Fanatic is the fifteenth studio album by American rock band Heart, released on October 2, 2012, by Legacy Recordings. The album was recorded in hotel rooms and studios up and down the West Coast, with Grammy Award-winning producer Ben Mink, who had previously produced Red Velvet Car (2010), back at the helm.
Ann and Nancy Wilson drew from their own lives and personal experiences as inspiration for the album. "Dear Old America" comes from memories of a military household and is written from the point of view of their father, a Marine Corps officer, returning from war. "Rock Deep (Vancouver)" hearkens back to the city where Dreamboat Annie was written and "Walkin' Good" (a duet with Vancouver resident Sarah McLachlan) captures the joy of finding new life in a new love.
Fanatic debuted at number 24 on the Billboard 200, selling 16,000 copies in its first week. The album also reached number 12 on Billboard's Top Rock Albums chart. The song "Fanatic" peaked at number 24 on Billboard's Heritage Rock chart.
Contents
Critical reception
Fanatic was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 74, based on 5 reviews.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Fanatic.
Heart
Ann Wilson – vocals (tracks 1, 2, 4–10); background vocals (all tracks); flute (track 3)
Nancy Wilson – guitar (tracks 1–5, 7–10); background vocals (all tracks); mandolin (track 5)
Ben Mink – guitar, programming (all tracks); sonic mangling (track 1); violin (tracks 2, 3, 5, 7–9); viola (tracks 2, 3, 5, 7, 9); keyboards (tracks 2, 4–7, 9, 10); banjo, organ (track 3); mandolin (tracks 5, 10); field holler (track 5); background vocals (track 7); baritone viola (tracks 8, 10); string arrangements, strings (all tracks)
Ric Markmann – bass
Ben Smith – drums, percussion
Additional musicians
Sarah McLachlan – vocals, background vocals (track 3)
Technical
Ben Mink – production
David Leonard – recording, mixing
Alex Williams, Geoff Neal, Sam Hofstedt, David Eaman – engineering assistance
Chris Potter – recording (Sarah McLachlan vocals) (track 3)
Craig Waddell – mastering at Gotham City Studios (Vancouver)
Artwork
Mike Joyce – art direction, design
Norman Seeff – photography
Ann Wilson – sketch
Carol Peters – sketch
Ben Mink – photography