Sheavy The Heeps second album is another great, early Heavy Guitar and Organ/Keyboard driven album. Uriah Heeps ability to come up with great heavy rocking songs is present with the especially epic Bird Of Prey, and the just as strong, Time To Live. They also created two of my favorite softer Heep songs with The Park and the especially epic, chilling and Lady In Black, which is firmly and easily in my top 3 fav Heep songs. The song High Priestess switches between a softer sound and a heavy-ern more rocking sound, which features some great guitar work by the severly underrated Mick Box. The closing sixteen minute song, Salisbury, is unlike any other Uriah Heep song ever, with it's stunningly beautiful, and at times very dark, backing brass ection. The song is a tour-de-force for all the members of the band, with some more great guitar work from Mick Box, and some really strong bass playing from Paul Newton.

All in all, this is a masterpiece from a band that never truly got as much recognition as similar bands in the Heavy Prog vein. Essential.

AtomicCrimsonRush "Look at Yourself" features incredible heavy Hammond and guitar riffing excellence on one of Uriah Heep's most consistent albums. The front cover is a mirror that many who owned the vinyl would have spent hours watching the reflective surface shine patterns on the roof. The music on the album also reflects the band, the power of progressive symphonic meets heavy rock.

The title track, 'Look at Yourself' is a definitive rocker with trademark driving guitar and organ with a pounding bassline. Mick Box's lead break crunches with incredible staccato Hammond of Ken Hensley and phased guitar. The vocals of David Byron are excellent with a straight clean performance and vibrato. There are so many brilliant tracks on the album that many found their way to best of compilations and concerts. The first 3 are Uriah Heep at their best.

On 'I Wanna Be Free' the harmonies are terrific and the riff is patented crunching guitar blasts similar to 'Gypsy' and 'Lady In Black'. Another great track on the album.

'July Morning' is captivating with quiet passages of serenity and loud majestic music crescendos. The verses are a lighters-in-the-air sway-along melodic ballad, and this is balanced with an outbreak of Hensley's Hammond smashes and Box's vibrant lead guitar. Crunching staccato Hammond blasts and a memorable guitar motif make this a progressive classic.

The descending riff is awesome on the proggy 'Shadows of Grief'. Some excellent Hammond answers and trade offs leading to a vibrant lead break. The organ shimmers on this and the musicianship overall is some of the best from the band. The quiet ending sounds like Pink Floyd's Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun' as it is very psychedelic, building gradually with powerful high harmonies, very much like Deep Purple in some ways. The weird ending is the shimmering Hammond sound heard in the middle of 'Gypsy'.

'What Should Be Done' is next and we have a grand piano intro and Byron's very gentle vocals. This is the Heep ballad that is added to every album. It's okay but I prefer when they are in full flight and hammering hard. The wah-wah guitar break of Box is quite beautiful.

'Love Machine' ends the vinyl album on a powerful note. Tons of Hammond and a riff that motors along with a quick tempo are the dominant sounds. Byron's vocals are fantastic on this. It sounds a bit like Rainbow's 'Starstruck' in melody. The lead break is terrific and caps this album off on a high note.

The bonus tracks are great, a single edited hard rocking version of the title track, and 'What's Within My Heart'. This second track features some banter prior to the song by the band as they count in the sparse twin acoustic guitars. It is a forgettable soft ballad, with minimalist acoustics, and feels like a demo track. It is lovely the way the bass comes in though, and the vocals are well performed.

In conclusion, "Look at Yourself" is one of the best Heep albums without a doubt. It features some fabulous Hammond and is a real proto-metal rocker. The tracks are all excellent with a few patchy sections, and not as proggy as some others, but this album is still very consistent quality rock.

AtomicCrimsonRush "Salisbury" is one of the first great Uriah Heep albums after a slow and steady start with inconsistent albums that always had at least 3 killer tracks. David Byron on vocals, Ken Hensley on keyboards and Mick Box on guitars was the driving force of the band.

It opens with 'Bird of prey' that riffs along with excellent vocals. The music is dynamic and powerful on 'Time to Live' leading to the quiet tranquillity of 'The Park'. The beauty and peace of quiet organ and acoustics with high falsetto vocals are later subjugated by Hensleys' hammering Hammond and Box's monster riff.

'Lady in Black' has a simply awesome proto-metal riff that locks into your brain. The lovely acoustic driven verses are counter balanced by the heavy guitars. The sound is similar to 'Gypsy' and the way it fades to a bass and drum at the end and harmonies is inspired creativity, and then the rest of the music is tracked back in, as if the mixing editor were fiddling with the sound, it's the stuff of innovation.

'High Priestess' is a straight rocker with some great lead guitar on Box's wah-wah pedals.

