VERY 'EAVY...VERY 'UMBLE

And the race is on, with Gypsy coming out of the gate as a metal stomp with those powerful vocals setting Heep apart from hard rock contemporaries. Yeah, this is hard rock, yeah the lyrics suck, and yeah Gypsy goes on for too long with the boring repeated riff halfway through, that doesn't build up anything. The vocals are good, and the playing is great, though. And in truth, it punches hard. Not to mention those jazzy organ and guitar breaks are more flashy and interesting than anything Deep Purple were putting out at the time.

If only they could keep it consistent. The following track loses some steam. It is your average rock song, with some average riff that fails to impress after the rage of the opener. It still isn't terrible, as it rocks along nicely. The vocals are theatrical, and I see it as a good thing. there are hints of progression in some of the breaks and structure. Come Away Melinda brings out a more serene tone, and conjures some well needed diversity in the record. It isn't great, but these types of songs aren't usually winners. IT is nice enough, and doesn't feel like complete wasted time.

Lucy blues shows them stretching their sound out even more. It is a solid bluesy piano led number, with some fantastic singing. It trots along, well. That organ solo is kind of cool, too. Not that great after a listen or two, but the pure flash work of the organ must be heard at least that many times.

Yes, the organ rock on this album is quite promising. Not to mention the metallic guitar shrieks. Dream Mare is an electric galloping freak out, and has some of the album's wildest moments. The vocalizing isn't the best, but the song makes up for it in punch. Still a bit boring in small segments. They are showing a lot of promise, so far, but they lack cohesive song writing.

Real Turned on dips into the dirty sloppy rock of Deep Purple and it doesn't come off too well in all but the strong singing. I'll Keep Trying seems to want to be a slow plodding rocker until those solid opera shrieks come in, and the solo slides across the speakers. Not bad, but still lacking. Wake Up is the album's closer, and it does a decent job of rocking with a steady bass line opening up until it loses some momentum. The lyrics aren't so bad, but the song seems to lack depth. Could have been better, still theatrical in a good way.

In closing, the vocals and playing are metallic to a fault, and they can play well, but they aren't able yet to make deep and cohesive songs. Very promising debut.

***1/2 'Eavy stars.

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