When I first heard the samples of new reissue of Heaven’s CD, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, my first reaction was, “How in hell have I never heard this band before”. Heaven is a hard rock band that started in Adelaide, Australia, and later relocated to the U.S.A. They have three albums under their belt, and yet I have never heard a single tune from these guys until now. Judging from the tunes on Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, I need to find the back catalog from this band and fast. “Show on The Road” starts the album off right with a rocker that sounds like a kick ass blend of RATT & KEEL.
“Wink of An Eye” is a super catchy rocker that will have you signing along in no time. The keyboards on the song are alittle dated, but they add just enough quirkiness to this song to make it fun.
“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” is Heaven’s rendition of the Bob Dylan classic. No Guns N’ Roses didn’t do this cover first, although I like the G N’ R version better.
“No Turning Back” is another song that reminds me of early Def Leppard. The guitar that opens this song reminds me a lot of the guitar intro from “Die Hard The Hunter”.
“Last Laugh” is another hit worthy tune with that would not have sounded out of place on any of the KEEL records. Cool stuff!
“Rock On” is a bonus track that was added to the reissue of this CD. It is a such a great tune that I can’t figure out why this would have ever been left off of the original CD.
Overall, I am greatly surprised by Heaven. Singer Allan Freyer sounds like a cool combination of Ron Keel and Marc Storace. The band is way above average on the talent meter. I am greatly surprised that they weren’t a bigger part of the 80’s hard rock scene. I don’t know how I managed to miss Heaven back in the day, but I am damn glad that I found them now. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door is a CD that I recommend picking up. It has been out of print for years, but reissued in 2010 by Old Metal Records.
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1. Show on the Road
2. Wind of an Eye
3. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
4. No Turning Back
5. Last Laugh
6. Burn
7. Keep the Fire
8. Without Your Love
9. No Where to Run
10. Rock On
11. Hard Life [Live]
12. Where Angels Fear to Tread [Live]
13. Love Child [Live]
14. In the Beginning [Live]
15. Madness [Live]
16. Rock School [Live]
Allan Fryer – vocals
Mitch Perry – guitar, keyboards
Tommy Dimitroff – drums
Mark Cunningham – guitar
Dennis Feldman – bass guitar
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