After close to fifty years in the business, the “mighty Heep” remain capable to knocking out albums and classy and enjoyable as Living the Dream (LTD). It’s been a bit of a wait since Outsider, and man, how it’s been worth it.
Some of my buddies consider LTD as somewhat generic and not Heep like the old days. Hmmmm, well, time passes, things move on.
Whilst Demons and Wizards, Magicians Birthday etc. are great albums indeed, the current Heep, as shown on LTD, remain creative, fresh sounding with more than enough nods back to the old days.
The unmistakable Mick Box guitar sounds remains constant as do Phil Lanzon’s organ/key swirls. Great! Bernie Shaw’s vocals are tremendous. Whirling Dervish drummer Russell Gilbrook pounds away thoroughly and relative “new boy” Davey Rimmer has a driving bass presence. The sum of those parts makes LTD top notch indeed.
Grazed by Heaven is a solid, powerful opener. Pushed along by an urgent Box riff and lots of those lovely Hammond swirls from Lanzon it demands attention from the off.
Shaw stretches out with a notable vocal on the title track then Take Away My Soul comes in for a six minute barrage of “classic” sounding Heep featuring an expended play-out with an excellently measured solo from Box (wah wah pedal to the fore – what else) backed up by a massive organ wash. Outstanding.
Check out the video:
Rocks in the Road is without a doubt one of the finest songs Heep has produced over their entire career. It’s got the lot and they throw everything at it. Hard, proggy, changes of pace, bluesy in parts. It’ll be a monster if they play it in the tour. Even my doubting buddies give this track a huge thumbs up.
So much variety all over the album. Waters Flowin’ has a sensitive touch. Falling Under Your Spell could have been on Sweet Freedom. The close Dream of Yesteryear is a fine melodic-style song with a fine riff and more of those classic Heep style keys.
With Living the Dream, Mick Box and his cohorts show that they’ve not forgotten the past whilst forging ahead in to the now and sounding fresh. Plenty over the album to keep the old fans happy and show the newcomers what a great band they truly are. Fifty years and still firing out the good stuff being creative.
A most highly recommended addition to your collection.
LIVING THE DREAM AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON HERE
Catch the band on tour if you can.
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