Streetheart

Album Review

Winnipeg's Streetheart played hard guitar and keyboard-mixed radio rock throughout the course of the late '70s and early '80s, and are comparable to country mates Prism and Trooper, who flourished at around the same time. Led by guitarist Paul Dean and Matt Frenette, who later formed Loverboy, Streetheart's straight-ahead approach of energetic, highly animated guitar throttle somehow failed to gain momentum outside of Canada. Over 60 Minutes With Streetheart is the better of the two hits packages that exist, with seven more tracks and a more diverse representation than 1981's Action compilation. Taking tracks from four of their best albums, with five coming from the Live After Dark album, this 75-minute collection contains excellent versions of "Hollywood" and "Just for You," as well as the andante pace of "What Kind of Love Is This," their best half-ballad. Streetheart's most interesting piece comes in the form of The Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb," blazing with whirlwind keyboards and highlighted by the screaming vocals of singer Ken Shields. While not overly extravagant, their basic guitar-etched formula comes to life on the crowd favorite "One More Time" and again with the naive pull of "Teenage Rage." Surprisingly absent is their version of Van Morrison's "Here Comes the Night" from 1979, one of Streetheart's best known singles from early in their career. With much of their back catalog out of print, this album still stands as the best grouping of Streetheart's tunes.