Heart - Dreamboat Annie

After futzing around Seattle, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia, for a few years, Heart finally secured a record deal in 1976. It wasn't with Epic or Capitol (which they would later sign with), but with a tiny Canadian label called Mushroom. The resulting album, Dreamboat Annie, was an impressive hard-rock debut. "Crazy on You," which spotlighted the piercing vocals of singer Ann Wilson and the chunky guitar bluster of her sister Nancy, entered the Top 40, and the more mystical "Magic Man" climbed to No. 9. Dreamboat Annie also exposed a more vulnerable side of the band: The title track, for example, was an easy-listening, harmony-laden folk song replete with banjo plucks. --Jon Wiederhorn