The final track is 'Salisbury', the monster epic, with huge majestic intro using brass and flute by John Fiddy. The guitars are powerful and drive the song along consistently with one riff after another. The 26 piece orchestra is an inspired touch and it is overwhelmed by crunching Hammond and blazing guitars. It is not as memorable an epic as some others from the 70s, but it is unique to Heep and a definite triumph or a band who opted for shorter tracks on subsequent albums.

The bonus tracks are 'Simon The Bullet Freak' and a single edit of 'High Priestess'. Both bonus tracks are very good rockers and cap off a solid album, showcasing the musicianship of the band. It contains some of the band's best material featuring in many concerts and compilations.

"Salisbury" has a memorable iconic front cover of a tank crushing a flower, that is ironic as the music often reflects the feeling of heavy metal stomping on the flower power generation once and for all. The album comes recommended to those who like hard driving rock with a taste of symphonic orchestral arrangements.

AtomicCrimsonRush Uriah Heep's 'Demons And Wizards' is a hard rocking melodic excursion into fantasy and whimsical landscapes of castles inhabited by wizards.

The Roger Dean cover spells out the concept from the outset but as far as actual prog material, this album does not deliver. Having stated that fact it is still great melodic rock and highly memorable and one of the best of the Heep. It deserves 4 stars on a metal site.

It begins with 'The Wizard' which begins with a melancholy acoustic three chord structure sand then the distorted guitars and organ take over. A great track with iconic lyrics and remains a live favourite to this day.

'Traveller in Time' is essential Heep and a definitive highlight. The killer riff is classic Sabbath, Purple or Zeppelin; in other words classic rock. There is a delicious keyboard solo over scorching guitar riffs and the lyrics are downright fanciful but somehow appropriate.

'Easy Living' is the legendary single that always appears on compilations as quintessential Heep. It just motorvates at a quick tempo and drives headlong with grinding organ and guitar riffs. Absolutely wonderful and the first track I had heard from the band. I am sure many people would have only heard either this or 'Free Me' as they are the most recognisable singles. Every Heep fan knows this track and it is great to sing along to.

'Poet's Justice' is perhaps a lowlight and is quite forgettable though it does feature a great walking bassline and organ riff.

'Circle of Hands' is a more progressive song than the previous tracks with irregular beats and a great organ driven sustained motif. It is a strong track and one of the longest with a credible lead break that takes the song in a new direction.

'Rainbow Demon' is definitely one of the better tracks with a slow paced hard driving guitar and organ riff and a catchy chorus. I always found this to be a strong track and a perfect side two opener.

The next two tracks are rather forgettable but they are sandwiched with the wonderful closing track, 'The Spell'. This track has become a concert closer too in a medley with 'The Wizard' to good effect.

Overall this album is a great rocking delight for the Heep fan. The band would do better with albums to follow but this is still full of highlights. Very 'eavy and not very 'umble, it is still an album that is bombastic enough to confirm the hype surrounding it.

AtomicCrimsonRush Sweeeeeeeeeet Sweeeeeeeeeet Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

The first Heep that I owned, Sweet Freedom, was bagged at a fair selling second hand junk. I saw this in one of the bins and snapped it up, not knowing much about this band except for their brilliant tracks Gypsy, Free Me and Easy Livin'. I did not know what to expect but I did not expect such a sugar coated melodic radio friendly sound on this album. It took me a few listens to get into the music, and now having scored other great Heep I have come to the conclusion that this is one of their most inept recordings.

It is difficult to find a decent rock track, as it is all played at a low volume and even crooned in places ooo-ooh ooo-ooh stealin' when I shoulda been buyin' So we have ascertained that this is one of the softest Heeps but is it any good?

It has great moments - Stealin IS memorable and great to sing to. So is Sweeeeeeeeeet Sweeeeeeeeeet Freeeeeeeeeeeeeddddoooooooooommmm.... Sweeeeeeeeeet Sweeeeeeeeeet Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet It works for me and I saw a DVD that showed how much the crowd loved these little classics.

However the rest of the album is forgettable and not very heavy. It is perhaps one of the safest and as a result mediocre releases of the band. Side One is definitely the best because I cannot even recall how any of Side 2 tracks go.

There is some great guitar work on the album and the vocals are top notch as ever. The thing that lets it down is the song content itself - the band seem so wrapped up in themes of dreaming of a better life, or being free or trying to find meaning - yet some band members had suicided by the end of the decade. This release actually leaves me cold as I know how great Heep can be with such master works as Demons and Wizards. THAT is a great release, not this Sweeeeeeeeeet Sweeeeeeeeeet Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet attempt at rock.

2 stars for the aforementioned songs.