White Heart

White Heart was one of my favorite bands growing up.  I still play them regularly.  Their career divides neatly into four eras based on their record label and evolving sound.

The Home Sweet Home years:
Lite rock (some have compared this era to Toto).
White Heart - I just heard this in its entirety for the first time.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I thought Steve Green singing in a rock band would be a failure, but it wasn't.  I see why they parted ways though, he is too CCM for a rock band (I remember hearing the split was amicable).
Vital Signs and Hotline - feel like the same album to me.  Pretty good lite rock, some good songwriting.  I think I like Vital Signs slightly better.  This era is usually overlooked in the White Heart catalog probably because of wanting to forget about Scott Douglas.  I'm glad all of this finally got re-issued.

The Sparrow years:
More commercial rock.  New lead singer.
Don't Wait for the Movie was really a breakout album.  The guitar tones to open the album alone told you this was a newer, harder White Heart.  Some of the songs don't stand the test of time well, but some really do.
Emergency Broadcast - forgettable.  A few good songs, but tied for my least listened-to WH album.
Freedom - Amazing.  Side one (in cassette or record terms) is the best half of an album they ever put out.  I think this album is still slightly overrated by fans because I think the second half is just average.

The Star Song years:
My favorite era.  Good commercial rock and their songwriting peak, musically and lyrically.
Powerhouse - a masterpiece and my favorite White Heart album.  I love every song.
Tales of Wonder - Also very good.  It would be as good as Powerhouse with a few more rockers and fewer ballads.  I believe this was their most commercially successful album (I think the radio-friendly ballads had something to do with that).
Highlands - Another great album.  The highs are as good as they ever got but there are a few too many lows for me.  I saw them at DTE Energy Music Theater Pine Knob in Michigan on this tour.  It was my first rock concert.

The Curb years:
Inside - Pretty good but not up to their usual standards.  I'd probably like it if it didn't carry the "White Heart expectancy" with it.  It was not self-produced and just too different.
Redemption - Tied for my least listened-to WH album.  I can't name one song from it.

Thoughts?  Pethead?

WhiteHeart has been neck and neck with Petra as my favorite band for almost twenty years now, since I first heard them (WhiteHeart) in high school as a new Christian.

WhiteHeart: I didn’t expect this album to be as good as it is before I heard it, I guess because Rick wasn’t behind the mic. But it’s a really good album! Some of it rocks pretty good, such as You’re the One and Go Down Nineveh. I don’t play it as much as what follows, though.

Vital Signs: A good follow up, with some great songs. I especially like Draw the Line, Undercover, and the title track. Let Your First Thought Be Love and We Are His Hands are classics. A bit more hit and miss than the debut, but with higher highs.

Hotline: Back when I was trying to collect all their albums, this one was impossible to find. It ended up being the most expensive CD in my collection! It’s a great album, and my favorite of the first 3. The title track rocks pretty good and Jerusalem is one of my all-time favorite songs by anyone. 

Live at Six Flags: Hosanna (later covered by Sandi Patty) is awesome.

Don’t Wait for the Movie: Rick’s debut continued the progress towards rocking more and is a good album overall, but I find it pales a bit in comparison towards what was coming. The album starts and finishes strong, but sags a bit in the middle.

Emergency Broadcast: The second hardest to find back in my high school days is an underrated album. It’s pretty consistent throughout, more so than its predecessor, and Key to Our Survival might be WH’s most underrated tune.

Freedom: The best album in any genre by anyone. Flawless. 

Powerhouse: Another great album, especially the first half. Perhaps their most consistently rocking, Brian Wooten immediately makes his presence known on guitar and few songs in their catalog rock as hard as Nailed Down. Another career highlight. 

Tales of Wonder: Masterpiece. Their second best album. While the sound is more acoustic-driven, the band is firing on all cylinders. Every song rules.

Highlands: My first WH album (other than a compilation). Highlands seems quite popular and it is very good. However, I do think it’s a slight step down from the previous three. There are no bad songs here and Heaven of My Heart is a top 3 WH tune. The album as a whole just doesn’t grab me quite to the extent the previous three do.

Inside: a darker album with a different sound, Inside rocks as hard as WH ever did, but is a bit of a grower. That being said, I love it just as much as Highlands. There are some great tunes here, with Living Sacrifice being one of their best rockers and Even the Hardest Heart being one of their best ballads.

Redemption: underrated, although very different from anything that came before. It’s a fairly mellow album and the rockers here are more influenced by alternative. Nevertheless, the songwriting is quite good (Looking Glass and Honestly are highlights) and the lyrics are an all-time best for WH. But I’d be lying if I said I spin this one as often as the other Florian albums.


To conclude: They don’t have a bad album. WhiteHeart rules.

