A$# 025 Burton Cummings | Heart

After Burton Cummings' great success as a solo artist in the late 70s, some of his work in the 1980s did not enjoy as high a profile. That would include Heart, from 1984. It's not been released on CD, and many people don't seem to be aware of it. And that's too bad, because Heart is really a solid album.

The album gets off to a rocking start with Combustion, then a piano ballad called Love Dream and the up-tempo rocker What Ever Happened To Your Eyes. The atmospheric title song follows, and side 1 closes with the solid Will You Show Me.

The second side gets off to a rousing start with Creepin' Peepin' Baby Blues, a song that Burton had first performed the year before with The Guess Who during their brief 1983 reunion tour. Then it's a rocking cover of Gene Vincent's Be Bop A Lula and the keyboard-driven Over You. Then things rev up again with Thrill A Minute and finish out with the mid-tempo Not Too Appealing.

Some of the tracks feature Burton on guitar (in fact, the cover photo shows Burton holding an electric guitar), and guitars are featured quite prominently in the arrangements. Of course there is still some great keyboard work by the man.

Only two songs from the LP, Heart and Not Too Appealing, have appeared on CD - on the Burton Cummings Collection disc. You'll have to seek out the album on vinyl.

Track listing:

Side 1
1. Combustion
2. Love Dream
3. Whatever Happened To Your Eyes
4. Heart
5. Will You Show Me

Side 2
1. Creepin' Peepin' Baby Blues
2. Be Bop A Lula
3. Over You
4. Thrill A Minute
5. Not Too Appealing