Can it be the reason why Uriah Heep never were taken seriously....

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by antonkk, Feb 8, 2015.

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  1. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Of all their fantasy-themed lyrics, "The Wizard" is my favorite. It just seems to have a nice, comfortable flow to it. Never really liked "Rainbow Demon" because it sounds too much like, "Hey, let's do something like that sounds like ELP." :laugh:
     
  2. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    On what planet did this happen?
     
  3. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    I think Demons and Wizards sold 3 million copies. Does that mean they were taken seriously? What an absurd premise.
    As far as Byron, he was an alcoholic and ended up being booted from the band.
     
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  4. patrickd

    patrickd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin TX USA
    My memory (yes, I was a teenager back then) is that lots of folks liked the Heap but they were nobody's favorite band, we all preferred one of DP, LZ or BS. I think it is sort of wonderful that bands like that keep going and rock on for decades with pockets of fans all over the world. It's a better life than most and the idea of them being taken 'seriously' or not seems sort of irrelevant. The guys can play and they seem to be having fun still. This thread has me thinking I need to find a decent Heap collection or pick something up in the used racks. Good luck to them.
     
  5. old school

    old school Senior Member

    Why waste my time?
     
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  6. old school

    old school Senior Member

    Why don't you get out of that cave and find out for yourself!
     
  7. keifspoon

    keifspoon Senior Member

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    How could he look cool? With all that chewing gum on his boot. :laugh:
     
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  8. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    They were at least known, I'd say moderately popular if you were male and into hard rock. Easy Livin' and Stealin' got pretty good radio airplay. There were a lot of competitors in that basic genre at the time. Perhaps they didn't stick out enough and had somewhat of a Deep Purple sound. Plus it sounds like they were never really promoted. I started off with them with the Sweet Freedom LP and dug that so much I bought the Best of Uriah Heep.

    As far as Byrons look in the video you posted, personally, I thought a lot of rockers from Hendrix to Bowie to Plant to Jagger all had a similar somewhat feminine, sequin bedecked look, maybe even a feather boa........which was just the way a lot of rock frontman-ship was at the time. Ronnie Van Zant they were not. And thats Ok. I still love to play my Heep albums.
     
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  9. billy1

    billy1 Forum Resident

    Well, I particularly like the guitar break in Rainbow Demon, but the whole albums full of musical moments I really like. Very melodic- and I do prefer it to anything DP put out (just for those who call them Purple copyists). In fact the only thing I really dislike is the final note of the album, just too over the top.
     
  10. Commander Lucius Emery

    Commander Lucius Emery Forum Resident

    They weren't taken seriously. They were second-billed to a puppet show!

    Oops, that was Spinal Tap. Easy to get them confused.

    Actually "Demons and Wizards" is a pretty good album
     
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  11. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I love the whole first side of that album but I am pretty cold to the second side, especially "Paradise/The Spell." But every track on Side 1 is great.
     
  12. Olias of Sunhill

    Olias of Sunhill Forum Resident

    Location:
    Jim Creek, CO, USA
    Personally, I find Lee Kerslake's mustache harder to take seriously in the OP's video than Byron's flourishes.

    David Byron had one foot in the grave from alcoholism by 1975. He was much tighter and in control around the time of the live album.
     
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  13. Jim N.

    Jim N. Just another day in what was once Paradise...

    Location:
    So Cal
    My ears still hurt from enduring them at the Whisky A Go Go 40 some off years ago. Sloppy and intentionally way too loud. Subsequent live exposure was not much better but at least the volume was not so extreme.

    Back in the day I very much liked their debut album (US version) and Look At Yourself and parts of Salisbury and Demons & Wizrds. Today, not so much. I have not played their stuff in years. There are many, many better bands of that era than Heep but for a while they were fun.
     
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  14. Jgirar01

    Jgirar01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    First concert I ever attended was Uriah Heep headlining in Denver think it was 1973 or 1974. Sold out show, arena help around 15,000 if my memory is correct and it was a big show. Everyone I knew had Demons and Wizards and the Live 1973 is still one of my favorite albums. Lost interest after Sweet Freedom.
     
  15. guidedbyvoices

    guidedbyvoices Old Dan's Records

    Location:
    Alpine, TX
    I was an English lit major so I know where it came from but it doesn't make it sound any worse. I mean hoobastank could release sgt pepper but that band name is still awful
     
  16. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    An English Lit major and you think "steaming heap of"! Hmm.
     
  17. old school

    old school Senior Member

    Yea if that is some bull I don't know what is.
     
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  18. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Hey we had a college boy here last week typing inarrested for interested, so...:whistle:
     
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  19. malco49

    malco49 Forum Resident

    i think they laid the groundwork for the horror that was STYX and their ilk.........
     
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  20. guidedbyvoices

    guidedbyvoices Old Dan's Records

    Location:
    Alpine, TX
    Yes but I wrote it in iambic pentameter
     
  21. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Not sure how much "product they moved" - at least in comparison to the bigger bands. UH had 4 gold albums in the US across 1972/73 and no platinum releases.

    Gold is good, of course, but it's not superstar level. And none of their albums ever charted higher than #23 US. They also had one single crack the top 40...
     
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  22. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Based on hair/mustache/clothes, he would've looked silly anywhere - the stage was the least of his worries! :laugh:

    Not sure if that song's indicative of the UH catalog, but IMO, it's a pretty bad track. Maybe their other stuff's better...
     
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  23. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Platinum didn't exist until 1976. Also, in '72-'73, a Gold album represented a million dollars in sales. Today gold is 500,000 units sold.
    .
     
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  24. Olias of Sunhill

    Olias of Sunhill Forum Resident

    Location:
    Jim Creek, CO, USA
    Agreed with everything you've said here. I don't mean to argue (and I don't think anyone else would either) that Heep ever approached Led Zep or even Purple-level superstar status. They were a C-list band whose big moment came and went quickly. They did have a couple of really good years in the States, though, and they've kept soldiering on.

    The threshold for "being taken seriously" is a personal thing (if it's a thing at all), but I'd say that multiple gold records and arena-headlining tours qualify.
     
    Zeki likes this.
  25. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    I didn't know Doug Henning performs magic AND sings.

    [​IMG]
     
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