Heart – Dreamboat Annie – Nautilus Hot Stamper (from Long, Long Ago)

This review is from the mid-2000s I think.

This is a Nautilus Half-Speed Mastered LP with SURPRISINGLY GOOD SOUND on side two. I think I finally figured out why people like these half-speed mastered records so much. If you get one like this, it’s great! The mids and highs are transparent, sweet, open, and tonally correct. There’s none of that MOFI 10k top end boost here! Listen critically to the vocals — there’s almost no phony hi-fi-ish quality to the midrange, the kind you hear on so many half-speed mastered records.  

Flip the record over to side one and there they are, plain as day: audiophile BS vocals. That makes this a Hot Stamper on side two and a pretty much run-of-the-mill stamper for side one.

Both sides actually have pretty good bass (for a half-speed), so maybe that’s being a bit too harsh. More accurately one could say both sides are better than average, with side two actually being pretty much right on the money.

Overall Sonic Grade:

Side One – A 
Side Two – A++ (relative to other Nautilus pressings)

Vinyl Grade:

1) Mint Minus or better
2) Mint Minus or better

Cover Grade: 8 out of 10

TRACK LISTING

Side One

Magic Man 
Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child)
Crazy On You
Soul of the Sea
Dreamboat Annie

Side Two

White Lightning & Wine 
Love Me Like Music 
Sing Child
How Deep It Goes
Dreamboat Annie (Reprise)

AMG 4 1/2 Star Rave Review

In the 1980s and ’90s, numerous women recorded blistering rock, but things were quite different in 1976 — when female singers tended to be pigeonholed as soft rockers and singer/songwriters and were encouraged to take after Carly Simon, Melissa Manchester, or Joni Mitchell rather than Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath.

Greatly influenced by Zep, Heart did its part to help open doors for ladies of loudness with the excellent Dreamboat Annie. Aggressive yet melodic rockers like “Sing Child,” “White Lightning & Wine,” and the rock radio staples “Magic Man” and “Crazy on You” led to the tag “the female Led Zeppelin.” And in fact, Robert Plant did have a strong influence on Ann Wilson. But those numbers and caressing, folk-ish ballads like “How Deep It Goes” and the title song also make it clear that Nancy and Ann Wilson had their own identity and vision early on.