Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Heaven And Earth
Label: Quarto Valley Records
Released: 2017
Runtime: 46:48
Rating: 5/5
The phantom man in black of rock’n’roll guitar, Richie Blackmore, stopped writing original music for Rainbow ages ago. Deep Purple went through such a stylistic transformation after he left that they no longer recreate those golden seventies days (Steve Morse just ain’t Richie Blackmore). An entire ocean of water has flowed under the bridge since Malmsteen showed off the fastest take on Blackmore’s guitar legacy, crossed with baroque and neo-classical elements. So the hope faded that this vibe, which lit the fuse on a real revolution in the evolution of rock, would ever be repeated this faithfully anywhere on the planet. Or that some future act would adopt that vibe as authentically as possible, wrap it up as skillfully as possible in their own songs, and serve consumers a fresh, thrilling musical adventure.
And yet. Somewhere quietly underground, the seeds of Heaven And Earth were sprouting, a band founded by the British guitar matador Stuart Smith. In 1998 and 2001 the man released two solo studio albums under the name Stuart Smith’s Heaven And Earth, and then a solid 12 years went by before he decided to turn the solo project into a proper band called Heaven And Earth. The key, fateful moment was meeting the devilishly good singer Joe Retta, and the two of them jumped in together to help out the legendary Sweet, that is, the American version of Sweet, the one led by Steve Priest.
So in 2013 Smith and Retta put out the comeback Heaven And Earth album »Dig«, which earned huge praise as one of the best classic-style hard rock albums released that year. Besides Retta and Smith, it featured keyboardist Arian Schierbaum, drummer Richie Onori (an old comrade of Stuart’s from his days working with Keith Emerson), and bassist Chuck Wright, while special guests lending a hand on the album included David Paich (Toto), guitarist Howard Leese and Richie Sambora (bon Jovi), who helped Stuart out on the 1998 studio debut.
After that exhaustive intro, it’s clear you don’t mess with Stuart Smith and Joe Retta. They’ve seen it all and tried it all in rock’n’roll, and a whole gallery of the most prominent musicians, who left an indelible mark on rock’n’roll one way or another, have worked with them. Incidentally, why do Heaven And Earth sound so much like classic Deep Purple, Rainbow and also Whitesnake (in the eighties era)? Because the young Stuart Smith was taken under the wing of none other than the most illustrious Richie Blackmore himself. Stuart’s playing style is therefore as true an imprint as you’ll get of the guitar essence of one of the most important guitarists ever to walk (and still walk) this planet.
If »Dig« was truly a more than splendid comeback album, then four years later Heaven And Earth return with »Hard to Kill« a bit rawer: the songs have a little less pomp and ceremony and get to the heart of their message much sooner, if not right away. Overall, “Hard to Kill” comes across as even more rock-hungry and focused. It sounds even more stripped-down and bare and, last but not least, even more organic and alive than its predecessor. Smith’s guitars unleash even more of that fat, crunchy sonic stomp. The production is simply outstanding! It was recorded, naturally and almost as a rule, in one take (»in one take«), and the camaraderie among the players is once again outstanding. Alongside the Retta – Smith chemistry, which is obviously unbreakable, the new album sees the exceptional drummer Kenny Aronoff, keyboardist Ty Bailie and bassist Lynn Sorensen each grabbing their own instrument.
The band has delivered a set of eleven tracks that are polished to the max. From head to toe they’re optimized in terms of composition and arrangement! The opening catalyst, the title track, bears a fleeting resemblance to the Deep Purple riff in Burn. At number 4 is the excellent Bleed Me Dry, with a melodic, musically infectious chorus that plenty of bands in the AOR camp would envy. The album has a heap of funky groove flirtation, as you can hear in The Game Has Changed, which opens a bit »deceptively«, in the vein of the DP riff Black Night, which the return of the riff in the chorus confirms. Till It’s Over is a first-class trip into boogie rock waters! LA Blues, as the name hints, is a full-on flirtation with bluesy territory. In Walk Away and Monster you can sense inspiration from eighties Whitesnake and even Van Halen, and in Monster the crushing, cannon-like snare drum absolutely steals the show. No less brazenly, Beautiful Monster recalls Whitesnake, picking up some of the »riffology« of Ready an’ Willing in its intro. Helllfire brings a poisonous bluesy rock’n’roll swing, with guitar and harmonica racing fatefully toward a passionately fiery embrace. The closing Bad Man delivers one of the album’s most thrilling moments and once again revives the essence of classic Whitesnake, especially thanks to the incredible Joe Retta and his vocal performance. The song is steeped in a feeling of doom and the occult. Drama for the album’s big finale!
Retta is an outstanding vocalist. He carries the character of several singers trapped in one person. From the young David Coverdale to Keith St. James (Montrose, Burning Rain), Ronnie Romero (Rainbow) and Johnny Gioeli (Hardline), he can even tease his way into »Zeppelin-esque« territory without breaking a sweat. In short, his vocal character is flawless for the style Heaven And Earth cultivate. The arrangements are also laced with harmonica. Smith’s riffs are backed by chocolatey Hammond organ lines. The middle instrumental passages are a story within a story. Pure manna for music connoisseurs, with so much virtuosity packed into them, and it’s precisely in these mid eight passages that the composers’ great sensitivity stands out, mostly keeping the flow, dynamics and common thread going and holding together these demanding, intricately composed songs. »Hard to Kill« rocks flawlessly from the first second to the last. You can’t take anything away or add anything, because you’d only ruin it. It’s played with incredible fire, heart and passion. It’s brimming with raw emotion. It carries a finely crafted sentiment of melancholy and gloom, in short, flawless drama theater! On the other hand, it also speaks in a thundering glow of solemnity and with a yearning for warmth, love and acceptance.
In 2017 it’s pretty much impossible to get more retro-nostalgic than what Heaven And Earth are doing. For fans of old-school rock and roll, of the days of great pioneering, when the legendary Deep Purple, Rainbow and the rest of their contemporaries wrote the ABCs of rock. This is an album that will fit you like a damn glove. And once you taste it, you’ll instantly want »Dig« and Smith’s first two solo albums too! »Hard to Kill« is, without false modesty, a contender for one of the best hard rock albums to hit the market in 2017!
Heaven And Earth – The Game Has Changed (official video):
Lineup
Joe Retta – vocals
Stuart Smith – guitar
Ty Bailie – keyboards
Lynn Sorensen – bass guitar
Kenny Aronoff – drums
Production
Dave Jenkins
Tracklist
1. Hard To Kill
2. Walk Away
3. Till It’s Over
4. Bleed Me Dry
5. The Game Has Changed
6. Anthem
7. Monster
8. LA Blues
9. Hellfire
10. Beautiful Monsters
11. Bad Man
