The times I saw her sing this live she usually ran out of steam by the last "black on black!" at the end. Can't blame her -- it's at the top of her range for almost the entire song. A few years later when she sang this on her solo tour she took it down a half key or so and it was even better. Plus the sound mixing here is poor with the guitars so far back in the mix. I imagine this is a soundboard recording, and almost every Heart soundboard I've heard is mixed poorly like this, focusing much more on Ann's voice than the rest of the band. Its good to hear Ann, but it takes away from the whole when the power of the band is lost in the mix.

Indeed, and that's why so few people would ever be foolish enough to tackle it. But Ann Wilson is, of course, the most volcanic female rock singer in history, so she can pull it off. The woman's voice is literally one in a billion.

​@@chrisacer6605 Hi Chris! I really enjoyed your commentary/analysis. I've seen Heart three times in concert and unfortunately those sets did not include this song, which is one of their greatest rockers. I first became aware of it via Lisa Dalbello's original recording on the 9 1/2 Weeks soundtrack and fell in love with the song. I was so thrilled when Heart recorded it for Desire Walks On. Dalbello's version is just as good, I think, but different in style. Whereas Heart's is more of a driving, straight-on rock song, Dalbello's is more New Wave-y and exceedingly dark in tone courtesy of her devilish delivery. She really does has a creepy voice (but in a fantastic way!). I think Capitol really bungled the release of singles for Desire Walks On in a BIG way which contributed to the commercial failure of the album and essentially put the nail in the band's coffin regarding Top 40 radio, to which they have never returned. "Will You Be There (In the Morning)" is a pleasant song, but hardly memorable and certainly not a smart choice for a lead single. It was selected for all the wrong (conservative, unimaginative, money-grabbing, risk-averse) reasons, of which there were many: 1.) It's a mid-tempo Mutt Lange track and the powers-that-be were hoping to duplicate the huge success of his "All I Want to Do..." (a song which we all know Ann doesn't even like); 2.) It's a Nancy-sung song which meant that she could be the focus of the video at a time when the label was still obsessed with concealing Ann's weight gain; 3.) As yet another mid-tempo track it was way too similar to all the milquetoast tracks released as singles from Brigade (none of which show the band at the top of its game, with the possible exception of "Stranded"); and, last but not least, there were FAR BETTER choices available for Top 40 promotion, namely "Black on Black"; "The Woman in Me"; and "Ring Them Bells" (which is the order in which I would have released them). I realize "Black on Black" was promoted at rock radio and deservedly sailed to #4 on that specialized chart (their last appearance in its Top 10), but the label completely missed the boat in not going for a full-court press and promoting the hell out of it to Top 40. It did not sound remotely dated, is instantly catchy and could have impressively reconfirmed Heart's bad-ass rocker credentials, and it was the perfect time do so, given the recent major shift at Top 40 radio toward dark, rock-oriented songs propelled by the grunge explosion (which not coincidentally was birthed in Seattle and thereby directly influenced by Heart). If Top 40 could fully embrace the cataclysmic "Smells Like Teen Spirit" two years earlier, there's no reason it couldn't be entrusted with embracing "Black on Black," especially since it was not a matter of Heart chasing trends, but rather reclaiming the hard edge that established their stardom in the first place. "The Woman in Me" as a second single would have provided a terrific contrast to "Black on Black." It's sultry, warm tone has an almost R&B feel and it too sounded fresh, as it was a different style of ballad than those they had been recording for some time. It was indeed released as an official single, but the strummy "Back to Avalon" was also released as a promo single around the same time and they cancelled each other out essentially (were programmers confused as to which to add?). "Ring Them Bells" as a third and final single: yes, yes yes. What a spectacular rendition. The rare case where the remake exceeds the original in its power. The combination of their three voices is spectacular (it's perhaps Nancy's best of all time). I love how they are all equally showcased and all sound amazing. Bonus points for having an au courant star, Layne Staley, in the mix. Plus, the dark, rootsy, Americana-ish tone of the song and production would not have sounded out of place alongside the likes of STP's "Plush" or Pearl Jam's "Daughter," both of which were massive hits the year Desire Walks On was released. This was an important song for the band then and still now. I will always maintain that there is more skill, style, variety and strength in these three songs alone than the entirety of Brigade's dozen plus tracks. It's too bad Capitol didn't know how best to respect and capitalize on those virtues. Lastly, I don't know why the band, this far into its stardom, did not have more control over the selection of singles. It's not like the Sisters Wilson are unassertive types. Cheers! Christopher B.

Whoever was handling the sound mix did a really bad job. You can barely hear the guitars. Go listen to the performance they did on Letterman, and you'll hear the drastic difference. This sounds like a demo version.

I thought so too, maybe a long flight or something. The sound is a bit duff also - sounds like it has a blanket over it.