Studio Album · No. 12
Jupiters Darling Songwriting Credits by Heart
Produced by Nancy Wilson, Craig Bartock · Engineered by Dave Dysart, Patrick MacDougall, Kam Dahlin
Holds writing credit on 15 of 16 tracks
Authorship Breakdown 15 / 16 documented
Scored across the 16 tracks with documented writers, by whether Heart carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 16 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
Jupiters Darling is where the Wilsons take the pen back. After the Capitol years handed Heart's biggest 1980s hits to outside songwriters, this record puts Ann and Nancy Wilson on almost every writing credit, working with guitarist Craig Bartock as their steady third voice. Nancy Wilson also co-produces with Bartock, so the Wilsons control both the writing and the sound of the album top to bottom. The composer column reflects the family's legal surnames, with Ann Dustin Wilson and Nancy Lamoureux Wilson standing behind the credited N. Wilson and A. Wilson. Only two songs break the pattern: 'No Other Love' is a Chuck Prophet cover, and 'I Give Up' adds longtime collaborator Sue Ennis and drummer Ben Smith to the writing team.
Jupiters Darling is the thirteenth studio album by Heart, released June 22, 2004, on Sovereign Artists after an eleven-year gap since 1993's Desire Walks On. It is a deliberate return to self-written material after the label-driven pop era Heart spent at Capitol in the late 1980s, when outside writers supplied the band's biggest ballad hits. Ann and Nancy Wilson wrote almost the entire record with guitarist Craig Bartock, reclaiming full authorship of their own catalog. Ann Wilson takes most lead vocals while Nancy Wilson fronts several tracks and stacks the arrangements with mandolins, dulcimer, and layered acoustic textures that lean the album toward folk rock as much as hard rock. Guests include Pearl Jam's Mike McCready and Alice in Chains' Jerry Cantrell, and the record was cut across Seattle and Los Angeles studios between November 2003 and March 2004. It reached number 94 on the Billboard 200 and topped out at number 3 on the Independent Albums chart, a modest commercial showing that nonetheless reestablished the Wilsons as the sole creative force behind Heart.