Magazine (Heart album)

Magazine
Studio album by Heart
Released	First release: April, 1977 Second release: April 22, 1978
Recorded	1975 and 1976 partially re-recorded and re-mixed, 1978
Genre	Hard rock
Length	39:13
Label	Mushroom, Capitol
Producer	Mike Flicker
Heart chronology
Little Queen (1977) Magazine (1977) Dog & Butterfly (1978)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Magazine is a studio album by the hard rock band Heart. The album was certified platinum. It has an unusual history in that the first release in 1977 was an unfinished version not authorized by the group. A second authorized version of the album was re-released in 1978.

Background

After the debut album Heart began recording new songs that were intended as their next studio album for Mushroom Records. However, the group had a falling out with Mushroom over an advertising campaign celebrating the sales of Dreamboat Annie, which ran as a full-page ad in Rolling Stone showing the sisters bare-shouldered (as appearing on the "Dreamboat Annie" album cover) and suggestively captioned "It was only our first time." Recording sessions for the new album stopped after the band and their label were unsuccessful in re-negotiating their contract. Only 5 incomplete recordings were made during these 1976 sessions.

As the group had now proven themselves to be hit-makers, they expected Mushroom to raise their royalty rate. But to the surprise of the group and their producer Mike Flicker the label refused to pay more. While keeping the group under contract Mushroom claimed it was not interested in releasing a second Heart album. Flicker ended his relationship with the label and the group followed, as they believed they had no obligation to stay without their producer. The CBS Records (now Sony BMG) subsidiary, Portrait Records, had offered Flicker and the group a more lucrative contract. The group broke the 2-album contract with Mushroom and moved on to record for Portrait by early 1977.

1977 release

The change in labels resulted in a prolonged legal battle with Mushroom's creative director Shelly Siegel. Mushroom, still having a 2-album contract, claimed they had the legal right to release a second Heart album after all. Having retained ownership of the 5 unfinished studio recordings Mushroom had the recordings mixed by Heart's recording engineer, Rolf Henneman, but without the participation of any group members. The label also added Here Song, a rare b-side, and filled up the rest of the album with 2 live songs recorded in 1975 at "The Aquarius Tavern", a Seattle area rock club where the group had played regularly. Mushroom released the collection as Magazine in the spring of 1977 at the same time that the group was preparing their next album for Portrait titled Little Queen.

According to Flicker, about 50,000 copies of the original Magazine album were pressed. Some of these copies were sold in stores, mostly in Los Angeles and Hollywood, Florida where the records were manufactured. Unsold copies were quickly recalled and later destroyed when Heart took Mushroom to court to stop distribution of the album. The 1977 version was also briefly released in Europe through Arista Records.

Though the album was not officially released to radio stations in 1977, some stations such as KISW, a leading rock station in Seattle, played songs from the unauthorized version, against the wishes of the group. The 1977 release album cover carried a disclaimer on the back cover which read:

"Mushroom Records regrets that a contractual dispute has made it necessary to complete this record without the cooperation or endorsement of the group Heart, who have expressly disclaimed artistic involvement in completing this record. We did not feel that a contractual dispute should prevent the public from hearing and enjoying these incredible tunes and recordings."

Injunction, re-recording and remixing

Unhappy with the somewhat unpolished studio performances and the inclusion of the live recordings, the group took Mushroom to court with the aim of having the 1977 release of Magazine taken off the market. The Seattle court ruled that Mushroom had to recall the album, but the terms of the settlement required that Heart provide a second album for Mushroom. Heart chose to fulfill this obligation by finishing the previously released songs to a quality of their satisfaction.

For the 1978 version Heart chose to re-record, remix, edit, and re-sequence the recordings. A security guard stood by in the studio to make sure that the group didn't try to erase the multitrack master tapes. They added new lead vocals to most of the existing studio tracks. One of the most obvious differences is that on the original recording of "Heartless" Ann Wilson sings "The doc said come back again next week..." On the re-recorded version she clearly sings "doctor" instead. In fact the entire vocal track on "Heartless" is notably more controlled in the original. The synthesizer solo on "Just the Wine" was replaced by a flute solo and the song is slightly edited. The ending "Magazine" fades about 30 seconds earlier. The live "Blues Medley" was edited to remove some of Roger Fisher's guitar solo sections and Ann Wilson's solo vocal parts. There are also other more subtle differences. The revised version of the album was released with no disclaimer by Mushroom Records in April 1978.

Epilogue

In the early 1980s Mushroom Records went out of business. Ownership rights to Heart's two albums for Mushroom were purchased by Capitol Records who re-issued the recordings.

Track listing - 1977 Release

1. "Heartless" (Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson) – 5:00
2. "Without You" (Pete Ham, Tom Evans)– 4:44
3. "Just the Wine" (A. Wilson, N. Wilson) – 4:30
4. "Magazine" (A. Wilson, N. Wilson) – 6:51
5. "Here Song" (A. Wilson) – 1:35
6. "Devil Delight" (A. Wilson, N. Wilson) – 4:58
7. "Blues Medley (Mother Earth) (You Shook Me Babe)" (Live) (Peter Chatman, Lewis Simpkins, Willie Dixon) – 7:11
8. "I've Got the Music in Me" (Live) (Bias Boshell) – 6:01

Track listing - 1978 Release

1. "Heartless" (A. Wilson, N. Wilson) – 5:02
2. "Devil Delight" (A. Wilson, N. Wilson) – 5:00
3. "Just the Wine" (A. Wilson, N. Wilson) – 4:16
4. "Without You" (Ham, Evans) – 4:42
5. "Magazine" (A. Wilson, N. Wilson) – 6:22
6. "Here Song" (A. Wilson) – 1:34
7. "Mother Earth Blues" (Live) (Chatman, Simpkins, Dixon) – 5:59
8. "I've Got the Music in Me" (Live) (Boshell) – 6:18

Chart performance

Chart (1978)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart[citation needed]	66
Canadian Albums Chart[2]	13
U.S. Billboard 200[3]	17

Performers

• Ann Wilson: vocals, guitar, keyboards, violin, flute
• Nancy Wilson: vocals, guitar, piano
• Michael DeRosier: drums
• Roger Fisher: guitar, steel guitar
• Steve Fossen: bass guitar, percussion
• Howard Leese: guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, vocals

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.4574a&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=53gtrvbfj0gk7r9b4sd40dtvu0
3. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/heart-p4463/charts-awards