Cover albums are a difficult medium for musicians to work with, despite their lazy reputation. Remakes of songs written by another artist can be better than the original, but are often pale and distorted reflections of their source. Songs that merit being rerecorded are generally both unusually interesting and embedded in our musical consciousness — so much so that they are considered classics. Unfortunately, classics are hard to beat.
This is the problem with Heart-vocalist Ann Wilson's Hope & Glory. Not only is it a cover album, it's a country-rock cover album. While the combination isn't disastrous, it isn't really entertaining.
Unveiling only one original song, Wilson attempts to convey a theme of cultural upheaval throughout Hope & Glory, singing both timeless ballads of anti-war sentiment (such as Neil Young's "War of Man") and social critiques ("We've Got to Get Out of This Place"). When harnessing her powerful voice — the same voice she used to propel Heart to fame in the '70s — this theme comes through loud and clear. Pink Floyd's "Goodbye Blue Sky" opens the album in a prophetic fashion, immediately questioning war and its effect on those it touches.
"Unusual" is the operative word in describing Wilson's adaptation of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song." Somehow, however, her biting snarl (remarkably similar to that of Robert Plant) makes the track work. While remaining a relevant homage, the addition of distortion and industrial beats (that even Marilyn Manson would be proud of) highlight the strength of Wilson's vocals, as well as provide a welcome respite from the country-rock interpretations dominating the remainder of the record. As with most covers, attempting something new is much more successful than feeble attempts at facsimile. Then again, no matter who performs it — or how they perform it — Zeppelin's creation is a rock masterpiece; it's hard not to like the song.
Also critical to Hope & Glory are the high-profile collaborators present on nearly every track. Elton John rerecorded his "Where to Now St. Peter?" with Wilson, providing one of Hope's most enjoyable performances. The guttural tones of Wilson's cries accent the maturity of John's voice well. However, some of the collaborations just don't work. Rufus Wainwright's peculiar twang and Shawn Colvin's sickly sweet addition to Bob Dylan's "Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall" distract from the message inherent to Dylan's work. Distinguished folk-country standbys Wynonna Judd and K.D. Lang also make dubious appearances, and Judd's dour contribution to "Get Together" nearly extinguishes the dancing flame of the original.
As with "Get Together," Hope is most disappointing when it strays too far from southern-rock and embraces folk and country. These are not Wilson's genres, despite how much she evidently loves them. Her take on Creedance Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" with Gretchen Wilson (no relation) makes this painfully clear. When John Fogerty wrote the original — hoping his audience was "quite prepared to die" — his swamp-rock growl hammered CCR's message home. If Wilson and Wilson had reinterpreted the original with some electric rage instead of turning out something appropriate for a line-dance karaoke session, it might have stood a chance. Wilson is a "Barracuda," not a catfish.
Despite all this, there is one highlight besides "Immigrant Song"; John Lennon's "Isolation" supports the second half of the record all on its own. Whether she intended to or not, Wilson again does her best Robert Plant imitation and passionately conveys the post-Beatles revolutionary's never-ending disappointment and rage against the world he wanted to change. The fury of Wilson's voice — the improbable "heart" of the best tracks on the album — lends itself exceedingly well to Lennon's work.
As a whole, Hope & Glory is an album that fails to stay in Ann Wilson's comfort zone. Far from the lovesick and bitter themes of "Magic Man" and "Crazy on You," the transformation of Wilson's musical style seems to have paralleled her maturity. This has allowed her to avoid becoming unwelcome in the (small, mostly hair-filled) space of rock history that Heart is regulated to.
Unfortunately, her new folk approach isn't nearly as entertaining as her past musical output, not to mention that some of the covers are so mangled they embarrass the memory of the originals. Perhaps in the future, Wilson might look to her past for inspiration, instead of the past of others.
2 stars out of 5
