Label: Escape Music
Release date: October 15, 2021
Production: Steve Mann
Album length: 60.11 min
Genre: Hard Rock
Rating: 9.0/10
Heartland are a British melodic hard rock band who first showed up on the scene back in 1990, a product of the lively AOR pulse of the British Isles, which was riding high at the time on the wings of bands like FM, Shy, Shogun, Dare and Strangeways, among others. Then again, let’s be honest: the American bands working the west-coast/AOR formula were raking in millions upon millions back then, which these bands, despite their top-shelf musical chops, can still only dream about today.
Well, Heartland are another band who never managed to break into the market in any serious way. The shift of record-company money into stylistically completely different bands didn’t help. We’re talking about the early nineties here, so despite a string of excellent albums, Heartland spent years of defiance more or less just scraping by. Their last album, “Mind Your Head”, came out in 2007, after which the band’s boss and vocalist Chris Ousey teamed up with former Whitesnake members Neil Murray and Micky Moody in SnakeCharmer. After fourteen years, when it looked like Heartland were buried for good, Ousey revived the band and put out a new Heartland album this year. Gone from the lineup, though, is his faithful partner in crime, guitarist Steve Morris. Still, the new album “Into the Future” is without a doubt a proper (melodic rock) hard rock record, with moments of inspiration from the goodies of eighties AOR. This time those are hidden more than ever, but fans of the band can still happily ‘eat out of its hand’. Fans of the genre, that is.
Ousey rebuilt Heartland with entirely new members. On guitar he brought in a British master of the craft who has lived in the US for years, Mike Slamer. Those of you who keep a close eye on releases from Frontiers Music Srl. will know the name Slamer very well. He’s not just a brilliant guitarist who’s been active since the eighties, but also a very skilled arranger and producer. Albums with him in the lineup, no matter whose album it is (City Boy, Streets, Seventh Key, Steelhouse Lane, solo), have never disappointed. With him on board, Heartland kept their heads above water on “Into the Future”. That was essential. And then some. They held on to all the greatness their past albums built, even if the new record sounds a bit different. More varied, above all. It sounds old-school and at times takes cues from seventies rock too, helped along by the chunky sound of Hammond organs added to the arrangements. The arrangements also carry moments of variation (mid-eight passages, as well as some transitions) where the new album even flirts with progressive rock touches. But all in all, this is a proper old-school hard rock album, with a hugely lively, dynamic and organic production, full of sonic payoff, where Ousey’s rich, powerful, slightly raspy and passionate vocals once again sparkle with full intensity. The guy hasn’t lost any of his heart and fire in his vocal delivery, and thanks to his brilliant singing in particular, “Into the Future” is loaded with magnetic appeal. It’s just that in vibe, arrangements and execution, in 2021 it’s closer to Whitesnake and/or Free than to the eighties AOR pulse that gave birth to Heartland in the first place.
Even if the album is at least fifteen minutes too long musically, the total running time doesn’t bother me at all, because happily there are no weak moments on the record to steal the listener’s time. Ousey thought of everything this time too. Besides Slamer, the crew includes other truly seasoned, battle-hardened musicians: Ged Rylands (Ten, Rage Of Angels, Tyketto), the German hired gun Barish Kepic (Heaven’s Trail, ex-Jaded Heart), bassist Wayne Banks (Robin Gibb) and drummer David Anthony (Dennis De Young). With their mileage and talent, these guys are right at home in hard rock boots, and the album is a top-quality, thoroughly worthy continuation of the band’s path, one that in the new era has, if anything, been upgraded, expanded and enriched with maturity. Lifted to a higher expressive level.
“Into the Future” is unmistakably a Heartland-sounding album, but a considerably refreshed one. The first factor is guitarist Mike Slamer and his signature approach; the second is Ousey’s stint with the old-school-minded Snakecharmer, from where he carried a new vision over to the new Heartland album, one that also leans toward classic British hard rock. Let’s hope the energy lines and the stars have finally aligned, and that we’ll wait less than ten years for the next Heartland album. And less than nine, eight or seven, too.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. A Foreign Land (5:22)
2. Caught Up (4:15)
3. A Living Thing (5:09)
4. Giving It All Away (4:40)
5. A Dangerous Game (4:44)
6. Climbing Your Wall (4:01)
7. Mouth To Mouth (3:49)
8. Not Guilty (5:27)
9. Bolt From The Blue (4:20)
10. White Lies (4:40)
11. Working For The Man (4:46)
12. When The Band Plays (4:16)
13. Sleeping With Lights On (4:37)
Lineup:
Chris Ousey – vocals
Mike Slamer – guitar, keyboards
Barish Kepic – guitar, keyboards
Ged Rylands – keyboards
Wayne Banks – bass
David Anthony – drums
