Not Typical Uriah Heep, But Decent 80's Pop

Review Score: (6/10)
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.

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