Label: Carry On Music (US), COMU-009
Style: Rock
Country: Seattle, Washington, U.S. (March 16, 1954)
Time: 45:22
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 304 Mb
The first Heart single to feature Nancy Wilson on lead vocals was “These Dreams,” with an iconic video that featured the guitarist and her sister Ann with peak Eighties hair, silk blazers, fog, and some more hair. But flash-forward to the present — with all that glam preserved on a high shelf like a can of hairspray collecting dust — and the song still holds up, particularly when Wilson performs it on acoustic with her husky vocals. Every second of the night, she’s lived another life.
Wilson carries this well-worn wisdom into her solo debut, You and Me. As her decision to cover Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising” hints at, You and Me arrives as a healing of sorts, after more than a year of isolation and social upheaval in our country. Best of all, it was unplanned, so the record lacks the kind of “This is a pandemic gift to fans” sentiment and has more of a “stay-at-home-rocker-gets-creative” authenticity. “I’m not going to sit here and do a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle,” Wilson said, making the rest of us feel lazy.
You and Me is bookended with tender tributes — the opening title track is for her mother (co-written by longtime collaborator Sue Ennis), while the closer “4 Edward” is an aching acoustic send-off to Eddie Van Halen. In between we get a sprinkling of elite guests, from Sammy Hagar on a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Boxer” to the dizzying highlight “Party at the Angel Ballroom” with Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins and Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses. Then there’s “Daughter” (yes, the Pearl Jam song), which feels unfathomably great when she screams, “She will … rise above!”
At times, the amount of covers on You and Me can feel a bit overwhelming — the need for a rendition of the Cranberries’ “Dreams” is questionable — but Wilson balances it out with her own gems. “The Dragon,” written for Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley in the Nineties, is a gritty slow-burner that’s ripened with age, while “The Inbetween” has a whimsical opening reminiscent of Harry Nilsson’s “Turn On Your Radio.” Decades into her career, the guitarist proves that her legacy is still being made — one puzzle piece after the next.
(rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/nancy-wilson-you-and-me-review-1167232/) Review by Angie Martoccio. May 10, 2021
Angie Martoccio.
Angie Martoccio is a senior writer at Rolling Stone, where she covers music and pop culture. She’s written cover stories on Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Boygenius, and others. She’s interviewed iconic musicians and actors like Neil Young, Jamie Lee Curtis, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, and more. She also focuses on in-depth features on the unsung women of the music industry, from Seventies singer-songwriter Judee Sill to singer Nicolette Larson. Her feature on Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and Papas won The Newswomen's Club of New York’s Front Page Award in 2023.
01. You And Me (feat. Sue Ennis) (03:19)
02. The Rising (05:11)
03. I'll Find You (03:43)
04. Daughter (03:39)
05. Party At The Angel Ballroom (feat. Taylor Hawkins and Duff McKagan) (03:06)
06. The Boxer (feat. Sammy Hagar) (04:43)
07. Walk Away (03:33)
08. The Inbetween (04:00)
09. Dreams (feat. Liv Warfield) (03:31)
10. The Dragon (05:21)
11. We Meet Again (03:29)
12. 4 Edward (01:43)
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