YOU GOTTA
HAVE HEART:
SONY MUSIC'S EPIC/LEGACY RECORDS TO RELEASE
HEART'S ALIVE IN SEATTLE TWO-CD SET, JUNE 10
***
ENHANCED CD/SACD HYBRID FOLLOWS IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT'S
JUST-RELEASED ALIVE IN SEATTLE ON DVD AND VIDEOCASSETTE;
PBS TELEVISION DEBUTS CONCERT IN JUNE
***
Heart surges with "Alive in America" tour and all-star band
featuring
former Ozzy Osbourne and Alice In Chains bass player Mike Inez,
ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, Lovemongers drummer Ben Smith,
and Wondermints/Brian Wilson keyboardist Darian Sahanaja
***
"Nancy
and I never really killed Heart," explains Ann Wilson, one half
of the dynamic duo and rockin' sister act that formed the profoundly
influential and tremendously popular Heart, referring to the band's
"backburner" status in the studio and on the stage in recent
years.
With total sales
of 30 million records, 21 Top 40 hits, and several sold-out arena tours
worldwide so far, even on the backburner, the band still has had serious
heat. Now they're on fire again, and these stats are on the rise as
Sony Music's Epic/Legacy record label releases Heart's Alive in Seattle,
a two-CD live set, June 10.
The concert
was recorded in Ann and Nancy Wilson's hometown, at the landmark Paramount
Theater, Aug. 8, 2002, and features an inspired mix of early Heart hits
("Magic Man," "Crazy On You," "Barracuda"),
later smashes ("Alone," "These Dreams"), key album
tracks ("Mistral Wind," "Love Alive"), cool covers
(Led Zeppelin's "Battle of Evermore" and "Black Dog,"
Elton John's "Mona Lisas and Madhatters" and the Sonics' early
Pacific Northwest garage gem "The Witch"), plus outstanding
new songs like "Heaven," "Sister Wild Rose" and
"Break The Rock."
The enhanced
CD/SACD follows Alive in Seattle on DVD and videocassette, just
released via Image Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISK), the distribution
powerhouse long recognized as the market leader in music video long
form DVDs. The concert will debut on PBS Television beginning in June.
To provide added
value to the audiophile consumer, Sony has announced that the two-CD
collection will also contain a high definition SACD stereo track, as
well as a discreet 5.1 surround sound track. The CD will play on any
standard CD player while purchasers who have an SACD player will have
the benefit of the enhanced definition and surround sound tracks. Despite
the additional high-resolution audio information, the double CD package
will carry a standard $24.98 list price.
Heart starts
their "Alive in America" tour in mid-June, just three days
after the Alive in Seattle release, and will surge through the
summer and fall. This major road trip follows up last year's "Summer
of Love" tour, which was, as its designation implies, a rock 'n'
roll epiphany.
Nancy Wilson
says, "It felt amazing to be Heart again. In-between then and now,
I did a Nancy Wilson tour, as well as scoring music for movies, and
Ann's done her Ann Wilson tours, but there was something super sweet
about being Heart again on a big rock stage and just turning it up really
loud. It felt amazing."
The band's new
blood is definitely rock's blue blood, including former Ozzy Osbourne
and Alice In Chains bass player Mike Inez, and Lovemongers drummer Ben
Smith, both who hooked up with Heart for their 2002 "Summer of
Love" tour, which culminated in the Alive in Seattle concert.
Also among Heart's line-up of power players are most recent additions
ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, and Wondermints/Brian Wilson
keyboardist Darian Sahanaja.
"It was
really freeing playing new material," says Ann of songs like "Heaven,"
"Sister Wild Rose" and "Break The Rock," included
on Alive in Seattle, and to be spotlighted with "Alive in
America." The more time that goes by with Heart, the more the songs
that weren't Top Five just kind of fade into obscurity. Then you're
just thought of as the 'Magic Man/Crazy On You/ Barracuda' band. So
when we can have success playing new stuff, that's what we live for
really."
Diversification
and individual achievements marked the Wilson sisters' endeavors in
the '90s. They opened that decade with Brigade featuring "All
I Want to Do Is Make Love to You," which reached No. 2 on the charts.
In the mid-'90s, Ann and Nancy formed Lovemongers, an acoustic quartet
with long-time collaborator Sue Ennis and performer Frank Cox. After
playing a number of sold-out shows in Seattle, Lovemongers cut Led Zeppelin's
"Battle of Evermore" for the triple platinum soundtrack from
the movie Singles, directed by Nancy's husband Cameron Crowe.
The couple's
working relationship is as successful as their personal one; they composed
"I Fall Apart" for Crowe's Vanilla Sky, and Nancy has
contributed to other Crowe film soundtracks, including Say Anything
and Jerry MaGuire.
While Nancy
has been stretching out creatively, Ann has been slimming down beautifully.
She has shed more than 70 pounds, after undergoing a Gastric Band procedure,
and is now in top form to go the distance on stage and on the road as
one of the most powerful and emotive voices in rock.
Unified. Fortified.
Beautified. Alive in Seattle and "Alive in America."
You gotta listen to your Heart.