H.E.A.T – Live In London (2015)

* Retail CD

After the success of their two studio albums with vocalist Erik Gronwall, Sweden’s mega-talented melodic rockers H.E.A.T are releasing a live show from their current tour captured in London May 2014, simply entitled “Live In London“.
They really seem to have a special relationship with the UK audiences, so it seems appropriate that they maintain the momentum with this, H.E.A.T’s first live release.

“Live In London” shows the band at their peak, with stupendous musicianship and performances.
H.E.A.T sounds energetic and the record captures that, with a more ‘raw kick’ than the usual polished output known from the band. And this allow us to re-discover these great songs in a rocking delivery.

There is a great mix of chest beating anthems such as the opening pair of ‘Point Of No Return’ and ‘A Shot At Redemption’, and more reflective moments like ‘In And Out of Trouble’ (where Dragonforce’s Herman Li joined them, though he is not announced) and ‘Downtown’.

You can pick out the crowd joining in the anthemic chorus on ‘Tearing Down The Walls’ while Erik’s exhortation to start headbanging at the start of ‘Mannequin Show’ reminds you that H.E.A.T. are a much heavier proposition than when they started out, and the aggression of ‘Inferno’ and ‘Enemy In Me’ bears this out.

They save the best to last with a two song encore from the previous Address The Nation album in ‘Breaking The Silence’ and ‘Living On The Run’. The latter is one of the best commercial rock songs this decade and as the memorable chorus gives way to Erik thanking everyone ‘for a fantastic night’ and a typically fluent guitar solo from Eric Rivers leading into a final refrain, memories come flooding back of how all seemed well with the world at that moment.
The album is the complete show from that night with the exception of the audience participation number ‘Beg Beg Beg’, presumably to make it fit a single CD, and ‘Danger Road’ which was ruined on the night by a malfunctioning keyboard.
That leaves the band’s earlier, more AOR period only represented by ‘1000 Miles’ and ‘Late Night Lady’, and hence the album is an accurate representation of where H.E.A.T are at present.

You don’t like live albums? Make an exception here folks.
The setlist featured on “Live In London” reignites these killer songs once again for those of us that have played them 1000 times already, on what is undoubtedly one of the best live albums of recent years.
If you haven’t yet caught up with the future of melodic rock, which I strongly suggest you do, this is a good place to start, conveying the excitement and dynamism of the live show from one of the greatest bands in the genre.
KILLER : Highly Recommended

01 – Point Of No Return
02 – A Shot At Redemption
03 – Better Off Alone
04 – 1000 Miles
05 – It’s All About Tonight
06 – Inferno
07 – The Wreckoning / Tearing Down The Walls
08 – Mannequin Show
09 – Late Night Lady
10 – In And Out Of Trouble
11 – Downtown
12 – Enemy In Me
13 – Emergency
14 – Breaking The Silence
15 – Living On The Run

Erik Grönwall (vocals)
Eric Rivers (guitar)
Jona Tee (keyboards)
Jimmy Jay (bass)
Crash (drums)

BUY IT !
www.amazon.de/Live-London-H-E-T/dp/B00PUMJMPM
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