Day 16 – A Song You Used To Love But Now Hate
“Alone” – Heart
Bad Animals is one of the worst Heart album. Some might argue there are no good albums by the band, but that’s not what this is about. Besides, I’m a fan of the band. I always liked them, and was happy when they “broke big” in 1985 (though I preferred the earlier period marked by albums such as Bebe le Strange and Passionworks).
Out of the 10 songs on there, only 3 are co-written by Ann & Nancy Wilson. Everything else was “contributed” by outside songwriters. See my entry for day 2 of this 30 day exercise to see my opinion of this practice. Bad Animals was the album that made me aware of the practice. At the time of its release “Alone” seemed like a decent enough single, if a bit more ballad-y than I would have preferred from the group.
As time went on, I became aware just how much influence the record company had on the band and what songs were picked for the album, and who would write them. The band wasn’t allowed to put much songwriting effort into their albums, which is a shame. The same also went for Cheap Trick and other rock acts looking to keep their success (and record contracts) going in the 80s.
As the 90s came I began to look less favorably on Bad Animals, and “Alone” in particular. The fact that it went to #1 and was overplayed didn’t help matters much. I got sick of the song, and now, while I don’t hate it, I usually do turn the radio station if it comes on. I have yet to upgrade my Bad Animals vinyl album as well, and don’t plan to any time soon.