[Heeplist] Living The Dream Review

Dave Crookham crookham at peoplepc.com
Thu Sep 6 22:02:38 EDT 2018 

If Pete had a really good review I would start to worry :)

Dave

-----Original Message----- 
From: Bob Winward
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2018 9:43 PM
To: Heepsters Mailing List (Travellers in Time)
Subject: Re: [Heeplist] Living The Dream Review

I don’t think anybody’s expecting Demoms n wizards again.  gone are the days 
of mushrooms bongs and bellbottoms

Bob Winward
All Heep is Good Heep!


> On Sep 6, 2018, at 1:21 PM, Pete Wharton <heeppete at sky.com> wrote:
>
> Well, while I'm on a roll, this is slightly relevant to the subject matter 
> but just a lot out of date since I tried to post it a few millennia ago 
> :-)
>
> Just back home from Heepvention and back at computer. On Sunday at 
> Heepvention, we were privileged to get a run through of the new album. I 
> don’t know if it was played in the final cd order or not or just as random 
> tracks. Bearing in mind that wasn’t done in a small room or with 
> headphones, there may have been some sound anomalies on where I was sat 
> listening to it. So just some quick thoughts on our one and only run 
> through which of course we were requested not to record!
>
> It definitely seemed (like grazed by heaven) very very heavy on the bass 
> and drums. Both Joe Keenan and I commented after the first five tracks 
> about there seeming to be a lack of those Heep harmonies, but we did get 
> some on the later tracks. Bear in mind the note about not knowing the 
> correct track order. On one track, Mick seems to have just disappeared and 
> gone for a tea break or something. Phil seemed very low down in the mix 
> apart form one track where he does get to solo for a while. Fortunately 
> Mick it seems must have finished his tea break in time for the other 
> tracks   A couple of tracks that could be commercial sort of, maybe.  I 
> don’t know about the Panzer doing 80 analogy, I think more like a 
> Chieftain tank doing 120!
>
> I think it could raise quite some discussion. If you’re expecting classic 
> Heep, forget it, it isn’t happening. I guess it’s just an evolving of Wake 
> The Sleeper and Outsider. Personally I think I missed the lack of any out 
> and out gentler song.
>
> There’s an expression in England to do with the Marmite spread, where you 
> either love it or hate it, this could be along the similar lines.
>
> For Mac, it’s also like having baked beans for breakfast, you either get 
> it or you don’t 
>
> Pete
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Heeplist [mailto:heeplist-bounces at travellersintime.com] On Behalf Of 
> Bob Winward
> Sent: 06 September 2018 17:56
> To: Heepsters Mailing List (Travellers in Time) 
> <heeplist at travellersintime.com>
> Subject: Re: [Heeplist] Living The Dream Review
>
> Yes I am posting 34 times a week.  It is just not going through.
> Glad to see you I made it
>
> Bob Winward
> All Heep is Good Heep!
>
>
>> On Sep 6, 2018, at 12:26 PM, Pete Wharton <heeppete at sky.com> wrote:
>>
>> Bob, you're still alive :-) I thought you were one of the list people who 
>> couldn't post and that's why you were so quiet :-) I'd been expecting 
>> lots of excited posts from you about the new album coming up. But I don’t 
>> suppose you'll see this as I seem to be a list reject still :-)
>>
>> Pete
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Heeplist [mailto:heeplist-bounces at travellersintime.com] On Behalf 
>> Of Bob Winward
>> Sent: 06 September 2018 12:18
>> To: Heepsters Mailing List (Travellers in Time) 
>> <heeplist at travellersintime.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Heeplist] Living The Dream Review
>>
>> Lannis was this your review or did you share another’s?
>>
>> Bob Winward
>> All Heep is Good Heep!
>>
>>
>>> On Sep 6, 2018, at 7:05 AM, Scott Manion <scottmanion at earthlink.net> 
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Really nicely written Lethridge.
>>> Good Job on this one!
>>> Scott
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Heeplist <heeplist-bounces at travellersintime.com> On Behalf Of 
>>> lethridge at carolina.net .
>>> Sent: Tuesday, September 4, 2018 7:42 PM
>>> To: heeplist at travellersintime.com
>>> Subject: [Heeplist] Living The Dream Review
>>>
>>>
>>> Earlier this year, like many other people I decided to go and see The 
>>> Rolling Stones because “they ain’t toured for ages and won’t be around 
>>> forever…”
>>> So good were the band that I decided to go again later in the tour. As I 
>>> was driving home from both gigs, I found myself musing on why seeing the 
>>> old, classic bands is often such a rewarding experience, and came to the 
>>> conclusion that even allowing for the songs, it is more – surely that if 
>>> you’ve been doing something for half a century then, surely, it is 
>>> second nature.
>>> It was in this spirit that I approached this – the 25th album, no less 
>>> in Uriah Heep’s career. The band, with Mick Box at its heart since 1969 
