Track Listing

1. Bang Bang Bang
2. So
3. I Used To Be A Sailor
4. Love That You Had
5. Woman's Work
6. If These Are The Things
7. Short Supply

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16516 in Music
• Released on: 1992-04-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
After an attention-getting debut (courtesy of the 1988 single "Fast Car"), things seemed to go quiet for Tracy Chapman, who found her style of earnest, issue-driven folk radically at odds with the commercial mainstream; she was portrayed as humourless, even sanctimonious. Nevertheless, she continued to make albums, and these--while never exactly setting the charts alight--nonetheless yielded their own, quiet pleasures. Matters of the Heart was her third full-length release, and seemed appropriately-titled, since it found Chapman moving away from social reportage (though "Bang Bang Bang" makes an eloquent plea for gun control), toward more personal themes. "Open Arms" and "The Love That You Had" are more intensely emotive than anything she'd recorded to date, while the title track is tinged with a sense of wistful melancholy. As ever, though, her greatest asset is that honeyed murmur of a voice, capable of investing even the most simple utterance with a gravity and wisdom all its own. --Andrew McGuire

CD Description
Chapman's debut and its quickly produced follow-up CROSSROADS sound very much alike. While not a total departure, 1992's MATTERS OF THE HEART has a much different, richer sound. Subtle elements of world music, blues, and jazz enrich the folk-based starkness of the previous records. Unfortunately, this album was slightly too different for many of Chapman's early fans, and the incorrect received wisdom claims that it's a creative misstep.
The more textured arrangements and Jimmy Iovine's slick but not sterile production support Chapman's lyrics without overpowering them, and those lyrics aremore mature and personal than before. The sometimes-empty sloganeering of CROSSROADS is at the barest minimum here, with Chapman instead focusing on character sketches like the thoroughly lovely "I Used to Be a Sailor" and the delicate title track. One of Tracy Chapman's finest.

Customer Reviews

Time to rewrite history!
I recently had a disagreement with my brother over which of Ms. Chapman's albums was the best. I had been listening to her 'Matters of the Heart' album a lot, and felt this was a sensational effort. My brother, of course pointed out that generally 'Fast Car' is considered her finest. I thought this unlikely so set about listening to both to compare. It's true Fast Car has an edge and raw quality, with several extraordinary tracks, but contains some weaker numbers which detract from the whole. Nevertheless, I absolutely adore it - how could it be otherwise?
Matters of the Heart is curiosly overlooked by many of her critics. I cannot for the life of me understand why. Artists do not exist in a vacuum and must be allowed to grow. For me this is what this particular album represents. It's less of the angry adolescent raging against the world; rather a maturer, more considered voice of uncertainty, which offers meaningful observations, but few, if any, answers. It's better this way - who could stand to be indoctrinated from someone who claimed to have all the answers? - here we have a more uniformly high standard throughout each song, and a feeling that each song is very much getting under our skin, making us think that bit harder about life and ourselves. I, of course, have favourite tracks, but refuse to fall into that trap. Listen to the whole album several times over and see if you are not somehow changed by the experience.

Tracy Does It Again...
This is yet another masterpiece from one of the most fantastic artists I have discovered in my relatively short life...

The opening song 'Bang Bang Bang' I first heard on her faultless 'collection' album, and it's a fantastic way to start the album. Then it moves on to 'So', which is yet another thought-provoking song like so many of Tracy songs are - the theirs 'I Used to Be a Sailor', this is sad yet beautiful song and shows us that she's such a master storyteller!

'The Love That You Had' really shows of her voice at it's best with yet more beautiful lyrics, 'If These Are the Things' is so unmistakebly Tracy like all her recordings are, it moves on nicely to a more upbeat effort from Tracy. 'Short Supply' is just as breath takingas any of her material.

As you come to the last three tracks you'd expect them to become medocre, but if anything they become better - which seems immpossible due to the earlier quality. 'Dreaming on a World' is a wishful song about world peace and how relevent it is in todays world, it just shows how far ahead of her time she really was. I first heard 'Open Arms' on her 'Collection' album and it is amoung my favourate Tracy recordings, it have yet to become tired of it and probably never will. 'Matters of the Heart' is an epic in all respects and is a great way to finish an unbelievable album.

Tracy Chapman has become my favourate artist ever, and this album gives me a reason to love her more. It's a real shame that this album is largly over-looked by people who buy her albums its a superb album!

Always the greatest!
Tracy Chapman never lets you down. I personally think she is one of the greatest song writers ever. This album is as beautiful as all of her others, if you love Tracy you won't be disappointed.