Were Heart More Successful in the 70s, or in The 80s?

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The 1970s are remembered for being a highlight of rock music. You had bands with the progressive rock subgenre in the early to mid 70s, there was blues and Southern Rock (a la Zz Top or Lynyrd Skynyrd), and towards the end you had punk rock.

But in 1973, came one of the best examples that females can rock too when two Seattle sisters came together in a band that would be commercially successful twice in their careers - in the late 1970s, and again in the mid-late 1980s.

What about the 70s?
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While it's a knee-jerk reaction to think that Little Queen was Heart's best-selling record - especially featuring their signature song, Barracuda, which fell just short of the top 10, several more of Heart's albums were successful. Their debut album went platinum in the US while Little Queen was 3x platinum (2x platinum in Canada). Their 1978 successor Magazine (issued without permission by Mushroom Records) also whent platinum as did Dog & Butterfly. The feud over Mushroom Records releasing Magazine without the band's permission let to an ultimate switch to Capital Records by the 1980s, but wait...let's take a look at charts first.

Little Queen itself made number 9 in the US and number 2 in Canada - top 10 in both countries, as well as #34 in the UK and #22 in Aussie. Magazine was top 20 in the US and Canada (#17 and #13, respectively), did not chart in the UK, and was #66 in Australia. Dog & Butterfly did somewhat better (#9 in Canada), but Bebe le Strange was a near-flop everywhere but in the US (where it made #5 on the Albums Chart).

How about the 80s?

 By 1984 the Wilson sisters signed a contract with Capitol records after two rather flop albums (Private Auditions and Paperworks). Their 1985 self-titled record, as well as its follow-ups, went platinum multiple times on both sides of the 49th and some were even certified Gold in the UK and/or Australia! Let's take a look at charts shall we?

Folks this is astounding! Their self-titled 1985 album made the top 10 in North America (#1 in the US, #3 in Canada), top 20 in the UK (#19), and even...wait for it...#22 in Sweeden! Say whaaaaaat?!?! Likewise, 1987's Bad Animals was also in the top 10 in North America (#2 US, #3 Canada), hit the top 10 in the UK and Aussie (#7 and #10 respectively), hit the top 5 in Scandinavia (#5 in Sweden, #4 in...Norway!), and even top 10 in the Netherlands (#9)! While not in the 1980s, 1990's Brigade is more or less considered Heart's peak. It was practically in the top 10 everywhere, with the exception of the Netherlands where it made the top 20 (#16).

So, what's the conclusion?

 While Heart may have been at an ARTISTIC peak in the 70s, its in the 80s where they really shone with their soft rock sound. At a time when hair bands where at their popularity, Heart were generally much softer-sounding and therefore more radio friendly, which answers the question - Heart were much more successful in the 1980s. (Should've recorded Barracuda then or at least re-recorded it...)

Fun fact: Last decade I remember my classic rock station doing a contest asking this questions. Of course most callers declared in the 1970s, but maybe know when they read this post, they'll be better able to answer the question next time...

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