Hide Your Heart

Overview

The album features the song "Hide Your Heart" written by Paul Stanley, Desmond Child and Holly Knight. This song was later covered three times in 1989 Ace Frehley's Trouble Walkin', Robin Beck's Trouble Or Nothin', and Molly Hatchet's Lightning Strikes Twice. And performed in 1989 by Paul Stanley with Kiss on their Hot in the Shade album.

The album also features the original versions of the track "Save Up All Your Tears", which would be covered, with a faster arrangement, by Cher on her 1991 album Love Hurts, and the "The Best," later covered by Tina Turner. Also included are Bonnie Tyler's remake of Turner's 1986 b-side "Don't Turn Around" (which was also a #1 UK hit for Aswad in 1988 and an international hit for Ace of Base in 1994), and the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody", a hit two years later for Jimmy Somerville.

Recording

Hide Your Heart was recorded at the Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York. Desmond Child had received a budget from CBS Records to write and produce three songs for Tyler's next album. Within a few days, they recorded an entire album on that budget. "I begged the musicians to stay overtime," Child recalled in a 2013 interview.

Bass guitarist Seth Glassman and lead guitarist John McCurry swapped instruments to record "Turtle Blues", which was not planned to feature on the album. The song was recorded at 2 a.m. after a jamming session. McCurry overdubbed the guitar solo after the song was recorded. "Turtle Blues" was originally written and recorded by Janis Joplin for her 1968 album Cheap Thrills with Big Brother and the Holding Company. Tyler recorded her vocals in the same booth as Joplin's original version.

Additional recording took place at The Hit Factory and Right Track in New York City.

Critical reception

Hide Your Heart received generally positive from music critics. Mario Tarradell of The Miami News described Tyler as "revitalized" after her work with Jim Steinman. He noted Tyler's cover of Janis Joplin's song "Turtle Blues" as the album highlight, stating, "Tyler captures the jazzy raspiness and riveting intensity characteristic of Joplin's style and adds her own theatrics to create an impressive homage to the late singer." Tarradell added that Tyler "isn't always blessed with the best material and has been a victim of a roller-coaster career," but described the album as an "impressive return" to rock music. Curt Anderson of Bangor Daily News agreed that "Turtle Blues" is the album highlight, and "stands head and shoulders above the rest [of the tracks]." He also opined that Tyler's cover of "To Love Somebody" is "better than the original." He did argue, however, that the album is over-produced, saying that the core of "Don't Turn Around" gets "lost in a tidal wave of sound" as the choir enters. He concluded, saying that the track "Notes from America" sounds "like much of the commercial rock 'n' roll on the radio," and that "it's a shame [Tyler] isn't singing more memorable music."

Single releases

Tyler's first single from the album was "The Best", which was the best performing single, reaching #10 in Norway and Portugal, #34 in Spain and #95 in the UK. Other singles included "Hide Your Heart", "Save Up All Your Tears", "Don't Turn Around", and the U.S. title track "Notes From America".

Personnel

Production