Heart Goes Acoustic With Its Biggest Songs

Heart

“The Road Home” - Capitol

Veteran Seattle rock band led by Ann and Nancy Wilson gets to the heart of its sound, so to speak, on acoustic release that recasts some of its biggest songs in small and improved settings.

With the assistance of producer John Paul Jones - who shows his considerable arranging, producing and mandolin-playing talents - the Wilson sisters reprise such smashes as “Crazy On You,” “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You,” “Straight On,” “Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child)” and “Barracuda” in live, acoustic versions.

The sisters’ voices are the stars of the show, radiant and undimmed by time. The material also shines, especially under the flattering glow of a new light. One of the best acoustic releases in recent years.

Michael Bolton

“Greatest Hits 1985-1995” - Columbia

Even without five new chart-bound tracks, a Michael Bolton greatest-hits package would be a powerful force, laden as it is with such heavyweights as “Soul Provider,” “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You,” “Time, Love And Tenderness,” and “Said I Loved You … But I Lied.” The real story, though, is the new cuts, especially provocative single “Can I Touch You … There?,” a Bolton/Robert “Mutt” Lange collaboration.

Other highlights include Bolton’s rendition of his “I Found Someone” (a hit for Cher), Diane Warren ballad “The River,” and “A Love So Beautiful.”

Evil Stig

Warner Bros./Blackheart

Rock diva Joan Jett joins the surviving members of Seattle punk band the Gits for a project from which proceeds will go to fund the investigation into the 1993 rape and murder of former Gits leader Mia Zapata.

Beyond the album’s noble cause, its music is uncompromising and instantly accessible. With Jett at the helm, the ensemble burns through live renditions of Gits tunes plus Jett-fueled classics, such as “Crimson And Clover,” all of which were later embellished in the studio. Album title is “Gits Live” backward.

Ke

“I Am ( )” - RCA

For such a pretentiously titled album, this is fairly direct and coherent pop fare, delivered with earnest emotion and a quivering tenor vocal. Ke has a budding talent for fleshing out infectious hooks with intelligent lyrics and rock-edged rhythms that are right in the pocket of current top 40 trends.

Notables include the jangly, acoustic-framed “Strange World” and bass-smart, funk-fortified “Holding On.”

Michael W. Smith

“I’ll Lead You Home” - Reunion

Smith’s highly anticipated follow-up to 1992’s “Change Your World” is a wonderfully expansive project that should satiate the legion of contemporary Christian fans who have followed him over the last decade, yet still appeal to the mainstream audience he successfully tapped on his last outing with such pop hits as “Place In This World.”

Highlights include the infectious, uptempo “A Little Stronger Everyday,” intimate, stirring ballad “Straight To The Heart,” and a beautiful rendition of the Lord’s Prayer called “As It Is In Heaven.” Though much of the lyrical content is overtly spiritual, the textured pop melodies should draw in a wide audience. This is Smith’s best work yet.

Lee Roy Parnell

“We All Get Lucky Sometimes” - Career

Why does everybody keep saying that Lee Roy is the new Delbert McClinton? Shoot, he’s the new Lee Roy Parnell, and a good one at that. Some people might call this a toneddown radio album, but it’s still as full of fire and vinegar as they come these days.

His rocking roadhouse groove still sounds effortless. He seamlessly melds country, R&B, Tex-Mex and blues into infectious shuffle. His blistering instrumental duet with Flaco Jimenez on “Cat Walk” is a “Honky Tonk” for the ‘90s.

Colin James

“Bad Habits” - Sire/Elektra

Canadian blues/rocker James switches U.S. labels and delivers an album that could extend his multiplatinum reach to this side of the border.

Reminiscent of compatriot Jeff Healey and Eric Clapton’s mid- to late-‘80s period, James shines on such cuts as sultry first single “Saviour” (remake of a ‘70s hit by English singer Kevin Coyne), the title cut, original “Real Stuff,” and covers of Elmore James’ “I Can’t Hold Out” and Robert Johnson’s “Walkin’ Blues.” The album includes guest appearances by Lenny Kravitz, Waddy Wachtel and Mavis Staples.

Ini Kamoze

“Lyrical Gangsta” - EastWest

Reflective excursions into life on the block (“Don’t Burn Ya Bridge”), on the road (“Love Em Doe?” and “Turn Me On”), on the dancehall tip (“How U Livin,” “Kildatsounboy”), and on the mountaintop (“King Selassie”) make for a kaleidoscopic journey though the valley of the shadow of def.

Kamoze assures that “I’m stepping it hotter this year” (“Hot Steppa”), and this record’s immediate leap onto the Top Reggae Albums chart shows that his fans concur.