Fronted by lead vocalist Chris Ousey, between 1991 and 2021 British AOR / Melodic Rockers HEARTLAND released a total of twelve albums, but for the fans as well as for the critics, the best of the bunch is still their self-titled debut, originally released by A&M Records in 1991.
A reader of this blog asked for the reissue… having been a long time out of print, it’s great to see that YesterRock and Universal have decided to re-issue this collector’s item in remastered form.
After his work with the terrific AOR combo Virginia Wolf, Chris Ousey founded Heartland with his ex- Monroe bandmate Gary Sharpe on guitar.
Produced by Jimbo Barton (Gary Moore, Queensryche), ‘Heartland’ sounds superb, including a real drummer actually playing on the record rather than it being merely all triggered samples as was de rigour for that time.
From opener ‘Teach You To Dream’ through to the superb keyboard driven pomp of ‘That Thing’ this album really should be a must buy purchase for any fan of the genre.
There’s classy stuff on songs like the AOR ‘Carrie Ann’ and ‘Walking On Ice’, balanced by the smooth melodic rockers ‘Real World’ and ‘That Thing’.
Of course there’s a heart throbbing ballad in ‘Fight Fire With Fire’, a midtempo plenty of magic.
All ten songs in “Heartland” were written by Ousey / Sharpe and there is not a weak track in sight.
It is overall a remarkably accomplished AOR / Melodic Rock affair, and a superb showcase for that effortlessly soulful voice of Ousey’s.
Very good remaster (the sound difference is amazing) by YesterRock, a great reissue label that sadly, apparently ended its activity.
Buy it before it’s too late, “Heartland” is a MUST HAVE in your AOR / Melodic Rock collection.
01. Teach You To Dream
02. Carrie Ann
03. Don’t Cast Your Shadow
04. Real World
05. Fight Fire With Fire
06. That Thing
07. Walking On Ice
08. Paper Heart
9. Paradise
10. Promises
Chris Ousey – Vocals
Gary Sharpe – Guitar
Phil Brown – Bass
Steve Gibson – Drums & Percussion
Rik Carter – Keyboards
Additional Musicians:
Steve Ferrara – Drums
George Deangelis, David Hinson, Don Snow – Keyboards
Carol Kenyon, Don Snow, Sylvia Mason James, Paul Moggledon, Omar Dupree, Steven P. Clisby, Julia Loko, Jody Pijper – Backing Vocals