Ann Wilson - Hope & Glory
Product Information
Track List: Hope & Glory
Click on or song title to hear an audio clip. Windows Media player is required.
- Goodbye Blue Sky
- Where To Now St. Peter?
- Jackson
- We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
- Immigrant Song
- Darkness Darkness
- Bad Moon Rising
- War Of Man
- Get Together
- Isolation
- Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall
- Little Problems Little Lies
More Ann Wilson CDs and Albums
Album Details: Hope & Glory
- Release Date:
- 09/11/2007
- Label:
- Zoe Records
- UPC:
- 601143108525
User Reviews: Hope & Glory
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First ever solo album full of covers and duets
, September 11, 2007 -
Immigrant Song, Goodbye Blue Sky
, July 31, 2007Reviewer: Yahoo! Shopping UserPros: Ann is amazing
Cons: there are none
This Cd is Rockin. Immigrant Song a cover of led zeppelins 70s song has a fresh new sound and Anns voice is ass always perfect, She also nails Pink Floyds Goodbye blue Sky from THE WALL
And Heart fan will be more than pleased and you can hear a couple of the songs including the first single Immigrant Song just look for Ann Wilson on Myspace.
Trust me in that she not only chose the right songs but nails every one of them Out on Rounder Records on September 11th..
Rock on Ann Queen of Rock.
read all (2) user reviews for Hope & Glory
Pro Reviews: Hope & Glory
| EXPERT RATING: From AMG Reviews With Heart only intermittently active in the early 21st century, Ann Wilson took the opportunity to release her firstever solo album, something her sister Nancy Wilson, Heart's other half, took care of back in 1999. But where Nancy's solo debut was a live, acoustic effort comprised of both original material and covers, Ann has gone the nearlyallcovers route for the Ben MinkproducedHope Gloryonly one song, the albumclosing "Little Problems, Little Lies," comes from Wilson's own pen. Specifically, Wilson turns her attention toward songs that ostensibly deal with social and political hotbutton issues, loaded with messages of war, peace, hard times and, mostly, imminent doom. It's a bleak album, to be sure, undoubtedly inspired by the downtrodden national mood of the times in which it was recorded (that would be the George W. Bush eraperhaps it's no coincidence that the album's release date fell on the sixth anniversary of 9/11). Wilson's voice is strong and convincing on these tunes, largely from the '60s and '70s with a few exceptions, and she's joined by bigname collaborators on most, making Hope Glory a duets album as well as Wilson's first solo. Elton John aids Wilson on the antiwar "Where To Now, St. Peter?" which first appeared on John's 1971 Tumbleweed Connection album and remains as poignant a lyric today as it was then. The futility and stupidity of armed conflict is also the subject of Neil Young's "War Of Man," for which Alison Krauss teams up with Wilson. Nancy Wilson is present on three tracks: Pink Floyd's "Goodbye Blue Sky" and two by the sadly underrated Youngbloods, the hopeful Summer of Love anthem "Get Together" (which also features Deana Carter and Wynonna) and the considerably more ominous "Darkness Darkness," from that group's stellar Elephant Mountain album. While Wilson pulls off the former cover admirably, her take on the latter is a clear example of a song whose original rendition has never been toppedRobert Plant attempted that one as well in 2002 and came up short. Speaking of Plant, Heart always owed a lot to Led Zeppelin and Wilson must have relished the thought of giving Zep's "Immigrant Song" a shot. This one, too, though tailormade for Wilson's throaty hardrock wail, only succeeds in making the listener want to break out the prototype. Ditto John Lennon's "Isolation"who could ever hope to capture the desperation behind Lennon's own reading of that one? Wilson fares better on Lucinda Williams' "Jackson," the Animals' "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" (also with Wynonna) and, with Gretchen Wilson (no relation), turns out a rocking "Bad Moon Rising," the foreboding Creedence Clearwater Revival rocker. Of the covers, that leaves the obligatory Dylan, and Wilson goes with the apocalyptic "A Hard Rain's AGonna Fall," with Rufus Wainwright and Shawn Colvin. Wainwright's plaintive warbling may seem to be out of sync with such a stark lyric, but he saves the day here, bringing an appropriate dread to the tune that neither Wilson nor Colvin are able to muster. Finally, the Wilson original wraps things up. An acousticbased, countryish ballad, it's consistent with the mood of the record, part depressed and part cautiously optimistic. It also sports one of Wilson's most heartfelt and less derivative vocals on the set. Hopefully the next time around she'll find enough to say on her own to release a solo album of her own material. - Jeff Tamarkin, All Music Guide |
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Ann Wilson Biography
As half of the sister duo that makes up arena rock veterans Heart, vocalist Ann Wilson has sung on some of the biggest rock radio hits of the 70s and 80s. Born on June 19, 1950, Wilson's family moved often when she was young (her father was a Mar...Full Ann Wilson Biography
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-- ©2008 All Media Guide, LLC
Pros: Wilson's powerful voice; Elton; some great song selections.
Cons: Too many duets, too many covers; Wynonna.
Heart's always been a tough act to follow. When "Crazy on You" and "Magic Man" broke in 1976, more than one headliner had to find a way to top the vocal firepower of Ann Wilson as an opening act. After three decades as the signature sound of Heart, Wilson faced a similar prospect in crafting her first solo album. How could she leverage her vocal gift without recording a Heart album sans Heart? Her answer was to pull together a slate of cover songs, several of which take her away from the heavy rock sounds of Heart, and to enlist guest vocalists to bring their own spin.
At its best, such as a duet with Elton John on his rarely covered "Where to Now St. Peter" (originally from his 1971 album, "Tumbleweed Connection"), the two veterans sing with a strident authority that recalibrates the song from questioning and pastoral to inquisitive and angry. John's vocal engages a gritty edge that's particularly effective against Wilson's smoother toned power. Another surprisingly good fit is Lucinda Williams' "Jackson" (from 1998's "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road"). Wilson could never sound as broken as Williams, but the cathartic energy of her wail (augmented by harmony from k.d. lang) fits the blue melody and turns the mood from failed self-esteem building to sheer defiance. Wilson's take on John Lennon's "Isolation" fares similarly. It couldn't be expected to live up to the primal original, but the electric guitar, fiddle and flute arrangement provides a good backing for an emotion-laden vocal.
Sister Nancy Wilson helps out on Pink Floyd's "Goodbye Blue Sky" (from 1979's "The Wall") and The Youngblood's "Darkness Darkness" (from 1969's "Elephant Mountain"). The former opens the album with processed vocals and modern production (courtesy of Ben Mink) that's quite apart from Heart. The latter, led by Mink's fiddle, has the sort of renaissance fair atmosphere Heart parlayed on their first few albums. Alison Krauss adds a high-end to Wilson's beefier low on Neil Young's "War of Man," with chorus harmonies arranged unnervingly like The Carpenters. All three songs fit into Wilson's cover song cycle of anxiety and fears about the world's current mess.
The few cuts that don't excel are mostly the product of guest pairings that are sizzle rather than steak. Wynonna's mismatched with The Animals' "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," and Gretchen Wilson's "redneck girl" was already wearing thin before joining Wilson on a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising." Wynonna fares better blending into a chorus with Nancy Wilson and Deana Carter for Dino Valenti's "Get Together." The album closes with the set's sole original, Wilson and Mink's newly penned "Little Problems, Little Lies," a harrowing first-person narrative from a dying soldier.
With so little popular music actually addressing the war and the atmosphere in the U.S., it's a shame that Wilson chose to express herself almost entirely with covers. In particular, many of the well-worn hits carry too much baggage to be fully repurposed; the more obscure selections sound fresher. The choice to have guests on nine of the twelve tracks is also disappointing, as they often feel like a crutch than a magnifier. Wilson's a great vocalist and a good enough songwriter to have put out something more wholly original and solo; hopefully we'll get that with her second album. 3-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2007 redtunictroll at hotmail dot com] ...