Search - Heaven :: Knockin on Heaven's Door

A Forgotten Hair Metal Classic!!

Graboidz | Westminster, Maryland | 08/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I picked up a cassette of this album at a podunk West Virginia flea market back in the 80's. I played the tape so much it wore out!! I have been checking occasionally to see if it's ever been issued on CD, and found some copies available on Ebay, and even bid up to $40 bucks for a copy....which I still lost? Anyway, here it is, this is a CD I have waited over a decade for...and it was well worth the wait. This is just great hair metal, with catchy lyrics, excellent guitar work, and pounding rhythms that great hair metal is known for. Heaven actually sounds a good bit like Dokken, but don't take themselves too seriously. All of the songs have a pop-metal feel, that is perfect for cranking up on a hot summer day. "Show on the Road" kicks off the album, and is one of my favorite tracks. The chorus is catchy and you will be singing along after the first listen. This is true with "Wink of an Eye" as well. "Burn" and "Keep the Fire" are great hair-metal anthems, and will immediately put you in an 80's frame of mind...(Man I miss this kind of music!!!). Heaven's cover of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is really good, and I feel it's the best hair metal version of Dylan's classic (Heaven beat GnR's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" cover by a few years). Buy this CD for the original album, the extras contained here don't really add much to the disk. The unreleased track, and live stuff is decent musically, but there is like a "pop" or "crackling" noise overlaying most of the extra tracks. It's almost like the master recording came off of an old LP??!!! It's not bad on a car stereo, noticable, but not bad, but on an Ipod, it will drive you crazy! With that said, don't let the poorer quality extra stuff deter you from picking up this lost classic!!"

Well Crafted Effort

SoManySongsNotEnoughTime | 01/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Back around 1986, a friend of mine dubbed this album to tape for me. I remember listening to it, being quite impressed, and thinking, "why can't all albums be like this? Every song is catchy and memorable and there is no filler." I finally found this on CD and when it arrived, I was a bit fearful that what I was about to hear would not live up to what I remembered. I need not have worried. In fact, this re-issue contains a savory bonus studio track called "Rock On". "Wink Of An Eye", "No Turning Back", "Keep The Fire", "Without Your Love" are simply brilliant. But you will not be disappointed with any of the studio tracks on this disc. That being said, I must say I was disappointed in the live bonus tracks. The lead singer's voice does not come across so well when heard live. The songs are from material on their previous and next releases and frankly, they don't come close to matching the quality of the effort on Knockin' On Heaven's Door. I actually purchased their next album, Where Angels Fear To Tread, and unfortunately my opinion was validated. But forget all that! This is the album you want despite the price!"

Pretty Good

Fred Rayworth | Las Vegas, NV United States | 05/01/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am basing this review off the original vinyl album, which I just burned to CD.



We bought Heaven based on the MTV clip of Knocking On Heaven's Door. We liked that song well enough, and the band didn't have the typical poufy hair of the average hair metal band. They seemed more working class, and this album fits that description well. I understand they started off sounding more like AC/DC than hair metal, and you can still hear those influences in each cut. I'd venture to say this is AC/DC hair metal. However, what keeps this from being strictly hair metal is not only the songs, but the lack of that hair metal snare drum sound. Since I was never all that crazy about hair metal, these guys mix it up enough to make things interesting.



There is not a bad cut on the album, and to tell the truth, I like their version of Knockin' On Heaven's Door much better than the GNR version, or for that matter, the Bob Dylan version. It is by far, the best interpretation of that song ever recorded, as far as I'm concerned. The rest of the songs are working class rock with maybe a touch of glam to them, but still not enough to detract from their roots.



Good stuff and highly recommended.

"