siLLy puPPy By 1972 the rock music universe began to settle into distinct marketing packages as the free for all 60s experimentation that trickled into the early 70s began to dissipate. Bands that mixed various styles of music were suddenly finding it more prudent to settle on one side of the fence or the other. While some progressively infused heavy rock bands jumped the fence to pure prog (T2, Atomic Rooster, High Tide), many of those bands ceased to exist after an album or two as the prog universe became more sophisticated however as that scenario unfolded the world of hard rock was becoming more popular and as a result more financially viable. While URIAH HEEP straddled both worlds equally on its 1971 bouts with excellence on the albums “Salisbury” and “Look At Yourself,” it wasn’t hard to see which way the wind was blowing with bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin tearing up the charts and laughing all the way to the bank.

And so it was decided that URIAH HEEP would follow their initial inclinations as demonstrated on their debut album “…Very ‘Eavy … Very ‘Umble” that they would hone their musical constructs into the world of hard rock and as the band became more confident of their abilities the band finally found the success that eluded them during the experimental phase with their breakthrough album DEMONS AND WIZARDS in 1972. The band joined the ranks of many of the fringe prog related bands of the era that implemented a more direct heavy rock approach but augmented with a few proggy features which usually included an epic track that delved into greater complexities without what many deemed overweening prog excesses. So in the year 1972 when rock could exist as the bubblegum glam rock of Sweet, T. Rex or Roxy Music, or the over-zealous art rock of prog’s bigwigs such as Yes, Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant and Genesis,

URIAH HEEP found the perfect middle ground and in the process found their greatest success as well as their only American top 40 single in the form of the 60s garage band meets heavy psyche single “Easy Livin.” The album eschewed the excesses of the past and crafted nice neatly packaged smaller chunks of melodic hard rock mixed with softer acoustic guitar and shifted the emphasis off of Ken Hensley’s virtuosic organ driven antics to the vocal prowess of lead singer David Byron. His vocal style was exactly what the doctor ordered for not only breaking the band into the mainstream but also as a major inspiration for the heavy metal bands of the late 70s and 80s. DEMONS AND WIZARDS found a new bassist in the New Zealand born Gary Thain who had played with the Keef Hartley Band after the departure of Paul Newton who seems to have dropped out of the music industry. Additionally Lee Kerslake replaced drummer Iain Clark. Ironically despite finding more in common with Blue Oyster Cult or the less progressive Mark II lineup of Deep Purple, DEMONS AND WIZARDS displayed the fantasy artwork of Roger Dean on the album cover, who had made his name more synonymous with the prog world with bands like Yes and despite the connotations of a fantasy album by the album cover art, the tracks were really just a collection of feel good songs that had nothing in common with each other. Concentrated and to the point, DEMONS AND WIZARDS cast the perfect hard rock spell that mesmerized the public’s appetite for short no nonsense hard rockers and as the track “Easy Livin” hit #39 on the Billboard charts and the album became one of the year’s best sellers and has sold well over six million copies ever since as well as hitting #23 on Billboard’s album charts.

While there is no doubt that the progressive rock tendencies on the previous albums took URIAH HEEP to a whole new level and that this demoted hard rock style does seem a little lackluster in comparison, DEMONS AND WIZARDS nonetheless emerged as a brilliant slice of early 70s hard rock that still managed to throw in a few proggy touches such as the organ sequences on “Circle of Hands” or the pseudo-prog combo pack of the final two tracks “Paradise” and “The Spell” that appear as a single track on some CD editions. While straight forward hard rock rules the roost on this one, this closing duality found an atmospheric acoustic guitar progression that sounded more like Pink Floyd than Deep Purple but found resolution as things morphed into a honky tonk blue rock based upbeat sequence.

