Garage Sale Vinyl: Angel
On Earth As It Is In Heaven / Casablanca / February 1977
by Christopher Long
For fast-driving, chick-crazy, party-hardy teenage fellas like me, the band was one of the absolute coolest of the shag-covered, lava-lit 1970s. Honestly, Angel checked ALL of my boxes: Girl-next-door looks AND Raspberries-flavored hooks with excessive qualified cock rock swagger. Hence, in my world, the D.C.-birthed combo stood nose-to-nose (easily) with the era’s tallest golden gods: Aerosmith, Rush, KISS, Van Halen, you name ‘em.
While it took a couple of records to find the right groove, Angel had transitioned from testosterone-charged prog-rock to estrogen-fueled pop-rock by LP #3. Likely due (largely) to the involvement of famed producer Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, KISS, Foghat), that celebrated third set, On Earth As It Is In Heaven, was a prime, polished example of the perfect, radio-friendly, arena-worthy sound that would echo throughout the remainder of the band’s classic lineup work.
Music aside, On Earth As It Is In Heaven was an instant standout because of the eye-catching cover. The mind-blowing artwork could keep the stoners amused all night, processing the cover photo and band logo. Dude! It looks the freaking same right side up as it does upside down!
On Earth As It Is In Heaven was the record where the value of each white satin-draped member truly came into focus. Frontman Frank DiMino possessed one of the most distinctive rock voices of the day. DiMino had such a crazy vibrato, the dude could seemingly perform vocal gymnastics on one single word for days. Hotter than my high school “Barbie” girlfriend, Punky Meadows was a genuine guitar god, firing off an endless barrage of high-power melodic riffs with spectacular flair, while rock-ribbed bassist Mickie Jones had the mystique market cornered. Cracking his snare and punching his kick like they owed him money, Barry Brandt possessed Bonham-caliber skills and was one of my most important personal drum influences. Surrounded onstage by walls of (then) state-of-the-art keyboard gear, master musician Gregg Giuffria actually didn’t even have to play a note; he was that badass cool. And he had THE best rock and roll hair of all time.
To say that On Earth As It Is In Heaven was my go-to high school “jam” would be to understate its place of prominence in my growing record library at the time. In fact, as a teenager, I didn’t know the names of any alcoholic mixed drinks. So, the day I turned legal drinking age (19), I bellied up to the bar like a seasoned pro and confidently ordered a whiskey sour, only because of the line in “That Magic Touch.” “Waiting by the moon, sipping whiskey sours.”
From the coliseum-caliber opening track “Can You Feel It” and the “front door slam” narrative of “On the Rocks” to the heart-racing “White Lightning” and the seemingly Rainbow-inspired “Cast the First Stone,” On Earth As It Is In Heaven served as a faithful, self-contained rock soundtrack to the teenage experience during the 1970s. Nearly 50 years later, it still sounds fresh to me, and remains one of my most frequent go-to favorites.
Like so many records that I’ve revisited in this column, On Earth As It Is In Heaven is an album that I’ve owned in many configurations over the years — first on cassette, then LP, then CD. Somehow, I’d lost all of them over the years. Adult life gets complicated sometimes, ya know. However, recently, I acquired a reasonably clean-sounding vinyl copy in a tragically tattered cover from a buddy who really needed me to help him out with a couple of bucks for a pack of smokes. Hey, what are friends for?
5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
On Earth As It Is In Heaven Track List
(All songs written by F. DiMino, G. Giuffria and P. Meadows, except “White Lightning,” written by P. Meadows, R. Morman)
SIDE ONE
1. Can You Feel It – 4:41
2. She’s a Mover – 3:37
3. Big Boy (Let’s Do It Again) – 3:54
4. Telephone Exchange – 4:13
5. White Lightning – 4:45
SIDE TWO
1. On the Rocks – 3:39
2. You’re Not Fooling Me – 3:59
3. That Magic Touch – 3:29
4. Cast the First Stone – 4:37
5. Just a Dream – 5:16
