Equator (Uriah Heep album)

Equator was the sixteenth album released by British rock band Uriah Heep, released in 1985. It marked the studio return of bassist Trevor Bolder, who had rejoined the band for the Head First tour. The band also had a new record label, Portrait Records, a subsidiary of CBS. Equator was also the last Uriah Heep album to feature vocalist Peter Goalby & keyboardist John Sinclair.

Equator
Studio album by
Uriah Heep
Released12 March 1985
RecordedBattery Studios (27 August - 9 September 1984), London
Jacobs Studios (12 September - 26 October 1984), Farnham,
Genetic Studios (12-26 January 1985), Reading, Berkshire, UK
GenreArena rock, glam metal[1]
Length46:20
LabelPortrait
Columbia (North America)
ProducerTony Platt
Uriah Heep chronology
Head First
(1983)		 Equator
(1985)		 Raging Silence
(1989)
Singles from Equator
  1. "Rockarama" / "Backstage Girl"
    Released: 1985
  2. "Poor Little Rich Girl" / "Bad Blood"
    Released: 1985
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[2]
Kerrang![3]

The tour programme would be Heep's last in the UK until the Wake the Sleeper tour, which began in 2008.

When the Heep back catalogue was issued on CD in the early 1990s by Castle and then remastered, with bonus tracks, in the mid-to-late 1990s by Essential, Equator was conspicuous by its absence. This was because Sony/CBS wanted what was considered an extortionate sum for the rights. The album ultimately had a CD release in 1999, with no bonus material whatsoever. When the Essential remasters were expanded and reissued in the early 2000s by Sanctuary, Equator had to be passed over once again. However, in 2010, the album finally saw a release in expanded and remastered format, in time for its 25th Anniversary, thus finally ending Sanctuary's remaster-series.

Track listing

All songs by Uriah Heep, except "Gypsy" by Mick Box and David Byron

Side one
  1. "Rockarama" – 4:20
  2. "Bad Blood" – 3:33
  3. "Lost One Love" – 4:40
  4. "Angel" – 4:47
  5. "Holding On" – 4:20
Side two
  1. "Party Time" – 4:20
  2. "Poor Little Rich Girl" – 6:25
  3. "Skools Burnin'" – 4:25
  4. "Heartache City" – 4:59
  5. "Night of the Wolf" – 4:31
Bonus tracks on 2010 reissue
  1. "Rockarama" (single edit) – 4:03
  2. "Backstage Girl" (B–side) – 4:19
  3. "Gypsy" (live recording from 1985) – 4:42
  4. "Poor Little Rich Girl" (single edit) – 3:58

Personnel
Uriah Heep
Production
  • Tony Platt – producer, engineer, Synclavier programming
  • Gary Moberly – Fairlight programming
  • John Hallett, Stephen McLaughlin, Phil Tennant, Paul Corkette, John Levell – assistant engineers

Singles

"Rockarama" was released as a single, including a shaped picture-disc, and a video was made for the song. The B-side was non-album track "Backstage Girl". "Poor Little Rich Girl" was also released as a single, with live B-sides.

References
  1. Anderson, Jason. "Uriah Heep Equator review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  2. Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 380. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
  3. Oliver, Derek (4 April 1985). "Uriah Heep 'Equator'". Kerrang!. No. 91. London, UK: Morgan Grampian. p. 8.
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