Stuart Smith's Heaven & Earth - Taste Of Heaven EP
Afto ine ena review pu egraya gia kapou allou alla eipa na to postaro kai edo, o Stuart Smith ine enas prosopikos filos tou Blackmore (kai fanera epireasmenos apo tou stil tou, se ifaki Purple Perfect Strangers kai Rainbow Bent Out Of Shape) o opoios molis kikloforise ena neo EP san propompo tou tritou full-length album tou... Osoi gustaroun Purple/Rainbow ktl tha vroun tin igeia tous etsi kai to akousoun!
"I just got this through the post the other day and seeing that I can't seem to prise it off the CD player I thought I'd post a few thoughts about it here!
Stuart Smith, for those that have not heard of him, is a UK born guitarist who just happens to be a close friend of a certain Mr Ritchie Blackmore for the last 25 years or so. This particular release is his third (prior to this he released two great albums through Frontiers Records, the first one in particular is a must have for any Blackmore fan!) and does exactly what it says on the sleeve; offers you a taste of what the man's band is all about by comprising of 4 brand new cuts (all sung by Paul Shortino) and 4 older ones (which are all available on the first album).
The first of the new songs, Screaming For Redemption, is an AORish/melodic rock number, which to these ears could have been lifted straight off Bent Out Of Shape. Stuart kicks in with an 80s Blackmore-ish flourish, Shortino sounds uncannily like JLT (I actually thought it was him when I first heard it!) and the chorus hits you like a ton of bricks, so catchy that it will stay with you for days even after hearing it only once!
Hot on the heels of that one is Heaven, again in a similar vein, only slightly more melodic/commercial and less uptempo but with another fantastic melodic and uplifting chorus (and an awesome melody on the bridge too!) very reminiscent of something like Street Of Dreams or Stone Cold.
What follows next is for me the highlight of the EP (well, from the new tracks at least), a little ditty called Nasty Piece Of Work (I wonder where he got that title from? ). This one sees the band abandoning the early 80s melodic rock approach of the first two cuts and moving head straight into a 70s Purple groove with an awesome heavy Blackmore-ish stop-start riff (which wouldn't have sounded out of place on Fireball or WDWTWA!) and Stuart Smith soloing away in a way that only he (well, and Ritchie!) can! Oh, and for those wondering, no, this track doesn't sound anything like the TBRO song. It's much better.
The last new track (It'd Be True) is the obligatory ballad, taking an acoustic approach with some more excellent melodic lines which Paul Shortino makes the best of (he does a splendid job throughout and I like his voice much better than Kelly Keeling's who was on the band's second CD) and Stuart Smith delivering yet another every-note-counts-here solo with great taste and gusto (not to mention a fantastic sweet biting Strat/Marshall tone).
I won't go into the other 4 tracks in detail as they were all previously on another release. Dreams Of Desire is basically Stuart's Difficult To Cure, a cracking instrumental based on Bach's Jesus, Joy Of Man's Desire, When A Blindman Cries is a cover of the Purple track which would put the current lineup in shame (Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi sings it and plays the second solo on it), again Smith's lead on it (very different to the original one in execution but not in approach) is so close to Blackmore's style it is scary! Heaven And Earth is sung by JLT and is a classy acoustic uptempo AOR number while, finally, See That My Grave Is Kept Clean is quite simply one of the best Glenn Hughes' performances ever.
In short, this one's well worth buying if you were into Stuart Smith's first two albums or if you haven't heard the man and want a sampler of his work. Forget Yngwie and all the other people touted as Blackmore impersonators, this is really where it's at, only the class and taste (charasterics usually not associated with clones!) are also here in abundance! The EP clocks in at 35 mins which is good value for money since I only got it for £7.99 (one quid postage for Greece, UK residents can get it cheaper!) and looking at the frustration Blackmore's Night upcoming releases are creating in fellow forumites this one could well be the remedy till Ritchie goes back to what he does best!
http://www.stuartsmith.com (for news and soundbytes)
http://www.z-roxx.com (UK online shop selling it)"