Personally i would’ve preferred that URIAH HEEP had stuck to their heavy prog compositions that they crafted in 1971 as i find them much more interesting than the rather watered down albums that follow but i have to admit that DEMONS AND WIZARDS stands out as the best of the hard rock years that continued throughout the 70s into the modern era. The album not only displayed a band that crafted some of the tightest tracks of their career but also showcases how their melodic hooks are utterly irresistible excellent guitar performances made all the better by David Byron’s phenomenal vocals. This was the first step into a highly successful stream of albums that stacked up in the 70s and although the band’s popularity started to diminish in the 80s the band has remained a popular arena rock act with some of the classic tracks on DEMONS AND WIZARD remaining steadfast crowd pleasers. A step down in the world of prog complexities but the first step in a highly lucrative career. Can’t say i blame them for their decision.

siLLy puPPy After diving first into the possibilities of progressive rock mixed with the heavy blues rock of the 60s on the band’s first album of 1971 on the utterly unique “Salisbury,” URIAH HEEP crafted yet another album the same year. On LOOK AT YOURSELF, the band stepped back from the progressive rock influences a bit and went back down the road of hard rock with prog elements. The result was an album that would steer the course of the band’s sound of permanently settling into the hard rock style that would cement the band’s success beginning with the following “Demons and Wizards.” In between the two albums of 1971, drummer Keith Baker left the band not because of any dramatic altercations with the band or the musical direction but because he didn’t want to endure the extensive tour schedules. He was replaced by Ian Clarke of Cressida who turned out to have the extra drumming fiery passion that was conducive to the harder rocking style the band was settling upon.

While prog lovers salivated over “Salisbury,” the rock world wasn’t so keen upon this bizarre musical statement so early on and has to be relegated to classic status over time rather than having achieved instant success for URIAH HEEP. Seeing the writing on the wall, the band opted to pursue the more commercial approach of honing their chops into the less progressive arena rock which proved to be the right move financially speaking however on LOOK AT YOURSELF there are still plenty of progressive rock moments churning about despite no 16-minute closer with orchestral effects in sight. While the feisty guitar driven title track bursts onto the scene and sets the tone for the album as an organ driven heavy rock band that was in many ways similar to Deep Purple, the album’s two most progressive moments shine on the two tracks over eight minutes in length, the sublime “July In Morning” and “the heavier “Shadows of Grief” which exercised lengthy excursions into psychedelic space rock.

The album is dominated by heavy guitar driven blues rock with organ bombast. The title track starts things off whereas the following “I Wanna Be Free” displays the bands hard rock dynamics of mixing heavier rock with softer passages. The other major heavy rocker is the arena rock friendly “Tears In My Eyes” which breaks out the slide guitar effects and purveyor of massive walls of wah-wah which is perhaps the most Led Zeppelin sounding track of the album. Once again the dynamics alternate between the heavy and intermissions of space rock with interesting vocal changes. Although Mick Box’ guitar antics along with Hensley’s organ prowess dominate the URIAH HEEP sound, David Byron’s multi-octave vocal style also takes the music to higher levels than it could’ve achieved otherwise. The other heavy rocker is the closer “Love Machine” which pretty much portended the direction the band would continue for the rest of its career. The only track that doesn’t do it for me is the piano ballad “What Should Be Done,” which signifies the more commercial direction the band would settle upon.

For prog lovers, it doesn’t get any better than the third track “July Morning” which found a cameo appearance of Manfred Mann creating bizarre calliope riffs on a Minimoog synthesizer. The track starts out slow and seductive with Byron’s lyrics tenderly ratcheting up the tension as the track alternates between verses and chorus before erupting into a frenzy of virtuosic organ and guitar tradeoffs that make up the last four minutes of the track which continuously build up the tension until the track fades out. While it is absolutely phenomenal i find it odd that some of the lyrical content suddenly drops out in mid-verse only to be replaced by a series of la-la-la’s. For true URIAH HEEP fans, this one has been deemed the equivalent to Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” or Deep Purple’s “Child in Time.” The track was even the inspiration for a Bulgarian event called Julaya where participants gather on the Black Sea coast on the 1st of July to watch the sun rise over the waters.

