Heart was the band that broke the glass ceiling and bought women-fronted hard rock to the masses. By 1985, they had expanded beyond just pummeling riffage and Renaissance Fair folk that betrayed their love for Led Zeppelin. They didn’t completely eschew the hard stuff, but they had synths and they were going to use them.
“These Dreams” was the hit from Heart’s self-titled LP, which proved to be a sort-of comeback for the band. Sure, it embraced the decade’s cliches, but that and set of irresistible hooks was part of the charm (and helped them sell a ton of records). The feeling of nostalgia I get when I watch this video is almost unbearable. It reminds me of walking through the malls of the eighties, with those stores that fetishized “the Orient”, sold metal t-shirts and katana swords and had names like Kung Fu and Far East Bazaar. Like Rocky IV, which came out the same year, it’s pure 1985. The icy synths, pastel-tinged surrealism, high-kicks and huge hair couldn’t have come together like this in almost any other time.
Heart - These Dreams (YouTube)
