POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Heart Could Use More of Its Old Sound

For a moment or two, Heart’s old Zeppelin-like blend of folk and metal re-emerged from the depths of Evermore at the Wiltern Theatre on Thursday. Too bad the charm of those ‘70s aesthetics wasn’t enough to uplift the overwrought blandness of much of what has come since.

The largely acoustic set that opened the two-hour concert was no surprise. Rock-diva Ann Wilson and her guitarist sister, Nancy, indicated a return to those roots last year with a four-song acoustic EP recorded as the Lovemongers. That collection included a near-perfect replica of Led Zeppelin’s mandolin epic “Battle of Evermore,” which was performed again at the Wiltern.

But Heart’s new “Desire Walks On” album retains little of that simplicity, although Thursday a few of the new songs benefited from the opening half’s acoustic setting, free from the dehumanizing overproduction of their recent records. The Seattle-based band earned its loudest cheers for such classic-rock staples as “Barracuda” and “Crazy On You,” the latter reworked into a strangely moving torch song.

The scope of Ann Wilson’s voice was the show’s key asset, giving some of the more meandering pop-rock songs a faint note of personality. But even that couldn’t save some of the loud and tuneless rockers of the concert’s electric second act.