I had a bad feeling when SWR1 played Easy Livin' in the mid of day (nowadays their program is almost devoid of rock except for a few special hours). Later I heard the news that I had missed. RIP Ken I listened to "Look at Yourself" a few days later.
Live was a staple of my senior HS yr. out in w. TX..just a handful of us were into them, but Box was reachable stuff. That 5:15 ascending solo riff on The Magician's Birthday was on the first 'fast' solos I could play. Thain was a monster (all fingerstyle), the best musician in the band imo, and very missed. Those live Thain parts still thump your chest. Just bought the expanded Live version.
That's the version I have -- was lucky to get a copy in NM shape, both cover and vinyl. Love it! But it's the only UH album I have. I love the proto-metal vibe...it's my understanding none of their ensuing albums really sounded like this one, which makes me suspect I wouldn't like them. Am I wrong? I also much prefer this US cover, featuring the uncredited artwork of Virgil Finlay. I assume it was taken from one of his '40s or '50s pulp pieces. You can see the original here: https://farm7.static.flickr.com/6194/6078672443_205a373aa1_b.jpg
If you think this is proto-metal, the next albums are even more metal! However Bird of Prey doesn't really belong on this album, so it's a bit mixed. That song shows where they were heading. The original UK release is more of a mixed bag. That said, I really like it, and recently revisited it. I don't think there's a real break-off during any of those first albums, they simply show a band progressing and tightening up their act. It's when the line-up changes start that the band starts to change directions.
The new issue of the German music magazine GoodTimes has... 1) A Uriah Heep poster 2) A review of the 50 Years in Rock boxset 3) An interview with Mick Box (done when both Ken and Lee were still alive) 4) Possibly the last interview with Ken Hensley Whole lotta Heep! Ken apparently finished two more albums that were already planned for release next year. So at least we've still got something to look forward to.
I forgot to mention that the subscribers also got the GoodTimes calendar, as usual... and that also has a photo of David Byron in it!
A well done lift, though. They were smart enough to give it the same pace as Look At Yourself/Easy Livin’ with that typical UH-rush. The single Return To Fantasy is also in the same vein.
I’m playing my Bernie Shaw years playlist and am sorry to say that the very first three songs don’t stand the test of time (beyond the in-the-moment thread discussion euphoria). Mr. Majestic, Pacific Highway and Corina have all been given the boot. I can’t tolerate that 80’s Ghostbusters cheesy synth.
It's funny how that happens. I think that's why I lean towards albums, because I generally know what sound I will get, and there's generally a certain uniformity. I wonder if any of the songs you passed on would now make it into the list?
I think I was more forgiving of the “newer” songs, coming after a period of darkness! On the other hand, I know I could easily add a dozen or two from the Byron years as I was deliberately limiting the number I selected from those early albums.
Live in Moscow was my first ever Heep album, so I’m OK with those songs but they certainly weren’t classics and my guess is they didn’t survive long in the setlist - those are kind of the sound of the new lineup finding its feet to me. For me, as a general rule (not just for Heep, for all bands)... 70s keyboard sounds = good (Hammond, clavinet, Fender Rhodes, Moog etc, I know those weren’t only in use in the 70s but that’s how I associate them) 80s keyboard sounds = bad. Glassy or brassy synths - no.
My feelings exactly but then, I am an 80s music hater with 2 exceptions. To me, Uriah Heep is Ken Hensley and David Byron. Once they're both gone from the lineup, I stop caring. I remember after being a teenager in love with Demos & Wizards and Wonderworld, listening to Abominog and thinking "what the hell is this crap"? So my Heep CD collection ends with Conquest. I am only missing "Fallen Angel" -looking for the 1997 remaster as that one has "Been Hurt" as a bonus track, missing from the 2004 version, and "On The Rocks" by The Byron band. Of this last one there 2 versions with different bonus tracks. Not sure which one to get.
The bones of the three songs I cut loose are good. I’m fine, still, with all three; just not “playlist” fine.
An interesting tribute to Ken Hensley. Dallas Observer. 8 Songs That Show Every Metalhead Owes Uriah Heep’s Ken Hensley Big Time I will note, though, that here we go again with the ‘Paul Newton-who?’ b.s. Re: Gypsy. “For the first half of the solo, it sounds like Hensley is murdering his organ, and in the second half it sounds like his synthesizer is murdering him. Kerslake and Thain provide a jazzy battledrum-and-bass backing for the duel, as Hensley wrangles his keys into doing his bidding.” The first three albums DO NOT feature Kerslake and Thain but, because they are most certainly ‘classic,’ the musicianship of others gets credited to them.
The reviewer is talking about the version of Gypsy on the live album. Thain and Kerslake are most definitely on that.
You’re right and I stand corrected. I still get irritated at the lack of recognition for Paul Newton, though! But I take back the ‘ignorant whippersnapper’ thoughts I had directed at the Observer reviewer.
Something else I wasn’t aware of. Article says April, 2021 publication date but am not certain if that is correct. Anyway, new book by Martin Popoff. ‘Uriah Heep: A Visual Biography’ URIAH HEEP: 'A Visual Biography' Due In April 2021 “This differs from previous URIAH HEEPbooks with the inclusion of so many previously unpublished photos, along with rare memorabilia and artefacts that makes this an indispensable addition to the vast URIAH HEEP catalogue.”
Well, well, well...here is a very interesting Ken Hensley interview. From probably just a short time before he passed away. Highly recommended reading. Ken Hensley Uriah Heep eonmusic Interview October 2020 “I did, in fact, write songs for the first album, but we just weren't allowed to publicise it, and so it was disguised under Paul Newton's name.” @ILoveMyDogs you’ll be interested in this, I think.
What I think doesn't work about "Conquest" is that John Sloman is so strangely inconsistent in his delivery. It's like he changes his mind half-way through singing one line and then changes it back partway through the next one (e.g. 1:17 - 1:23 in "Won't Have to Wait Too Long" or 2:06 in "No Return" where for one line he decides he needs to do an impression of Alice Cooper as Mae West). If he just sung consistently in that Glenn Hughes-y style, making his phrasing and ornamentation match the content of the lyrics, I think it would have been quite good.