "Barracuda" on the radio.

i had a friend who used to sing this at karaoke night but she did it all classical sounding, twas weird. and this one gay dude slayed it one night, it was really funny

Even at their crappiest songwise, Heart songs are totally listenable because Ann Wilson is a force of nature. (I still can't believe that not only was there a period of time where I would actively seek out the song "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You", but that if it came on the radio now I would listen to the whole thing. That song is fucking TERRIBLE but she sounds so great on it... gah.)

I still haven't ever heard Babe le Strange or Passionworks, so '80s Heart in my mind is ALL HITS, ALL THE TIME.

This has kind of derailed poor Abbott's thread, though.

Taking Sides: 1970s Heart vs. 1980s Heart

70s Heart by a landslide, not that i was a huge fan

80s heart songs, while catchy, usually just succeeded cuz of who was performing them. they were total cookie cutter assembly line ballads

Don't even see the Drama/90125 connection TBH. I think "Alone" is a strong performance of a good tune but "These Dreams" just feels like gloop to me. I want to like it since the 70s hits are so vital but it doesn't do much for me.

The Bad Plus' version of "Barracuda" is brilliant, however.

(Are there even any straightforward love ballads on Drama at all?)

I think Bat for Lashes should cover this song.

there's something out there....

this video was just on VH1 80s. there was a lot of hair and undignified writhing. it was like they were in pain because they were no longer allowed to write songs, play instruments, or dress themselves. sad. (ps i like this song)

"undignified writhing"

SO ALLLLLLOOOOOOONNNNNNE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06Wuitmq4bI

i like how Nancy's voice is raspier and rougher around the edges than Ann's - it works well for this particular song. wouldn't have for others ("alone")

(Are there even any straightforward love ballads on Drama at all?)
"these dreams" isn't really a love ballad yo. lyrics are sort of granola reflections on the surreal. sure there are fairy tale nods, but whoever the prince hiding his face from dreams in the mist is, we're talking 'mists of avalon' here, not mists of steamy passion

yea I always did like the lyrics to the song too...

lyrics are sort of granola reflections on the surreal

Excellent phrase!

kamerad otm, that is why I <3 that song...surreal in a 'styx album cover' way, that is

madcons gonna remake the song with a guest spot with lil wayne

Yeah, I just looked up the lyrics. I agree that it's not a straightforward love ballad lyrically, more like a girly version of older Styx or something. It's definitely a pretty straightforward ballad musically and doesn't remind me of any period of Yes.

I meant lyrically, like "mountains come out of the sky & they stand there" stuff.