Heart was a band inspired by mystical, larger-than-life rock n’ roll and determined to show how girls with guitars could fill out arenas on the strength of their original material. It was quite a mission that the Wilson sisters set up for themselves. What was the payoff? Heart is rightfully recognized, today, as one of the greatest bands in the history of rock n’ roll.

It was quite a journey, however. The road to immortality was paved with hardships, twists and turns, and a number of musical changes. Today, I try to honour all of those. These are the 10 best songs by Heart.

10 Greatest Songs by Heart

10. “Little Queen”

Heart was not only forced to battle prejudice, but also record labels hungry to capitalize and profit off of the band’s early success.

“Little Queen” was the title-track of the band’s third album. The mid-tempo rocker has some bite to it. This is the sound of a band having to battle to make it out alive.

Yes, the song is something of an underrated gem and much less famous than “Barracuda,” released on the same album. But it’s a reminder of Heart’s genuine ability in the hard-rock arena.

9. “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You”

Heart didn’t just earn commercial success during the 1970s. The group didn’t just survive the 1980s with a couple of number-one hits under its belts. By the 1990s, Heart’s experience in the pop-rock arena was still yielding results.

“All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You” was written and produced by Mutt Lange, a man who remade guitar-pop in his own image.

Yes, according to Ann Wilson, the band was a little sick of slick pop-rock singles. But the sisters brought their own flair to the composition, originally offered to Don Henley of Eagles. And the number 2 hit sits nicely in the group’s repertoire.

8. “Even It Up”

Heart not only did it on the band’s own terms. Unlike many of their peers, the group endured and prospered while adhering to its own rules.

By 1980, many of the hard-rock groups that had accompanied Heart on its slalom of North American arenas were gone. The album “Bebe le Strange” proved that the Wilson sisters weren’t going anywhere.

“Even it Up” was the hit from the album. It helped the group continue to tour successfully. And it set Heart up for the pop-rock that defined most of their 1980s output.

7. “Dog & Butterfly”

It was constant, demanding touring that built Heart its rock empire. And it was knowing what hard-rock audiences needed that secured the group a string of big selling albums.

“Dog & Butterfly” was yet another success, even though the group took some chances with the single. The acoustic-driven material resembles Joni Mitchell much more so than Ted Nugent or Deep Purple.

But it’s a good song, and one that I’m sure Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, the Wilson sisters’ heroes, who had made a similar acoustic record with “Led Zeppelin III,” would’ve approved of.

6. “These Dreams”

Heart was a band that already had a decade-long career. But you might not have even known this if you were a kid watching MTV in the late 1980s.

The pop-metal sound promoted on MTV and radio was not, in fact, a grand departure for Heart. The group dialled down its tendency toward mystical rock and focused on powerful, singalong melodies instead. “These Dreams” used that format cleverly and provided the group with yet another number-one hit.

5. “Dreamboat Annie”

The Wilson sisters love Led Zeppelin. They’ve never made a secret about this. In fact, a lot of Heart’s early mission was to create Zep-like rock from the perspective of female musicians.

What Ann and Nancy loved most about the Robert Plant-fronted group was the ability to bring mystery and a sense of mysticism to music.

With its intricate, picked acoustic guitar parts and the dream-like atmosphere created by the lyrics, Heart proved that, in many ways, they had inherited some of their heroes’ magic.

4. “Alone”

Above anything, the story of Heart is one of resilience. By the late 1980s, most of the band’s contemporaries had split up, or had been reduced to playing little, hole-in-the-wall clubs.

With “Alone,” the Wilson sisters showed the music industry that they were ready to meet it halfway. The rock ballad, complete with an elaborate music video supported by MTV, was a number 1 hit.

It’s one of Heart’s most famous songs and one that is routinely included in rock ballad package albums. You probably still have one of those under the backseat of your old car. Go check!

3. “Magic Man”

Rock bands usually spend their first few albums writing idealistic songs about being in a group. They then spend the rest of their careers talking about the dangers of the road.

The Wilson sisters delivered a great song about being in a travelling band and falling head over heels for the wrong person as quickly as their debut record.

The funk groove and powerful guitar riffs leave just the right amount of space for Ann Wilson to talk about a love affair destined to worry her parents and fated to be doomed. I think that it’s a genuinely great song.

2. “Barracuda”

Rock listeners might’ve been waiting with faded breath for the likes of Jimmy Page, Tony Iommi or Ritchie Blackmore to supply them with the next fist-pumping guitar riff. Still, any of those guitar wizards would bow their heads to the power of the guitar riff that drives forward “Barracuda.”

Inspired by Nazareth‘s take on hard rock, Nancy Wilson came up with a part that all guitarists still need to learn in order to earn their stripes.

It was Ann Wilson’s biting lyrics about old record men trying to take advantage of the sisters’ youth and experience that makes “Barracuda” an anthem of the classic-era of rock n’ roll.

1. “Crazy on You”

It’s hard to avoid talking about the fact that Heart, for all intents and purposes, was the first female-fronted rock group to truly make it big. But maybe people, myself included, focus too much on this.

Take a song like “Crazy on You.” It’s a dramatic, dynamic composition. The interplay between the acoustic guitar and the electric guitar riffs is excellent. The singing rivals that of any of the famous frontmen of the 1970s. It is genuinely one of the best songs of the era.

Testament to its power is the fact that little of the power of “Crazy on You” has vanished through the years. It is, yes, a radio staple. But that is because it is one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded.