RAGING SILENCE

I had been rather surprised with their last live album. This is the same line-up and my expectations were rather high. Maybe too high. I should have been warned though : three new songs were available on the "Live In Moscow" album and none were outstanding numbers.

This is also the case with these studio tracks. Average (hard) rock songs form start to finish. No real highlight I must say. I find the opener very weak. Next comes the AOR "Blood Red Roses" : you know my aversion to this genre, so I cannot really be enthusiast about it. ihe intro of "Voice On My TV" sounds a bit like the Buggles, then turns AOR as well.

One has to wait "Cry Freedom" to get an interesting song. It is my fave on the album so far and we are already in the middle of this effort. The other tracks were so monotonous that one gets the impression that he listens to the same piece of music. Another good number with "Bad Bad Man" : a great hard-rock song, indeed. Strong vocals and good guitar riff. I must say that this album is very much guitar-oriented (keys are hardly noticeable so far).

A good rock ballad "When the War Is Over" is welcome to give us a break in this rather hard to heavy album (but it is not a Heep song). If you have read some my Heep reviews (or Purple ones), you know that I like this genre pretty much (hard-rock, I men). But this album features too many songs without inspiration. No great keys nor even guitar soli moments. The closing number "Rough Justice" is just above par.

The remastered versions will include some live tracks from their "Live In Moscow". I wonder why a track like "Gypsy" (from 1970) has been added as a bonus track here. Maybe to raise the interest of old fans that hadn't bought the Moscow record ? Some alternate or remixes version of existing numbers will be featured as well. I'm afraid these won't improve the whole level.

This album sounds like hundreds of the genre. The Heep has done far much better stuff (even during the eighties). This one is too repetitive. Mostly just average hard-rock songs. I am rather disappointed with this album. It is a confirmation that their new material has not yet reached a decent level to compete with past numbers (I am not even talking about their legendary tracks). One keeps on feeling that Hensley's departure has cut most of the Heep's inspiration. Two stars.