I LOL'ed at Hotline being your most expensive.  Mine too because I overpaid for it last year about a month before the reissued were announced 

Good catch on "Hosanna."  It's also on the Home Sweet Home-era Greatest Hits album.  I'm not normally a fan of bonus tracks on reissues but in this case I wish more of the non-album tracks would have been on these White Heart ones.  "Who Is This One?" is another hard to find track by them.

eatbugs wrote:I LOL'ed at Hotline being your most expensive.  Mine too because I overpaid for it last year about a month before the reissued were announced 

Good catch on "Hosanna."  It's also on the Home Sweet Home-era Greatest Hits album.  I'm not normally a fan of bonus tracks on reissues but in this case I wish more of the non-album tracks would have been on these White Heart ones.  "Who Is This One?" is another hard to find track by them.

Yeah, I don’t want to admit how much I paid

Agreed. I don’t care for demos or alternate takes, but I would love to hear all the regular unreleased or hard to find tracks. I should’ve also mentioned The Little Drummer Boy that was on Souvenirs. I bought Souvenirs just for that song.

Yes, that is my favorite version of Little Drummer Boy.  Souvenirs was also my first introduction to the Sparrow era.  While we're at it how about the four unreleased from the Nothing But the Best comps?  I also don't like new songs on compilations to sucker us into buying them, but what you said about Souvenirs is true for me for Nothing But the Best.

...and you can admit how much you paid here as long as your wife doesn't see it.

Ha! Well, this was long before I met my wife, although she makes fun of me for it. 

How could I forget about Nothing but the Best? All are good songs, although I think I prefer the two on the Radio Classics volume.

Rick Florian is a great performer and singer and the band are stunning musicians.  My favorite albums are freedom, Powerhouse, Tales of wonder and Highlands.  I have not heard inside or the last one. I had probably left the scene by then. Must give em a listen.

Rank 'em (since were doing it with every other band):

1. Powerhouse.
2. Tales of Wonder.
3. Freedom.
4. Highlands.
5. Don't Wait for the Movie.
6. Inside.
7. Vital Signs.
8. Hotline.
9. White Heart.
10. Redemption.
11. Emergency Broadcast.

1. Freedom
2. Tales of Wonder 
3. Powerhouse
4. Hotline
5. Highlands
6. Inside
7. Emergency Broadcast 
8. Don’t Wait for the Movie 
9. WhiteHeart
10. Vital Signs
11. Redemption

The top 3 are the ones really set in stone. The others can shift a bit.

Love ‘em all

Pethead wrote:
The top 3 are the ones really set in stone. The others can shift a bit.

Love ‘em all

I agree.  I may even shift my #'s 2 and 3 depending on the day.

Ranking is relative.  There are no songs I really say "yuck" and skip.

eatbugs wrote:

Pethead wrote:
The top 3 are the ones really set in stone. The others can shift a bit.

Love ‘em all

I agree.  I may even shift my #'s 2 and 3 depending on the day.

Ranking is relative.  There are no songs I really say "yuck" and skip.

Same. I can put any of them on and listen to the whole and enjoy it.

I have all the Whiteheart CDs from Don't Wait for the Movie (1986) to Redemption (1997) and the 2 Noting but the Best Compilations. I was aware of them since 1985 and got into them in late summer/fall of 1986 when I bought the Don't Wait for the Movie cassette. Emergency Broadcast and Redemption are the Albums I would rank the lowest. Their other albums are for the most part are quite good. They can write a good hook. Whiteheart is one of the few moderate rock bands I have in my collection except for the Portriat of a Spirit acoustic album done by Pakaderm Artists and the Halo/Scott Springer albums. Halo have gotten mellower with each album they put out but they still have soem great songs. All the other albums I have range from Patra to heavier music. 

I had had Degarmo and Key and Mylon Lefevre albums in my collection in the past. These bands have some great songs as well. I consider Mylon, Degarmo and Key and Whiteheart the big 3 of moderate rock bands who started in the late 70s to early 80s. You can probably include Allies as well.

Wow!  We are really similar here...meaning your last paragraph Soldier....(I can't seem to copy and quote)...

I enjoy White Heart still.....even when Steve Green was in the band 

"Quiet Love" has got to be my Fav WH song.  

Literally the only thing in their discography I'm missing (besides a few Star Song greatest hits albums) is Millennium Archives.  Is this worth getting?

The first couple of albums were too soft rock.  I don't care for those at all.  I had them at one time on CD and sold them.  Horrible stuff!


I would rank their albums like this:

1.  Powerhouse
2. Inside
3.  Freedom
4. Don't Wait For The Movie
5. Tales Of Wonder
6. Emergency Broadcast
7.  Highlands
8.  Redemption
9.  Hotline




I would never play or attempt to listen to their self-titled debut or "Vital Signs" and will cut them from my list.

Pethead wrote:
Freedom: The best album in any genre by anyone. Flawless. 

Good call! It's the greatest Christian rock album of all time. 

Shortly after this time I was introduced to Bride, and the rest is history and I've been obsessed with Metal since, but when I revisit Freedom I'm reminded of how perfect that album is.

Saw Whiteheart on the Freedom tour and live, they completely rocked it. I think their are other contenders for greatest Christian rock album but it's very great.