ABOMINOG

A terrible earthquake (one more) for the band (and the fans). Their emblematic leader and main stream for song writing has gone. Hensley who was responsible of so many great tracks and a sublime keyboard play in their early days is not there to help the Heep.

What will come out without him ? Kerslake is back on the drumming. The Heep also has some difficulties with their lead vocalists : Byron left after nine studio albums, Lawton stayed for three and Sloaman only for one. Although most of the reviewers were not really keen on him, I had no problem with his voice. So, let's hear what the Heep proposes here.

The opener "Too Scared To Run" is a good, solid hard-rock number. It has been quite a while that the Heep was not hard-rocking (their previous effort was a good rock album, but not hard-rock).

The AOR sound was almost ignored in "Conquest" which was fine with me. Unfortunately, this genre will strike back again in this album. First with "Chasing shadows" which is not too bad a track but "On The Rebound" is rather weak. I am not convinced with "Hot Night in a Cold Town" : the FM sound is still very present. As you know, I far much prefer the goold old rock than this. The same mood prevails in "Running all Night" and that's the major problem of this album. It follows a single song format, making the ensemble pretty boring and repetitive.

I admit (and therefore I respect) that Mick's task was daunting. He was responsible of the survival of this once great band. The Heep history reminds me the Kansas one. Great and wonderful band for several years, very prolific and then the deep descent to tasteless albums and the dispersal of some prominent band members. Let's hope for the Heep that they will find a way to regain some of their past brilliance. It is not with this effort that they will succeed though.

I really do not like this album so far. Almost no song is appealing. The absence of Hensley demonstrates that he WAS the Heep (even if their last releases didn't match their legendary albums). There is no one who can take his role on a consistent manner in terms of songwriting. I wish that in future releases, the band members will unite and join forces a little better to create better songs.

"Sell Your Soul" which is a good hard-rock tune with a crazy and fabulous beat saves a bit this release. Nice vocals, great keys, superb rythymic section and a very good Mick Box. The highlight of this album and quite remininscent of the Purple I must say. The same feeling applies with the closing number. "Think it Over" is also a strong hard-rock piece of music. I would say that this is the direction to follow for the Heep. Let's forget about the crappy FM music and let's stick more to good (hard) rock music.

The first bonus track "Tin Soldier" is of the same caliber than the last two songs of the original album. I wonder why it didn't make it. It is superior to most of the songs featured. As long as the Heep plays good rock songs, there is nothing wrong with the band. It might not be brilliant, but at least their music is good. It was also my reflection with their previous album (which I have rated with three stars). In comparison with the other songs, the second bonus track is also pleasant. More AOR than the last three songs, but not too bad.

Thanks to these four songs and the opener, I will rate this effort with two stars. I'm looking for better things to come (live or studio).