URIAH HEEP/VERY 'EAVY, VERY 'UMBLE 6360 006 (-70) GERMANY

                                                                                  

For me Uriah Heep was and has remained one of the most important rock bands of the seventies. It's interesting to follow their journey from sixties psych/prog band The Gods https://monolover.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-godsgenesis-sx-6286-68-uk-mono.html , over the a bit more r&b based Toe Fat https://monolover.blogspot.com/2013/04/toe-fat-2c-062-04374-70-french.html , to this hard rock/prog outfit. First Toe Fat singer Cliff Bennett was asked to join the new setting, but he declined and instead wanted to continue with the old band. In lieu they hired vocalist David Byron (born David Garrick 1947-85), who earlier had been in the band Spice with guitarist Mick Box 1967-69.  As I see it that was the lucky break they needed. The feeling, skill and creativity was already there and Byron's schooled voice became the icing on the cake - controlled with a very wide register allowing him to change between raw and fine tuned operatic in a second. In my world their finest time was from the second album Salisbury  https://monolover.blogspot.com/2015/02/uriah-heepsalisbury-6360-028-71-uk.html  up to The Magician's Birthday  https://monolover.blogspot.com/2015/01/uriah-heepthe-magicians-birthday-ilps.html . The rest with Byron is good too, just a little more uneven.  On this debute it's like they're testing different approaches trying to find their own special sound. You could call it "trial and error", but luckily almost without error. "Gypsy" is a classic killer with tons of evil organ and mean guitars to Byron's versed vocals.  "Real Turned On" ear-grabbing with tons of good Mick Box guitars. "Walking In Your Shadow" and "Dreammare" showing that even very hard rock can be truly catchy. Have to admit neither the ballad "Come Away Melinda" nor the blues trial "Lucy's Blues" does anything for me, but the rest certainly good enough to make it a must. Issued and reissued all over the world on all possible formats through the years. First US as "Uriah Heep" on Mercury (SR-61294) came with different sleeve design, omitting "Lucy's Blues" and instead adding an early recording of "Bird Of Prey", different from the one appearing on the UK "Salisbury".  2016 EU CD on Sanctuary Midline (SMRCD 048) came with eight bonus tracks.  First German had labels as shown here in a laminated fold/out cover.   (WLÖ*)  (ÖRHÄ*)  (GÖXÄ*)