Vladimir Milovidov
Finally some my impressions from SO. I heard it by now 5 or 6 times, I think I'm eligible to do it, right? :)

Anyway, if one will seek quailities and features of 70s Heep in this album, unlike with SOL, he will fail completely. There is nothing besides very rare spots of Mick's wah-wah playing. No doubdt - with band without those who formed it's sound, it's hard to sound the same. They tried with SOL and achieved something very good, but with SO it's clear that they didn't aim to do it at all. For me, it's a big disappoitment.

Those who haven't heard it yet, the closest things are those two rare tracks from TOR - "Holy Roller" and "Still Calls his name", and "Mistress of All Time" from SOL. And some of Different World, although vastly improved.

Sound.

I expected it to be a lot heavier. At least as heavy as SOL was. But they changed it to that kind of "easy listening" as radiostations full of today. Sad. Not bad thing at all but I used to know Heep as heavy rock band. With heaviness I didn't mean exactly all that heavy distorted guitars, brain-thumping drums and so on... Something that is inside, the feel of tense string, the thing that does (for me) such songs as "Tales", "Blind Eye" or "Lady in Black" heavy... On SO, there is nothing of this kind..

Music. Music quality increased a lot since Different World and Raging Silence. In fact, I would qualify this album as vastly improved version of D.W...

Musicians... Mick. Great as always. Not too much of his wah-wah guitar, sadly. Good acoustic playing!

Trevor. Sort of put deep back in arrangements, but still classy playing. Signing in some verses (I think..) - nothing special at all, but it's good to hear singing someone besides Shaw. :)

Lee. His playing is much better and "rocker" than on RS and DW - sometimes comparable with classic years. I only was disappointed with him on Between Two Worlds - too simple, same beat through all song!

Phil. Good, lots of Hammond and other fine gadgets. Sound of his hammond isn't as heavy as it should be. :(

Bernie. OK. It's a typical for me, I become disguisted when I hear him singing something for a first time and slowly get used to it. There is a lot of clear singing from him and not much of screeching. Hurray. His performance on "Across the Miles" is superb. On others, it's just OK. Anyone who will compare him favourably to Byron should be locked in a yellow-house.

Songs.

Between Two Worlds. (I wonder how we will abbreviate it, because BTW is taken already. BTwW maybe?)

Reading all that reviews, I expected it to be much heavier and even better version of AtOdds. Nothing close! More I hear it, more it screams "Holy Roller!" for me! IMHO it's just this track, reworked. Of course, slow part wasn't on that song, but everything other, and whole sound of the song was there. Bernie's scream at the end is good, no screeching... I also tried to compare it with "Man full of yesterdays" (this one is also dedication to Gary Thain...), and --- no way! For me, BTwW sounds to merry and mechanical to being dedication to someone...

Rating: 8/10

I hear voices.

Nice track, begings with something that reminded me "Stay On Top" and rhythms are a bit like Iron Maiden's "Weeken Warriors". Strange effect on Bernie's voice adds/subtracts nothing to the song. Bolder is capable for better!

Rating: 6/10 Perfect Little Heart

Skip. I can't stand it.

Rating: 2/10

Heartless Land

Nice artificial-sugary ballad of "Mistress of All Time" kind, although w/o drums. Good listening, not Heepish at all.

Rating: 8/10

Only the Young

Mid-tempo pop track, contains some fine pieces and melodies, but sounds like anything we've heard on radio...

Rating: 6/10

In the Moment

This one I would rather compare to "Still Call's his name" from TOR. Another nice, but absolutely unheepish tune... Those high choruses begun to annoy me somewhat, but I hope it's temporary.

Rating: 7/10

Question

This being a highlight of whole album. The title invokes associations with Moody Blues, but the music is too similar to Moody Blues' haunting melancholy ballads. Mick's acoustic is outstanding...

Rating: 10/10 Change

Question flows directly into this song. It begings as a simplest rock'n'roll, that reminded me the way how Paradise/The Spell were connected. It becomes more complex as the time goes, and overall it's a bit of a place that "Love in Silence" took on SOL. To prove that Heep is still tries to be serious art-rock band sometimes. :)

Rating: 8/10 (rock'n'roll theme could be a bit brighter)

Shelter from the rain

Trevor keeps amaze me. After few passable numbers written by him, this one is superb! On the level of Dream On, only with drums and more arrangements. Excellent ballad, another bright spot on this album.

Rating: 11/10

Across the Miles I had my worst expectations with this track - I feared it will be just another commercial abomination in worst of Bon Jovi-Def Leppard styles, but amazingly it turns to be another simply outstanding ballad. It's one of a few songs where Bernie's vocal is in perfectly right place. Arrangements are evidently pop and commercial, but I have nothing agains commercial sound when the song is good. Hope Heep will achieve some radioplay with it. Of course it's not "true" Heep, but with whole album is not true Heep, it's not that important.

Rating: 10/10

Everything in life With everyone kept saying it will be another Return to Fantasy, I expected it really be it! Sorry it's not so. The song is good but the way it was recorded and mixed is absolutely out of place. Like guitar intro riff should be MUCH heavier, and it's too lightweight for speedy track at all. I heard it already on boot live tape so it wasn't a new track, and there wasn't much of difference.

Rating: 6/10

Feels Like Sounds like this track comes straghtly from Raging Silence. Something like "Rought Justice" or "Lifeline". Drum intro is fine - reminds me "One with a world" from Gamma Ray's second album...

Rating: 4/10 The Golden Palace

Cool, beautiful track that seems to be a bit over-worked and over-arranged, but it's good anyway. Choruses are a bit Different World (the song)-like and sounds like they were just inserted for a sake of putting choruses everywhere because so it should be in Heep music. There is nothing Russian in this song, I assure you!:-) Except for mentioning "frozen land", but it might be Canada or Scandinavia as well, right? :) Vocal melody sounds like I heard it somewhere else, but I can't figure out where yet.

Rating: 9/10

Sweet Pretender (bonustrack) Another nice work of Trevor, while this track lacks heavyness needed to be really outstanding, it's still OK. It reminds me Whitesnake's "Give me all your love", mostly because of guitar intro.

Rating: 8/10 ******

Resume.

It's not "real" Heep for me, but it's very good music nevertheless. I just feel a bit sad because I expected a "true spirit of Heep" revival. But it's hard to expect it from a band consisting of different musicians, with their own faces and approaches to songwriting and style. Sounds like it's not possible at all, until we'll finally hear something from Ken.

Vladimir.