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Angel has had a tough start for their first two releases Angel and Helluva Band.  Their albums weren't selling as much as their record company, Casablanca Records would have liked, yet they still maintained and grown in popularity enough to start the official Angel fan club, which will now showcase their new amazing ambigram-styled logo designed by an avid fan named Bob Petrick.  They, like their label-mates KISS in the beginning, were known mainly through their outrageous stage show.  Angel would appear and disappear onstage, they looked great and they had an effective image.  The one problem with their stage show and their glam rock image was that their progressive music didn't match the visual that they put out there.  For their next release they dropped the production team from their first two albums (Derek Lawson and Big Jim Sullivan).  Instead they brought in legendary rock producer Eddie Kramer, who just months before had worked on KISS' Rock and Roll Over LP.  Eddie helped with their sound as they brought in some mostly new material for this next album.  They had eight new songs that would end up on this new record along with two other leftovers from the Helluva Band sessions. 

To add a bit of continuity from their previous album, the opening song is titled Can You Feel It, as opposed to the Helluva Band opener Feelin' Right.  Despite the fact that Helluva Band was a much heavier album, from this first song, the band sound more powerful than ever.  It's obvious that with the help of Kramer's production, the band sound more united than ever and you sense a clear laser focus on who and what Angel should sound like.  The biggest improvement over all is with lead singer Frank Dimino.  His vocals sound more confident, more melodic and most importantly, more commercial than ever.  Can You Feel It is kind of reminiscent of a KISS song; I can even hear Gene Simmons singing the lead in my imagination if I try hard enough.  It starts off with a faded in drum fill which then explodes into a wicked guitar riff, something that Angel never seems to run out of.  Punky Meadows likewise gives a very Ace Frehley-like guitar solo.  She's A Mover is just as catchy and heavy as the album opener.  The riff again sounds something very much like a Gene Simmons creation, and Frank Dimino's vocals only add to the allure of the songs. 

I apologize for the constant KISS Rock and Roll Over comparisons, but here we go again.  Within the lyrics for Big Boy (Let's Do It Again), there is mention of a loose woman known as "Loose Lady Lucy," which makes me think of Paul Stanley singing ô"Feels so good to see you Lucille"ô.  Perhaps it's an Eddie Kramer thing since he is the common denominator as far as these two albums are concerned, which were released back to back (well separated by 6½ months actually). A possible "Lucy" candidate could be Lucy Simon, sister to Carly Simon who Eddie had worked with.  The song has a bluesy feel to it, which gives Punky Meadows the room to riff on the guitar between lines during the verses. Frank's vocals sound playful as he songs the chorus, yet I wish that Kramer would have had the idea to have some others in the band sing backing vocals.  So far, on these first three songs it's not too much of a problem that Dimino sings the backing vocals, but when you get to songs like Telephone Exchange and especially on White Lightning it doesn't sound good at all.  They hardly sound in key during the choruses.  Telephone Exchange sounds like it was made for the radio during the verses, but it is ruined by Frank's vocal faux pas at the end of the second verse and the Bee Gees on helium sounding chorus.      

White Lightning is the heaviest song on the album, and while the guitar lick is infectious, it is once again marred by Dimino's off-key backing vocals during the choruses.  Despite the short length of the song there is an extended guitar solo from Punky and a short little solo from Greg Giuffria on the keyboards.  It's a song that is made for the stage where almost all the band members have a chance to shine.  On the Rocks is another such song that was absolutely made for the stage.  Greg and Punky play in harmony in the solo, and even Frank's backing vocal sounds in tune.  You're Not Fooling Me starts off as another great track, but it utterly stained once again by the backing vocals and the stupid fade out inspired by Frank Dimino's empty sense of melody.     

Perhaps as a stroke of luck, the band decided to kind of take on the music-hall genre, albeit with a hard rock edge with That Magic Touch.  There were some rock bands in the 1960s and 1970s that would include this type of track on their albums.  The Beatles and then McCartney during the solo years have penned many songs like this, Queen have taken it to the next level as they even released these types of tracks as singles.  Angel sound effortless as they take on the different genre and expand their musical repertoire.  For the last two songs, the band aim to please their few older fans with a brief look back at their progressive roots.  Cast the First Stone is the better of the two, and it's probably my favorite progressive track from the band ever.  It's too bad that more of their early material hadn't sounded like this.  Just a Dream however reminds us why we're glad that the band has changed formats.    

As I applaud their change in format towards a more digestible pop rock genre, I concede that there are folks out there proudly labeling themselves as Angel fans who feel the exact opposite.  Some feel that On Earth As It Is In Heaven is the downfall turning point where Angel had lost their progressive/ hard rock edge.  In my opinion, although Angel had all the right ingredients for a great prog rock band, it just never worked.  Frank Dimino's vocals on the first two albums were poorly produced, and the progressive style they strove for only succeeded in dating the band to the 1970s forever.  I understand that this album may feel like a betrayal of their true selves as they run headlong into a sell out.  Still and all, it's hard to deny a more organic feel on this album and the next (White Hot) as they embrace a more mainstream hard rock sound.  It's not like this sounds wishy-washy or even their most pop-oriented 1979 album Sinful.  This album still rocks in all the right places for the most part.  I think that even Angel may agree that the only great music offered from this band is from these two albums.  Just look at the 1989 compilation (their first) Can You Feel It, as it only features eight songs, all from On Earth and White Hot.    


Angel
On Earth As It Is In Heaven
Length: 41:32
Released: 05/27/1977
Rating: 3½ stars
the Songs: 
1. Can You Feel It
2. She's A Mover
3. Big Boy (Let's Do It Again)
4. Telephone Exchange
5. White Lightning
6. On The Rocks
7. You're Not Fooling Me
8. That Magic Touch
9. Cast the First Stone
10. Just A Dream

Recommended: Yes