While the other prog standout is the almost 9 minute long “What Should Be Done” it is primarily based on an organ driven heavy rock standard but deviates into the realms of psychedelia which ultimately find their way back to the main rock theme. Lots of interesting musical interaction on this one with strong riffing, call and response instrumental prowess and interesting dynamic shifts. LOOK AT YOURSELF is easily one of the best albums in the entire URIAH HEEP canon. While i find “Salisbury” to be just a wee bit more interesting, there is no doubt that LOOK AT YOURSELF is an outstandingly crafted example of early 70s hard rock with prog influences and most likely the album of choice for those who didn’t appreciate the meandering nature of its predecessor. For my money, it plays it too safe at times but still offers an excellent tightrope act of progressive and hard rock with this album on the hard rock side of the fence. One thing is for sure. The year 1971 was when the band’s musical mojo was at fully fueled. Two excellent albums in one year is no small task and this band dished them out in near perfection.

siLLy puPPy URIAH HEEP didn’t waste any time after releasing their debut “…Very ‘Eavy…Very ‘Umble” in mid-1970 to little fanfare. The band found that the musicians’ chemistry allowed them to progress quickly which allowed them to release not only one but two albums the following year in 1971 of which this album SALISBURY was the first to be released in February. After a debut album more geared towards hard rock with subtle progressive elements, on the second album the songwriting duties were much more in the hands of keyboardist Ken Hensley whereas the debut was more democratic with guitarist Mick Box and lead singer David Byron contributing a substantial amount of the material. The result of this is that SALISBURY was much more of a progressive rock album than a straight forward hard rock album per se. While the tracks and title would remain the same, this album had two different album covers for the UK and North America. The UK version dons the famous army tank shrouded in an orange mist whereas the American counterpart displayed a demonic corpse of some kind with a dark red backdrop.

While the opening track “Bird of Prey” launched the now standard heavy rock guitar driven formula of the debut (and was even chosen to replace the UK version’s “Lucy Blues” on the fourth track on that album), this album quickly drifts off into more keyboard driven rock that culminates in the grande finale 16-minute title track that featured a 24-piece orchestra filled complete with brass and woodwind sections. But make no mistake, SALISBURY contains hefty doses of heavy power chord guitar bombast, sizzling solos, dynamic bass and drum rhythm sections and the soaring operatic vocals of David Byron which made the band stand out from the pack immediately. While the rock elements hadn’t disappeared, they had been infiltrated by many other musical styles. Perhaps none so blatantly apparent than the folk-styled “Lady In Black” which narrates the story of a man encountering a goddess who consoles him after the turmoil of a major war. The single became a huge hit in Germany upon its re-release in 1977.

SALISBURY was a major step-up in every way from the debut without jettisoning the bluesy hard rock which provided the canvas to paint upon. While considered progressive rock, the easily accessible heavy rock melodic approach remains intact and the prog complexities don’t result from jarring inconsistencies with the melodic flow but rather stem from complimentary constructs which allow greater dynamics, more sophisticated songwriting and greater space to improvise clever technical aspects around. The album is also perfectly paced as it allows the hard rock to provide the main emphasis but is punctuated by the softer acoustic guitar and spaced out psychedelic moments to break the monotony. The heavy rock and softer approaches alternate up to the progressive behemoth highlight that closes the album, namely the 16 minute title track that took URIAH HEEP into a whole other level of heavy rock sophistication that no other of the day had even come close to approaching.

This period in the band’s history proved to be the most experimental and nothing showcases this ambition than the title track which swallowed up more than half of the album’s running time. While based in the same melodic hard rock of the rest of the album, the track turned into an extended progressive jam session that was complimented by John Fiddy’s outlandish arrangements for a 22-piece brass and woodwind section which allowed flutes and choirs to augment Byron’s vocals into a major production. Add to that some extraordinary organ and guitar solos and the track easily goes down as URIAH HEEP’s most ambitious piece of their half century career, a feat they would never tackle again as they settled into the more streamlined hard rock sounds that would launch their success on the album “Demons and Wizards.” Unfortunately for the band at this point this album was a little too far ahead of its time for hard rock listeners but has resonated strongly for the prog crowds ever since.

