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Kevin J. Julie
OK, thanks to Rod, i finally got SO - and uh, what can I say after all the talk on the list.
I held off on reading all the Heepster reviews as i wanted to get into it before without
any pre-conceived ideas or whatever the f**k!!?
SO, what do i think? I think it's great!!! Yeah, it's lighter than most previous Heep albums,
but the individual songs and performances by far make up for any lack of 'heaviness'.
Between Two Worlds was an instant favorite! I can not get enough of it! It is easily recognizeable
classic Heep! I liked I Hear Voices right off the bat too, it's kind of a different sounding song, but
this is what makes Trevor's contributions so good. Perfect Little Heart may not be one of
the stronger tracks, but it's a grower and albeit 'pop' oriented, but mighty catchy! Heartless
Land being one of the first of 5 super ballads, is a great choice for single! Bernie sounds great here (as he does throughout the whole album). Only The Young, another fine track from Bolder! Another
easily likeable song, with a great chorus, great soloing from Mick (with cool hammond from Phil
thrown in), and neat lyrics. In The Moment is a fine tune, a bit lighter, but non-the-less memorable, with another great chorus and lyrics. Unusual but cool instrumental part from Mick & Phil too!
Question is a close acoustic partner to Heartless Land, and every bit as good, with superb harmonies, and lyrics. Change is just a smooth track, love the harmonies, keys, and production. Yeah - it's somewhat aor, but it's a very good song! Shelter From The Rain is my favorite of the ballads. I
don't think i've ever heard Heep do anything like this, simply excellent!! Everything In Life is a
welcome rocker, very catchy chorus, great drumming from Lee! Across The Miles is a good song, and
although I can appreciate why Heep chose to cover it, I don't think it's the strongest choice for a
single here, but Bernie does such a great vocal performance, and that stands out for me. Feels Like
is a straight ahead rocker, with simpler production than anything else here, and yeah intro is
reminiscent of Love Stealer. This is probably the heaviest guitar track on SO, with nice key fills
from Phil (oh, that's funny!). The Golden palace is another true masterpiece! This one took a while
for me to get into as well, but now i love it! Phil deserves a lot of credit for all his work here,
simply brilliant, and Bernie's performance is amazing -- again! A nice epic ballad to close the
CD...but wait a bonus track! Sweet Pretender is a typical Heep rocker, that deserves to be on the
album out-right...but. Very classy Heep here with powerful drums, guitar, bass, hammond,
harmonies, and Bernie! Great solo from Mick too! A powerful fast paced rocker -love it!
Overall I think SO is every bit as good as SOL, sure it's lighter, but the songs, lyrics, and performances are just amazing. Best advice was/is not to listen to it expecting SOL Volume 2,
this is very mature stuff (and I don't mean adult oriented old-fart fodder!), but simply so
well crafted that real music lovers will like this, not just '70s rock fans and rockers in general!.
Fave cuts have to be Shelter From The Rain, Between 2 Worlds, I hear Voices, and Sweet Pretender.
I think this is the album that could make Heep huge again, 'cause it will appeal to so many
different types of music/rock fans! If Sea of Light was the album that brought back the old Heep
fans, than Sonic Origami should be the one to bring back the masses!! .........
"You can offer me salvation, Feed me when I call,
Don't talk to me of sanity, When I'm not quite here at all! "
(T. Bolder, '98)
KEVIN J. JULIE
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