Like the White Rabbit in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland I feel like constantly being late to this Thread... Uriah Heep Live '73 I used to own on cassette but it got lost many years ago. Nowadays I have a bumpy flea market copy of the album and an excellent vinyl re-issue by Sanctuary. Happy me the old flea market double vinyl still contained the printed inner sleeves and photographs! Generally speaking I prefer studio albums to live albums but Live '73 is IMHO a classic
In addition: Two days ago my new mail-order vinyl copy of The Magician's Birthday arrived (also a Sanctuary re-issue). To my ears it sounds great After listening to it I played my old 70ies vinyl copy of the album and was surprised how good that one still sounded, too. So I'm actually quite happy
As much as I enjoy this Thread and its contributions I already look forward to the many Heep albums that I am not familiar with (e.g. High and Mighty, Firefly and every album from Fallen Angel onwards). Maybe as a consequence the one or other purchase has to be made
You're not late, we only just started the Live album I am looking forward to checking out the albums coming soon too. Although I have heard them, I have never really dug into them properly before. It should be cool.
Sunrise For me this is the perfect song to start the show. I actually like the fact that we get the little bit of introduction here, it sort of sets the stage for the shows beginning and gives it a certain authenticity. I suppose it is possible that the backing vocals were studio assisted, but there isn't anything I can here to suggest that they are, they come across as genuine. This is a great version of the track.
Sweet Lorraine Here we hear what the guys were talking about in the preamble, Thain's bass is just commanding here. I actually think that everybody is actually putting is a good performance. One of the reasons I have never considered this to be doctored, is I personally do hear minor little failings in the vocals that suggests they are actually live. The band are firing on all cylinders and for me this is a very good performance.
Traveler In Time We start with a really nice punch, and whne we move into the verse section the falsetto vocal here is very smooth. But again, when we get to the louder section, there are minor vocal wanderings, that again suggest to me that it is an actual live album. I would be very interested to know if anyone can confirm or deny the authenticity of whether this is fully live or not.
Totally agreed. Wish I could have been there in person. Easy Livin' has always been a favourite of mine and it closes side A of the double vinyl album perfectly.
I like this version more than its studio counterpart. And it's true, Gary Thain commands here and I think that on the whole album too!
The intro and Sunrise spectacularly open the album, for me this is the best version of the song (without detracting from anything included in Magician's birthday) Hensley Thain/Box and Kerlake's vocal performance is respectable here on the backing vocals
Both perfomances are fantastic. And let me tell you something, here on these recordings you can listen to Gary Thain in all his glory just like Hensley with his Hammond. I like the way both songs continue with each other without interruption. Regarding whether the album has been manipulated in studio or not. I have never heard or read about it. There seems to be no black legend about it and "Live 1973". If you listen to it calmly it seems to preserve that atmosphere of authenticity. However you never know...
Another day and another Heep tune running over and over in my brain. At least 20 seconds worth...on repeat!
Uriah Heep Live Uriah Heep Mercury SRM 2-7503 Released: May 1973 Chart Peak: #37 Weeks Charted: 30 Certified Gold: 10/12/73 Almost every insult that could be heaped on Uriah Heep's heads has been during the last three years, some of the most imaginative being reproduced on the album sleeve to haunt their authors. Plague those writers these reviews might, because Uriah Heep has overcome some of the most virulent critical resistance in rock history to become a major concert and record attraction. Original album advertising art. Click image for larger view. That still does not make them good, but on this two-record marathon recorded at a January British concert the promise and the excesses of the group are laid bare. A highlight is "Easy Livin'," remarkably faithful to the hit single. In contrast to some of the woefully boring epic tracks, this one clocks in at 2:43, a reminder that the energy and power of rock is often best expressed in a compressed and coordinated explosion. Drawn-out poundaways almost invariably lack form and wind up exercises in artistic self-indulgence and consumer tedium. Ever since Sixties pioneers proved that loud can be good, a portion of the rock public has assumed that loud is good. Uriah Heep often fails to make that distinction, which is unfortunate, because in less frenzied moments there is evidence that the jovial fivesome is capable of some subtleties. Ken Hensley's organ playing can be sensitive as well as powerful, and David Byron can sing in muted falsetto as well as tortured screams. Byron's performance on this record is puzzling. (This is not a reference to his stage identity, defined in the liner notes as "the peacockish dresser who struts his stuff for the girls but who guzzles a bottle or two of Mateus Rose and shakes the mike stand hard, coming on heavy to let the lads know he's no effete poseur." Author, author!) He can be effective as a vocalist and his half-spoken, half-shouted introdution to "Look At Yourself" is clever. But he also hits wrong notes on "The Magician's Birthday" and on two occasions sounds like he's mimicking Yoko Ono's performance on Unfinished Symphony (Life with the Lions). One can only conclude that he is quite capable but in need of some self-restraint. This album is Uriah Heep's farewell to Mercury. Perhaps if in their tenure at Warner Brothers they strike a better balance between the tastefully heavy and the clumsily overdone the critical abuse will cease. One prays so. Three years of slagging is more than enough to read about anybody. - Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 8/30/73.
This double set by this exciting British hard rock band manages to capture all the feelings of a concert. Apparently very little of the overdubbing so common on "live" efforts has been done here, and the band sounds incredibly like their studio disks while still offering the in-person flavor. Highlights are the top vocals of David Byron and the exceptional keyboard work of Ken Hensley. Best cuts: "Easy Livin'," "July Morning," "Medley" (with classic rock such as "At The Hop" and "Blue Suede Shoes.") - Billboard, 1973.
I posted a larger color version of a similar ad a couple of pages ago. They changed the wording slightly on the one you posted but it appears to use the same photos.
This specifically addresses the question of over-dubbing, though it seems it’s based on the reviewer’s ears.
Another good review from the pages of Rolling Stone magazine. What’s happening here?! Maybe we’ve all remembered it wrong? Or partially wrong?
I think a close listen suggests it isn't overdubbed, which is where this guy seems to be coming from ... there are bits I would have cleaned up if I was going to bother at all, but it just sounds like a real concert
This cracks me up (from wiki): No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Introduction / Sunrise" Thomas "Todd" Fischer / Ken Hensley 3:58 This guy gets a writing credit for introducing the band...including a notation of both his legal name and the name he went by.
A 2016 look-back by zrockr.com sums things up with: “Uriah Heep Live is one of the greatest live rock albums of the 70s, and it is a damn shame you are not going to find this one mentioned on “great live albums” lists like a number of other works of the era; the band is on fire here and gives the show of their career. If you are a fan of classic hard rock/progressive rock, this album will not disappoint. Very highly recommended!”
Glad I'm not alone in those thoughts. You know, sometimes I feel like I am on another planet and just assume I hear everything differently to everyone else.. then I read something like that and I think "cool, at least I'm not alone in my (spaceman) thoughts" to be fair though, there were a stupid amount of great live albums in the seventies.