Of the two albums released in 1971, this one and the following “Look At Yourself,” this one has the upper edge for its bold statements that are utterly unique in not only the band’s canon but for the era in which it was produced. To me this is the type of sound that the early Mark I version of Deep Purple was trying to capture but didn’t quite have the chemistry to pull it off. With URIAH HEEP, all the band members were in sync with the direction of the band’s musical development and crafted one of the most demanding albums of their career with an utterly unique hybridization of heavier blues rock fused with the more sophisticated approaches of progressive rock. For many this was deemed unfocused and while it’s true that many disciplines of music are required to understand this, i personally find this to be a rather flawless album. The diverse elements that are strewn out are by far its strength not its weakness. If you only care for the simpler hard rock approach, there are countless other albums to explore however if you crave something existing in its own world and is the perfect embodiment of hard rock, blues, classical and prog then look no further. This is an excellent example of that little corner of unbridled experimentation.

siLLy puPPy While Black Sabbath usually gets credit for launching the world of heavy metal music, it was actually Led Zeppelin’s debut in 1969 that emerged a year earlier that really hinted at the possibilities of taking 60s blues rock and making it louder, faster, dirtier and darker. Several acts quickly took that to heart and developed some of the first hard rock bands that were the proto-metal blueprints for the future. Black Sabbath made the biggest impression in the dark occult and doom metal fronts but bands like Deep Purple and URIAH HEEP took the 60s blues rock of Blue Cheer and Vanilla Fudge to the next level.

URIAH HEEP had its origins with guitarist Mick Box who formed the band Spice that stemmed from an earlier band called Hogwash. The Spice band sort of evolved into URIAH HEEP as new members kept joining and eventually led to the earliest formation that would continue to tour under the space moniker but after recording half of the debut album…VERY ‘EAVY…VERY ‘UMBLE the name was changed to URIAH HEEP. The band’s unusual name was chosen from the well known character in the Charles Dickens classic novel “David Copperfield” and likewise the equally bizarre album title to comes from a phrase used by the Dickens character that provided the band name.

This debut album was released as …VERY ‘EAVY…VERY ‘UMBLE in the band’s native UK however in Canada and the US it was released simply as URIAH HEEP with a completely different album cover and one different track. The UK release which has become the standard featured lead singer David Byron covered by cobwebs whereas the US version had some sort of Chinese dragon looking monstrous centipede or perhaps it was a monster from a Godzilla flick. Not sure. Likewise, the UK version featured the fourth track as “Lucy Blues” and the US version inserted the track “Bird of Prey” which would also be the opening track on the band’s second album “Salisbury.” Sounds like the Americans got screwed out of a track, huh?

While not as progressive as the following two albums, …VERY ‘EAVY…VERY ‘UMBLE joins the early pack of harder edged rock that would provide a blueprint for the heavier rock and metal to come. Lock in step with Deep Purple, URIAH HEEP set themselves apart from Led Zeppelin, Lucifer’s Friend and Black Sabbath by including a talented keyboardist whose sound was a key ingredient to the band’s overall sound. The album is notorious for the review in Rolling Stone magazine where Melissa Mills stated she would have to commit suicide if this band ever made it. Harsh words but the albums wasn’t received too well at the time but then again Deep Purple’s “In Rock” which is now considered a classic was also panned by the critics. The reason they are critics and not musicians! Burn!!!

The opening track “Gypsy” debuts URIAH HEEP’s classic sound already in tact. A powerful combo pack of heavy bombastic guitar stomps fortified by guitar distortion that took hard rock to the next level. Since this was still on the cusp of the 60s, the overall sound contains a number of influences including acid psychedelic rock, blues and folk. While the guitar, bass and drums provide the dominant rhythmic heft, the true star belongs to Ken Hensley’s massive organ presence that features extremely innovative and aggressive improvisations around the main melodic drive and of course i’d be remiss not to mention the operatic vocal style of lead singer David Byron whose style was emulated in the future heavy metal scenes that then evolved into the more sophisticated forms of metal such as power metal, symphonic metal and other styles that focused on high pitched melodic vocal styles.

