We told you a few weeks’ ago that Heart would be releasing a new studio album. And now comes the official announcement: Beautiful Broken arrives on July 8, their 16th album and first for their new home, Concord Records. Included in the 10-song collection are seven “cherry picks” from their catalog, which sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson have rerecorded. The title track and first single features Metallica’s James Hetfield. (Hear it below.)
The seven songs that are pulled from the Heart catalog include “City’s Burning,” “Down on Me” and “Sweet Darlin’,” which have been live favorites but, as Ann Wilson says: “Those songs may have fallen through the cracks, in a way, because of where radio was at the time when they were first released.” Two each are from the Heart albums Passionworks, Private Audition and Bebe Le Strange.
The title song had been a bonus track on the group’s last album, 2012’s Fanatic. The new recording “blows the previous version out of the water,” says Nancy Wilson. “James just took the song on, and what he added was perfect with a bite and a rock accent.”
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One of the unique aspects to Beautiful Broken is the string arrangements on four songs done by legendary arranger Paul Buckmaster. Buckmaster’s resume includes work with the Rolling Stones and Elton John (“Levon”). “We were talking about how we wanted ‘Paul Buckmaster-type’ strings at one point,” Nancy said. “So then we decided to call Paul himself.”
Ann and Nancy Wilson formed Heart when the idea of two women leading a rock band was still groundbreaking. From the moment 1976’s Dreamboat Annie was released, they became stars. With hits like “Magic Man,” “Crazy On You,” “Barracuda,” “Alone,” “What About Love,” and “These Dreams,” the band became one of the biggest hit-makers in the seventies and eighties. In 2012, their memoir Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul and Rock & Roll became a New York Times bestseller, and in 2013 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And with more than 35 million records sold, they are the top-selling sister act in the history of popular music.
Ann Wilson is regarded as one of the top power-rock voices in pop music history, said in the same breath as Linda Ronstadt, Journey’s Steve Perry or Queen’s Freddie Mercury. Her sister Nancy was always a stellar singer as well, with killer skills on the guitar.
Beautiful Broken Track Listing
Beautiful Broken
Two
Sweet Darlin’
I Jump
Johnny Moon
Heaven
City’s Burning
Down on Me
One Word
Language of Love
You can still catch Heart out on The Rock Hall Three For All tour now, which also features classic rock icons Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Cheap Trick. Click here for tickets. If your date is sold-out, click here for our partners at Ticket Network.
ROCK HALL THREE FOR ALL: HEART, JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS, CHEAP TRICK
July 14 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 16 Maryland Heights, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – St. Louis
July 17 Noblesville, IN Klipsch Music Center
July 19 Chicago, IL FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
July 21 Burgettstown, PA First Niagara Pavilion
July 22 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
July 24 Mansfield, MA Xfinity Center
July 25 Wallingford, CT Toyota Presents Oakdale
July 27 Darien Center, NY Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
July 28 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
July 30 Bethel, NY Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
July 31 Camden, NJ BB&T Pavilion
Aug. 15 Kansas City, MO Starlight Theatre
Aug. 16 Des Moines, IA Iowa State Fair
Aug. 18 Dallas, TX Gexa Energy Pavilion
Aug. 19 Woodlands, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Pres. By Huntsman
Aug. 21 Phoenix, AZ Ak-Chin Pavilion
Aug. 23 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
Aug. 24 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
Aug. 26 Auburn, WA White River Amphitheatre
Aug. 27 Ridgefield, WA Sunlight Supply Amphitheater
Aug. 29 Salt Lake City, UT Usana Amphitheatre
Aug. 30 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Sept. 08 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Sept. 10 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
Sept. 11 Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live
Sept. 13 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
Sept. 14 Raleigh, NC Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
Sept. 16 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
Sept. 19 Nashville, TN Ascend Amphitheater
Sept. 20 Pelham, AL Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
Sept. 22 Tampa, FL MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre †
Sept. 23 West Palm Beach, FL Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre
† – Cheap Trick will not perform on this date.
