

They lost their way a bit in the latter half of the ’70s, going first in a more mainstream AOR direction and then, beginning with 1981’s Abominog, a more metallic one (plus the New Wave, keyboard-slathered “On the Rebound”). I’m genuinely surprised “Love Machine” and “I Wanna Be Free,” from Look at Yourself, weren’t hits. The debut showed a strong Cream influence, but Salisbury was harder, and better the opening “Bird of Prey” is a galloping hard rock attack with falsetto vocal screams (lead and background) that prefigure Judas Priest, and “High Priestess” is a fierce, jackhammering boogie. I like all those groups, and Uriah Heep were as good as any of them. They were one of a few British hard rock acts with prominent keyboards Deep Purple were easily the most famous, UFO slightly less so, and Atomic Rooster the least. The first five Uriah Heep studio albums - 1970’s Very ’Eavy…Very ’Umble…, 1971’s Salisbury and Look at Yourself, and 1972’s Demons and Wizards and The Magician’s Birthday - and 1973’s obligatory double LP, Uriah Heep Live, are the work of a very solid and creative band. It features Box (the last founder standing), vocalist Bernie Shaw, keyboardist Phil Lanzon, drummer Russell Gilbrook, and bassist Dave Rimmer, who joined in 2013, replacing the late Trevor Bolder. The current version, though, has been together for over 15 years with just one membership change. And when Thain died in 1975, John Wetton, fresh out of King Crimson, joined for a year.Īll told, there have been 17 different lineups of Uriah Heep.

Newton left after Look at Yourself, replaced by Gary Thain. Three drummers, Alex Napier, Nigel Olsson and Keith Baker, played on Very ’Eavy…Very ’Umble…, and while Baker lasted through Salisbury, he was replaced by Iain Clark on Look at Yourself. Their original lineup included guitarist Mick Box, vocalist David Byron, keyboardist and second guitarist Ken Hensley, and bassist Paul Newton, but there was turnover from the beginning. But they were good when they started out, and they’re really good now. I’m not gonna argue for their whole catalog. Their 25th, Chaos & Colour, came out last week, and if you’re a fan of a particular style of slightly proggy hard rock, with prominent keyboards, a driving beat, and big, fist-in-the-air choruses, you should be all over it. And that’s a great song, but they’ve made 21 albums since then. I am very pleased to see it completed.If the name Uriah Heep rings a bell for you at all, it’s almost certainly for one song: “Easy Livin’,” from their fourth album, 1972’s Demons and Wizards. Thanks to the thousands of fans who have followed the process and corresponded with me throughout.

I can’t wait for the reaction from both the Heep fans and beyond! Rock on!”ĭale Collins added: “ It’s been a long journey to make this album. Working from two sides of the world is not an easy task, but the power and the energy of these songs shine through. Of the album Bernie Shaw said: “ This album has been a long time in the making as Uriah Heep still occupies almost 200 days of my year! But we’ve done it! l’m very proud of the end result. It’s been a labour of love, with work completed as and when time and schedules allowed. No-one involved with the project can believe the release date of 13th September 2019 is 6 years to the day that the very first email was sent between them suggesting the project. The CD is a six panel digipack which matches many of the recent Uriah Heep releases and back catalogue re-releases, so the album will look great sitting alongside the band’s catalogue in a fan’s collection.
Uriah heep lead singer download#
The album is available as a CD, 180gsm LP, Download and on Streaming platforms.

The album has Bernie working with same people he’d worked with on recent Uriah Heep projects, including sound engineer Steve Rispin, mastering engineer Mike Pietrini, graphic designer Mike Inns and label/copyrights manager Daniel Earnshaw. This new studio album sees them re-record those tracks afresh, along with the other songs from their collaboration. The duo has released an EP in Canada, however, it only included some of the songs they’d worked on together and was recorded many years back. Uriah Heep’s lead singer Bernie Shaw has been working on a new studio album, in between the band’s tour dates, with his bandmate from the music scene in Victoria, guitarist and songwriter Dale Collins.
