Equator [IMPORT]

Uriah Heep

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 14, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1985
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Columbia Europe
• ASIN: B00000IBBW
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #107,410 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Reissue of the British hard rocker's 1985 album. 10 tracks, all digitally remastered using Super Bit Mapping technology. 10 tracks. 1999 release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Typical Uriah Heep, But Decent 80's Pop, October 6, 2003

By	James Choma - See all my reviews

I usually like to search out albums that have been roundly trashed by fans. The more bad things I hear about an album, the more I want to hear it to see how bad it could be. Much of the time the bad ratings are justified; but many times a bad takes a new direction to change with the times. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't.

In this case it was 1984-1985 and Uriah Heep had just come off two pretty successful albums ("Abominog" and "Head First") that breathed new life into a then uncertain future. "Equator" may not have been the most logical step for the band, as it takes a big step away from their traditionally guitar driven sound fans came to expect and introduced heavy pop keyboards and some fairly cheesy lyrics. In all honesty, it's not all that bad of an album. Yes, they do occasionally stumble on this album ("Party Time" and "Skool's Burnin'"), but there's some really good material here ("Night of the Wolf" and "Poor Little Rich Girl" comes to mind).

Should you rush out and buy "Equator"? Only if you're looking for some good mid-80's pop or you want to round out your Uriah Heep Collection. I really don't think it's representative of Uriah Heep, but then again, I think the band has put out albums of similar quality ("Raging Silence" and "Different World") that many fans rank above this album.

So does "Equator" deserve its bad reputation? In my opinion, no. While it's by no means definitive Uriah Heep music, it is a good three star album.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Lost Heep album, June 18, 2000

By	David K. Barrett (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Equator is the long lost Heep album. This particular line up rather quit after its limited release. Basically the band was not gettin much attention, and the record was never really released and promoted. In fact, when the band went on tour, most of the fans had not even heard of the new record. Equator is indeed a fine album itself. It is very similar to Head First in that it is similar to the awesome Abominog album, but not quite as magical. Stand outs are Bad Blood, Night Of the Wolf and Poor Little Rich Girl.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Trying to redeem myself., August 17, 2003

By	Matthew Newland (Tropical Montreal, Quebec) - See all my reviews

Some time ago I gave "Equator" a less than favourable review. I regret that now. In the year or so since I decided that it was the worst piece of work in the entire long and bloody history of my all-time favourite band, Uriah Heep, I've revisited it several times (each of these times a couple of months apart, the most recent of them being last week), and my mind has been changed. "Equator" is in fact a highly enjoyable album that's just been given a very bad image. I've always enjoyed the first and last tracks on the album, "Rockarama" and "Night of the Wolf", but it's my great pleasure to confirm that the songs that fill the space in between are not the [stuff] I thought they were. Even "Party Time" which I once called Uriah Heep's most awkward moment, has become a fun song that I like quite a bit (the backing vocals, which once really did it for me, are no less embarrassing than the backing vocals on "Woman of the World" from Heep's 1976 album, "High and Mighty", which I always thought were very cool, if a bit unusual.

In"Equator" gets four stars from me. It's no waste of time and is tremendous fun to listen to, but it's still not up to the standards Heep set earlier with 1974's "Demons and Wizards", 1977`s "Firefly", or later with 1998's "Sonic Origami". If you're new to Heep, try those... if you've already been initiated, you won't lose with "Equator". Besides, if you're already initiated, "Equator" is likely the only one you don't already have in your collection anyway.

Carry on carry on,

MN