Originally Released April 3, 1990
AMG EXPERT REVIEW: 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
AMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW
Pretty good, even if the seams were beginning to show by now, April 20, 2002
Reviewer: 25-year old wallflower "Eric N Andrews" (West Lafayette, IN)
The 1980s, at least the latter part of it, was when Heart began experiencing a commercial & creative renaissance. After being dropped by Epic Records in 1983 after the disappointment of PASSIONWORKS, Heart signed to Capitol for their 1985 self-titled album. The results were no less than astonishing, topping the album charts, spawning 4 top 10 hits (not to mention their first #1) & pretty much making Heart cool again.
They repeated the streak on 1987's BAD ANIMALS, proving Heart's comeback was no fluke. But as the 1990s got underway, even Heart's new identity was starting to show signs of wear. Grunge was slowly making itself known & bands that specialized in power ballads (like 1980s Heart) would be wiped off the charts. But before that happened, Heart gave the new formula another try on 1990's BRIGADE.
This album brought Heart 3 more hit singles, even if they were smaller ones now. "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" just barely missed the top, stalling at #2, but it's still a great song from the pen of producer & future husband of Shania Twain, Mutt Lange. The song caused a bit of controversy with its story of a lurid love affair, but it's still head & shoulders above Lange's other Heart song, "Will You Be There [In The Morning]", which would prove to be Heart's last hit single to date. Also, "All
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