I must admit that Heaven’s Edge completely missed me first time around, and even in the pre-internet days that took some doing as I read everything and most of my disposable income went on gigs or music. So somehow I never got to hear 1990’s self titled release at the time. It wasn’t until the 2000’s that I finally got to hear the band – but not the debut, instead I picked up what should have been the record that followed it in 1992 – ‘Some Other Place Some Other Time’ that finally got a release in 1998: a collection of polished up second album sessions and new tracks. It was OK but not enough to have me digging backwards. A friend gave me a copy of the debut in 2015 just before I saw them on the Monsters of Rock Cruise but I didn’t get to play it before we set sail so the very first time I saw the band was live a mere 25 years after the debut. they were very good and it was great to see all of the originals belting out those songs that in retrospect should have made them bigger.
Sadly George Guidotti, who passed in 2019 isn’t here to see the new release but I think he would appreciate the record that might seal the bands legacy. Sonically ‘Get It Right’ has moved on from the keys-heavy sound of the debut but it still retains that keen sense of melody and Wu’s guitar work if anything shines even more than on that debut as do Evan’s vocals which seem to have lost nothing over the years. All that and a great sounding rhythm section and a nice job of production makes it one of the best classic-era comebacks in recent years. Interestingly for me getting to the band as late as I did I have no real deep emotional connection to the first record. So it’s with that absence of the ‘nostalgia factor’ that I’m quite happy to pronounce this right up there with that debut.
The bass-led ‘Had Enough’ that opens the new record isn’t the best here but it marks the territory – melodic hard rock with a stab of more metallic guitar and at times a broad brush of AOR. The song itself seems to hedge its bets rather than go all out. I much prefer ‘Gone Gone Gone’ that follows which has a real confidence and sounds like a melodic masterclass. And the album runs that gamut of harder edged melodic rock to sheer AOR joy and manages to more than tick both boxes. ‘Nothing Left But Goodbye’ that begins with vocals and acoustic is a pretty cool blues tinged very 80’s rocker; and at the other end of the shamefully good ballads like ‘What Could’ve Been’ (maybe my favourite track here)
Many fans though I’m sure will love the rockers most of all like the catchy as hell ‘Dirty Litte Secret’ and closer ‘I’m Not the One’ which takes us out with a thoroughly enjoyable deep groove that settles to a spot of mid-tempo magic. Add to that the anthemic ‘Raise ‘Em Up’ and the faster ‘9 Lives (My Immortal Life)’ and you have something for everyone – old fans and new.
Comeback of the century? It’s a contender… and forgive me if my wrong but ‘Beautiful Disguise’ would have been huge back in the day and has the sort of fresh sound that the new Swedish masters are so adept at.
8 / 10
TRACKLISTING: 01. Had Enough | 02. Gone Gone Gone | 03. Nothing Left But Goodbye | 04. What Could’ve Been | 05. When The Lights Go Down | 06. Raise ‘Em Up | 07. 9 Lives (My Immortal Life) | 08. Dirty Little Secrets | 09. Beautiful Disguise | 10. I’m Not The One
Band Members: Mark Evans – lead vocals | Reggie Wu – guitar | Steve Parry – guitar | David Rath – drums | Jaron Gulino – bass