Heart entered the 1990s with
Brigade, which isn't quite as strong as
Heart or Bad Animals, but is nonetheless a respectable effort that has more pluses than minuses. While producer
Richie Zito's approach is undeniably slick and glossy, he maintains enough rough edges to keep things interesting on songs ranging from the aggressive hard rock of "Call of the Wild" (not to be confused with the
Ted Nugent/
Amboy Dukes classic), "Wild Child," and "The Night" to the arena-oriented powerful ballads like "Stranded" and "Secret."
Heart unintentionally generated some controversy with the hit "All I Want to Do (Is Make Love to You)," a tale of an intimate encounter with a hitchhiker. The "Thought Police" argued that the song encouraged women to endanger themselves by picking up hitchhikers -- overlooking the fact that the song, like a romance novel, is pure fantasy. Though
Heart or Bad Animals would serve as a better introduction to
Heart's Capitol output,
Brigade is an album that die-hard fans shouldn't overlook. ~ Alex Henderson