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Of the many incarnations of guitarist Stuart Smith’s Heaven & Earth, Dig could be the best one. Among many things, it boasts a solid (semi-new) band line up, superb musicianship and some mighty fine song writing.
Heaven & Earth: dashing and debonair.
Heaven & Earth taps into in the classic melodic hard rock tradition, adding more than a little blues flavor and some symphonic notes as well. You hear the former on songs like No Money No Love, with some nifty old school to Hammond organ color to boot, and later on House of Blues. The latter comes out on the opening track Victorious, the folk flavored A Day Like Today, and lavish ballad I Don’t Know What Love Is, by example.
Heaven & Earth aren’t afraid to simply kick out the jams and rock. Man & Machine, Back In Anger, Sexual Insanity, and the shuffling Good Times, one of the finest tracks, deliver classic rock grooves. More ballads come with A Day Like Today and the inspirational Live As One. That last song coupled with the aforementioned I Don’t Know What Love Is showcase for vocalist Joe Retta’s excellent skill. But this only scratches the surface of the significant talent within Heaven & Earth: every player delivers an exceptional performance. The production and mix by Dave Jenkins is equally impressive. Bottom line: Dig is a well crafted and performed, entertaining and satisfying, album of classic melodic hard rock. Strongly recommended.