Ann Wilson on purevolume™

Classic Rock / Rock

Ann Wilson
Hope & Glory
Street Date: September 11, 2007

Hope & Glory - Ann Wilsons first solo album ever -is a singularly powerful and altogether timely song cycle that speaks eloquently to our troubled times.

The world has long known Hearts Ann Wilson as one of the greatest and most enduring vocalists of her generation. Yet on her ultimately hopeful and glorious solo debut for Zo/ Rounder Records to be released on September 11, 2007, Wilson is likely to stun even her lifelong fans with what could fairly be called the mother of all cover albums.

On Hope & Glory, Wilson manages to reinterpret and reinvent some of the greatest songs of the past forty years that powerfully and poignantly reflect the here and now, including classics from the Sixties (Bob Dylans A Hard Rains Gonna Fall, Creedence Clearwater Revivals Bad Moon Rising, The Animals Weve Gotta Get Out Of This Place, and The Youngbloods Get Together), and Seventies (Led Zeppelins Immigrant Song, John Lennons Isolation, and Elton Johns Where To Now, St. Peter) to gems of a more recent vintage like War Of Man by Neil Young and Jackson by Lucinda Williams. Hope & Glory concludes with one heartbreakingly moving new song written by Ann herself, Little Problems, Little Lies, yet one listen to the album demonstrates that Wilson has made each of the songs here very much her own and utterly relevant to our world today.

Just about every single song was a complete thrill for me to sing because at some point I was a kid out there loving them, or a young adult loving them, or in a few cases a grown-up loving them, Wilson explains. As for the powerful ways the songs on Hope & Glory resonate with current events, Wilson says, The thing is, Ive been itching to make some sort of comment about our times, but I didnt want to do it in a way that was really abrasive and just shouting for the sake of shouting. I wanted to bring people some of the most beautiful poetry from different eras when they were facing a similar predicament and apply it to now.

The thematic way that Hope & Glory addresses matters of war and peaces gives the album a coherence and passion missing from the vast majority of cover albums. Most people dont really succeed with cover albums because they just try and redo the songs, says Wilson. I was so lucky to work with Ben Mink because he would never just do that or settle for that.

According to Wilson, producer and multi-instrumentalist Ben Mink -- well known for his work with k.d. lang, Feist, and Barenaked Ladies, among others - was an ideal collaborator on Hope & Glory. I dont throw the word around easily, but I think Bens a genius when it comes to getting a sound and knowing when youve gone too far and when you havent gone far enough. The sounds that Ben gets are just astonishing. Ben did a lot of the arranging and played almost all the guitars, all of the fiddle, a lot of the keyboards. Hes really a presence all through the album.

Mink is hardly the only musical figure joining Wilson on the album. Hope & Glory - recorded in Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, New York, Nashville and Las Vegas - also features impressive guest turns from an eclectic group of high profile artists, including Elton John, Gretchen Wilson, k.d. lang, label mate Alison Krauss, Wynonna, Shawn Colvin, Deana Carter, and Rufus Wainwright. In addition to those special guests, Anns sister and longtime musical partner in Heart, Nancy Wilson, makes a number of appearances on assorted tracks, as do two current members of Heart,
drummer Ben Smith and bassist Ric Markmann and a number of players who had worked with Ben Mink on many of his projects.

For all that, Hope & Glory finally comes across as very much the statement of one woman seeking to make sense of the world around her. Rather than seeming like a heavy handed political diatribe, the album feels intimate and homespun - a musical exploration of the very personal consequences of global tensions through some remarkable songs.

I just wanted to go to each of these great songs and find the one thing that still resonates now, Wilson says. It wasnt so hard once I made my wish list of songs for the right ones to just float their way right to the top. And Ben was so great about that. We took a couple of days up in Vancouver and just went at every song we could possibly think of and some of them were clearly not right. So I guess all the songs we chose were those that we felt could live in the same family, and live on the same album.

Asked if she feels especially proud of Hope & Glory, the first album she has ever put her own name on, Wilson says, It feels really different and I dont even necessarily know how thats going to manifest itself yet because I have yet to go out and do gigs yet and play this material live. But I already know that I learned a hell of a lot from working with Ben Mink on this album. Nancy and I have a really big comfort zone together, and when shes not around its a whole other deal. Making this album, I had to reach down into places of myself - I really didnt know if they were there. Ben demanded that much of me. And in the end, that was a really good thing for me.

A good thing for Wilson - and a fantastic new album for the rest of us.

- David Wild
# # # #

August 24

Hope and Glory

Ann Wilson Makes Social Statement With First Solo Record 'Hope & Glory' (September 11th, Zo/Rounder Records)

Peers And Luminaries Join Hearts Legendary Singer

Ann Wilson has recorded her first-ever solo effort 'Hope & Glory,' due September 11th on Zo/ Rounder Records. The arresting vocalist branches out with a socially conscious and thought-provoking album of songs she selected to inspire the appropriately titled 'Hope & Glory.'

Produced by Ben Mink (k.d. lang, Feist), Hope & Glory features guest appearances from iconic artists Elton John, Gretchen Wilson, Alison Krauss, Rufus Wainwright, Anns sister Nancy Wilson and others on unique renditions of songs made famous by Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Neil Young and more.

Each of these songs holds a special place in my soulAt one time or another every one of them has kept me up at night to the point of exasperation and will not be banished, as I lay sleepless on my pillow. Such songs as these carry me through my life, and they are a standard to which all new music I hear and write must compare. Ann Wilson

With the state of our times in mind, Wilson sings the story of a fallen soldier (Where to Now St. Peter), recounts hardship and desperation (Immigrant Song) and takes an angels view of a battlefield (War of Man). Wilson ties the entire body of work together with her stirring original song entitled Little Problems, Little Lies, a harrowing soldiers eye view of life on the front lines.

Ann Wilson - 'Hope & Glory' track list:

1. Goodbye Blue Sky - with Nancy Wilson (Pink Floyd)
2. Where to Now St. Peter - with Elton John (Elton John)
3. Jackson - with k.d. lang (Lucinda Williams)
4. We Gotta Get Out of This Place - with Wynonna (The Animals)
5. Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin)
6. Darkness Darkness - with Nancy Wilson (The Youngbloods)
7. Bad Moon Rising - with Gretchen Wilson (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
8. War of Man - with Alison Krauss (Neil Young)
9. Get Together - with Nancy Wilson, Deana Carter & Wynonna (The Youngbloods)
10. Isolation (John Lennon)
11. A Hard Rains a-Gonna Fall - with Rufus Wainwright & Shawn Colvin (Bob Dylan)
12. Little Problems, Little Lies

CrossTownBand

There has never been, nor will there ever be, another
Ann Wilson! Is that Elton John singing with you on
\"Where To Now St. Peter?\" We ALL (Dave, John, Bob)
wish you the BEST on your upcoming release and hope you
will consider a concert somewhere in the Southwest
soon! We will be there and rock all night with
you! Respectfully, David Van Kleeck of CrossTown

posted Sep 10

Page 1 of 1