Last of the Lawton era albums.
A reader from NY | Roseboom, NY USA | 10/09/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Fallen Angel would be the last of 3 albums by the great John Lawton. Though they did recored a fourth with him, that never saw the light of day yet. He left the band (fired or quit) after that album was just finished up. Hopefully one of these days that album will be released.
Fallen Angel is probably the most commercial album Heep did in the 70's. There are none of the familiar fantasy themed songs at all on this at all (only High and Mighty has that distinction for the 70's albums). All the songs are about love and relationships. That doesn't mean it's not good, it's a great album and I think it's better than it's predecessor "Innocent Victim" though it's not a must half like the bands first 5 albums and "Firefly".
If you have the previous remastered version of Fallen Angel, this is not worth getting. There are no new bonus tracks. The follwing are just rehashes of songs on the original album. They don't sound any different.3. Gimme Love - single b-side
Last Farewell - out-take, previously unreleased
Street Lady - out-take, previously unreleased
Struttin' - out-take, previously unreleased
On to the song reviews.
Woman of the Night - Great opener. One of the harder rocking songs on the album.
Falling in Love. - Good AOR rock song, though short (under 3 minutes)
One More Night - A rockabilly Elvis type song. Good one.
Put Your Lovin on Me - Nice mid tempo rocker with a mix of electric and accoustic guitars.
Come Back to Me. Beautiful and soulful country rock ballad about the breaking up of drummer Lee Kerslake's marriage. One of the best Heep ballads ever.
What 'Ya Say - Heep does disco. If KISS and the Rolling Stones can do disco, I guess Heep can too. Not bad for a disco song, but thank goodness it's short.
Save It - I think this is the weakest track on the album. Not sure what the band was accomplishing with this.
I'm Alive - The best rocker on the album. This would have fit well on any Heep album. Energy is filled throughout the song.
Fallen Angel - Along with I'm Alive and Women of the Night, this is my favorite of the tracks. This is the most progressive rock track on the album. Nice melodic accoustic guitar work and keyboards compliment the vocals.
A Right to Live - The best of the bonus tracks. This should have been on the original album rather than Save It. Less commercial sound than most of the album.
Cheater - Sounds like a Styx song of the time period. You swear that Heep had Dennis DeYoung do the vocals on this.
Gimme Love - A generic late 70's AOR song that doesn't really do anything for me.
"
Track Listings (18) - Disc #1