While Deep Purple started out as a progressive rock band that mixed psychedelic 60s rock with classical music, that band morphed into a straight forward hard rock band with classical influences. URIAH HEEP’s debut showed the band more as a hard rock band with a few progressive influences that would lead to the more complex albums that followed before settling into a standard hard rock band of the 70s. While the tracks mostly cruise on standard 4/4 time signatures, there are some off-kilter insertions of prog sophistication but most of that would be put on hold until the powerhouse prog classic “Salisbury,” the band’s second album, however …VERY ‘EAVY…VERY ‘UMBLE was still a more difficult listen than many other rock albums of 1970 since it changed styles and required a more active listening approach.

URIAH HEEP’s debut album, whichever title you happen to experience with the one differing track is an excellent music experience even by today’s standards. Unlike Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, this band still had its hooks into heavy blues rock much like Wishbone Ash and some of the tracks like “Real Turned On” sound like much of the boogie rock of bands like Foghat, Little Feat and countless others would crank out throughout the 70s but URIAH HEEP displayed a more virtuosic approach with Mick Box’s excellent guitar work, Hensley’s manic keyboards and Byron’s excellent vocal range. Sorry Melissa Mills from Rolling Stone. Maybe instead of killing yourself because of URIAH HEEP’s success, you should open your mind to the new possibilities of how music evolves. The rest of the world has and even though this didn’t blow many away at the time of release, it has now gone down as a classic albeit overshadowed by the better works that followed. Excellent debut!

Kev Rowland It is hard to imagine in this world of 24/7 connectivity, but there was once a time where there was no such thing as internet. Consequently the only way to discover information was by buying books, and I have just gone to bookcase and brought out ‘The International Encyclopedia of Hard Rock & Heavy Metal’, written by Tony Jasper and Derek Oliver and published in 1983. Why? Because the front cover is a picture of Mick Box in his natural environment, on stage, and nearly fifty years on from when Uriah Heep were formed he is still there. True, there have been some line-up changes over the years, but from 1986 to 2007 they were the same five guys treading the boards wherever anyone would have them play, often without record label support. Phil Lanzon (keyboards) and Bernie Shaw (vocals) have been in the band since 1986 (although they started working together in Grand Prix before that), while drummer Lee Kerslake had to retire in 2007 due to ill health, and was replaced by Russell Gilbrook while bassist Trevor Bolder sadly passed away in 2013 and was replaced by Davey Rimmer.

When they released their debut album in 1970, it was famously reviewed by Rolling Stone magazine's Melissa Mills who began her review by saying, "If this group makes it I'll have to commit suicide. From the first note you know you don't want to hear any more." Well, with one classic album after another in the Seventies, and various “return to form” albums such as the mighty ‘Abominog’, it is safe to say that Heep have not only made it but have thrived. This is their 25th studio album, and although they have become more polished over the years, there is still a Hammond Organ as the backbone, while Mick Box is refusing to settle into his dotage. Apparently he is 71 years old now, and is still teaching young ‘uns a tricks or two.

Any fan of the band will listen to the harmonies at the introduction to “Rocks In The Road” and smile, as it is exactly the same sound they were producing more than 40 years ago. To celebrate the album they are undertaking a world tour which will encompass 61 countries, again putting bands half their age to shame.

Uriah Heep, Very 'eavy... Very 'umble, still hitting the road, producing great music as they continue to keep living the dream. Essential for any fan, and if you have never actually heard any of their albums (and I guess that is a possibility, maybe) then start with this one and then head back to the early Seventies and give yourself a treat. All together now, “Was only seventeen, I fell in love with a gypsy queen…”