Rocknworld.com - Your Launching pad to the world of Rock n Roll

There was a discussion on one of our message boards recently where a few readers were commenting on the absence of new great blues hard rock these days. If you look at the Billboard charts all you see are insipid pop groups and singers, rap and bands like Limp Bizkit that don’t venture far from drop tuned power chords. We have good news for those seeking the bluesy style rock that made Deep Purple, Rainbow and Bad Company legendary bands.

Heaven and Earth is not only a testament to the great hard rock tradition of the 70’s and 80’s, they bring that spirit into the 21st century, and remind us of a time when music had more substance and melody. When musical skill and great song writing ability were the hallmarks of a rock group. Plus let us not forget the keystone of that sound, killer lead guitars!

The Heaven and Earth band is an outgrowth of Stuart Smith’s solo album of the same name. On his solo debut, Stuart included a host of guest musicians. Stuart’s Heaven and Earth CD was hard rocks answer Santana’s Supernatural, featuring legendary musicians like Glenn Hughes, Richey Sambora and Joe Lynn Turner, just to name a few. The album hit the AOR scene like lightning, receiving critical praise and turning fans onto Stuart’s guitar playing and musical style.

Stuart wanted to build on the success of Heaven and Earth but this time instead of guest musicians; he decided to assemble a world-class team to aid him in bringing his musical vision to the world. The band Heaven and Earth was born.

Featuring Stuart on guitar with Arlen Schierbaum on Keyboards, drummer Richie Onori, and vocalist Kelly Keeling. Together, they have taken the music to a new level with their new CD “Windows to the World.”

It’s no secret to anyone who knows about Stuart that Ritchie Blackmore has had a huge influence over his guitar and writing style. The two men have been friends for years and Blackmore is said to have been a mentor for Stuart. Fans of Deep Purple and Rainbow will find familiar elements on Heaven and Earth. Blackmore and former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner both received co-writing credits for tracks on the CD. But don’t write Heaven and Earth off as a Blackmore knockoff. While there are similarities, Heaven and Earth does have thier feel and a few of the songs are a touch above classic Deep Purple and Rainbow.

From the first track the wisdom of the addition of vocalist Kelly Keeling and keyboardist Arlen Schierbaum are evident. Fans of Deep Purple will rejoice when they hear “Dogs of War”, it’s a safe bet that if Deep Purple was still together this is how they would sound. What sets it apart is the Celtic undertones. Stuart brought some of that sound into the music on his debut album but it really stands out here. The songs take the best aspects of the late 60’s and 70’s blue-hard-rock sound and expand on them to give them a fresh 21st century style. Vocally Kelly Keeling at times sounds like a dead ringer for Ian Gillian and at others a young Sammy Hagar or Paul Rodgers. The keyboards would do Jon Lord, Goldy McJohn and Don Airey proud. What more can you ask for?

Make no bones about it, Windows to the World is the must have release of the year for guitar rock fans.

I will close on a person note: I worked with Stuart briefly in 1991 when he was leading his previous band Midnight. I lied about my age, and used my older brother’s ID to land the gig. I started out as a bass tech but when the road manager quit I briefly inherited the job, being a young kid right out of school I was way out of my league, and the band quickly discovered this and replaced me. The reason I bring this up is that experience has proven invaluable to me over the years. It introduced me to the rock world, and showed me a bit of how things really work and just how difficult it is for bands to make it. But the most important thing that came out of that summer was a deep respect for musicians. I am not talking about respect for talent that is a given, I am talking about the character required to bring your musical vision to the world. You see at that point in time the music scene was dominated by groups like Bang Tango, Bullet Boys, Guns n Roses, and the radio friendly songs from Metallica’s black album. Stuart’s style was firmly founded in the bluesy hard rock tradition of Deep Purple, Bad Company and Rainbow. It would have been easy for him to jump on a band wagon and produce music more in line with the “in-thing” so he could land a record deal and get the money and fame that goes along with it, but he stuck to his guns, continued producing the music that he really believed in. So here we are ten years later and Stuart is still making the music he believes in and most of the “hot” groups from those days are now footnotes in music history or a cautionary tales on VH1’s “Where are they now?”.

So I send out a special thanks to Stuart for maintaining his integrity, sticking to his guns, finding the right band and producing one of the best rock albums to be heard in years. I know he wouldn’t have had it any other way.