Heart’s had quite an eclectic career, with the pair Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson penning everything from hard rock tunes to soothing ballads to folk-inspired tracks. They’re not known for producing tracks that are particularly “hard”, especially when you consider the era in which they became big. However, Heart has a few songs under their belt that could be seen as their heaviest proto-metal tracks. Let’s take a look at three such songs.
1. “Barracuda”
Their most legendary songs is also one of their heaviest, and “Barracuda” is such a hard song for a few reasons. To start, there’s the event that led to the song’s inception. Nancy has talked about one particular situation back in the early days of the band in which a sleazy promoter (or record executive, she couldn’t quite recall) insinuated that the Wilson sisters were lovers. This led to the anger-fuelled lyrics of the song. Couple that with driving guitar riffs, dynamic drumming, and aggressive energy, and you’ve got a heavy Heart track.
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2. “Kick It Out”
This Heart song has a ton of attitude with lyrics that convey the rebel’s spirit and the need to kick out society’s grip on who we are. It’s defiant, independent, and loaded with a tough rhythm and electrifying guitar work from Nancy. It’s far from a heavy metal track, but it’s still quite heavy compared to the band’s other music.
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3. “Black On Black II”
The original “Black On Black” was a pop song written by Dalbello back in 1985. Heart’s version “Black On Black II” is a reimagining of the song with a much heavier feel. The song has heavier, thicker guitar riffs and forceful drumming, plus a prominent bassline that provides the perfect foundation for an almost grungey track. Plus, Ann’s vocals are raw on this song and its lyrics are rich in its dark atmosphere.
Photo by Michael Ochs
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