Heart - Little Queen CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

on the record.

Heart's acoustic work is simply no match for their hard stuff; "Archer," with its mesmerizing double-tracked mandolins, is the only nonrocker that works. The rest function as little more than diversions. The group also suffers from a lack of material; "Go On Cry" is simply some fancy guitar work fortified by a few wails from Wilson, yet it is the longest track on the record.

Dreamboat Annie proved that, in lean times, a few good songs can go a long way commercially, but three songs still don't qualify an LP as a good one. While there's little doubt that Little Queen will do well financially, Heart needs to realize the potential of its obvious talents if it seeks to gain a lasting audience. (RS 242)

BILLY ALTMAN

The blueprint chug of the guitars along with Ann Wilson's Plant-ish vocal parrying mark "Barracuda" as one of the all-time great rock/early metal songs. The rest of Little Queen, Heart's second album, finds them cementing their rep as the most Zeppelin-y band of all time, effortlessly moving from rockers to tree-worshipping folk-rock to FM balladry.