>>> has largely been pretty settled in fairness since 1986, which puts them 
>>> at odds with many bands of their vintage, as does the fact that they’ve 
>>> mostly managed to keep the band alive in that time.
>>> As Box himself noted in the run up to the release of “Living The Dream”: 
>>> “The mighty Heep are proudly able to tour in over 61 countries” which is 
>>> not to be sniffed at. The good news, for both Heep and for those that 
>>> love the band – whatever period they found them along the journey (in 
>>> the interests of full disclosure, 2008’s “Wake The Sleeper” in my 
>>> case) – there is enough here to keep them on the road for a good few 
>>> years yet.
>>> Indeed, right from the start of “Grazed By Heaven” it is evident that 
>>> “…Dream” is from the very top drawer of UH’s work. It is typical of 
>>> their sound, which personally, I’ve always thought was somewhere in the 
>>> middle of Deep Purple, Magnum and UFO, to make something entirely their 
>>> own.
>>> In many ways too, “Living The Dream” is an album driven by the wonderful 
>>> organ work of Phil Lanzon, who absolutely propels this in a way that 
>>> latter day Europe might try.
>>> Likewise, the title track, which begins with some Queen-style harmonies 
>>> and a gritty, almost bluesy groove is a cracker, and the opening Box 
>>> riff to “Take Away My Soul” is perfect, and very British sounding, hard 
>>> rock, before it changes gear with some Beatles style swirl.
>>> This record crackles with an energy, and maybe it is just the fact that 
>>> everyone here knows it’s a cracker, but also the choice of Canadian 
>>> Producer Jay Ruston (who has worked with the aforementioned Europe as 
>>> well as The Winery Dogs, Stone Sour and Black Star Riders) seems to have 
>>> injected a real freshness.
>>> The likes of the thrilling “Knocking At My Door” – a real highlight – 
>>> and the epic prog freak out of the eight minutes plus of “Rocks In The 
>>> Road” are both indicative of a band that was brimming with ideas (and I’d 
>>> be willing to bet that outtakes from this would make for a damn fine 
>>> album, never mind anything else).
>>> There are touches of Led Zep about the melodic “Waters Flowing” – as 
>>> singer Bernie Shaw shows his class – and the slow building, brooding “It’s 
>>> All Been Said” is the sound of a whole band firing on all of its 
>>> cylinders, and the piano work here is enough to make Avantasia jealous, 
>>> while the lyrics lament the modern world. The modern world, though, can’t 
>>> be all bad when people make music like this.
>>> “Goodbye To Innocence” has a kind of “nudge, nudge, wink, wink” student 
>>> sleaze, but its filthy boogie is a lot of fun, while modern bands – I am 
>>> thinking of Inglorious here – will do well to listen to “Falling Under 
>>> your Spell” and understand how you do this for nigh on 50 years.
>>> As it all ends with the reflective “Dreams Of Yesteryear” – “let me tell 
>>> you how it was, so many years ago….” Sings Shaw as its opening line – 
>>> you are struck by the fact that this is the first time anything in this 
>>> collection has slipped into a reverie.
>>> “Living The Dream” is not the sound of old men sitting around telling 
>>> war stories. It is the sound of a wonderful hard rock band playing some 
>>> magnificent songs. There’ll be some kid, somewhere who’s never heard of 
>>> the band who finds this and loves it. That, right there, is why Uriah 
>>> Heep – and other bands of similar vintage – are still vital.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>> Travellers in Time Website
>>> http://www.travellersintime.com
>>>
>>> Official Uriah Heep Website
>>> http://www.uriah-heep.com
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Heeplist mailing list
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>>>
>>> Travellers in Time Website
>>> http://www.travellersintime.com
>>>
>>> Official Uriah Heep Website
>>> http://www.uriah-heep.com
>>
>>
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>>
>> Travellers in Time Website
>> http://www.travellersintime.com
>>
>> Official Uriah Heep Website
>> http://www.uriah-heep.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Heeplist mailing list
>> Heeplist at travellersintime.com
>> http://travellersintime.com/mailman/listinfo/heeplist_travellersintime.com
>>
>> Travellers in Time Website
>> http://www.travellersintime.com
>>
>> Official Uriah Heep Website
>> http://www.uriah-heep.com
>
>
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>
> Travellers in Time Website
> http://www.travellersintime.com
>
> Official Uriah Heep Website
> http://www.uriah-heep.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Heeplist mailing list
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> http://travellersintime.com/mailman/listinfo/heeplist_travellersintime.com
>
> Travellers in Time Website
> http://www.travellersintime.com
>
> Official Uriah Heep Website
> http://www.uriah-heep.com


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