Heaven Forbid, on reflection

[Stephen Swann]

Ok, I've given Heaven Forbid another, more serious, listen.  Not
perhaps enough to say that I've formed my long-term opinion of it, but
I've heard all the songs through a couple of times, and some of them
more than that.

Basically, "Live For Me" is the song that I'm most positive about.
This sounds like the old BOC, with Buck's delicate, almost ethereal
guitar licks winding through it.  The lyrics, which, although a far
cry from Pearlman, Meltzer, Roter or Moorcock alchemical concoctions
to which we're accustomed, at least aren't numbingly repetitious like
some of the rest of the album (read that: "like most of John Shirley's
lyrics).

My next favorite is "Harvest Moon", which once again, features some
very nice guitar playing by Buck, and lyrics which consistently move
forward in almost storytelling manner.

I'm not as positive about what I perceive as the "generic speed metal"
content of much of the rest of the album.  But I'll leave off
discussing that in depth until I've let the overall feeling of the
album sink in a little more.

Steve