![]() Add David Byron’s wailing, soaring vocals, Ken Hensley’s organ, and Mick Box’s guitar and in you’re in a sweet spot between high musicality and windows down head banging.īands like Uriah Heep (or previous club picks like Nazareth, Girlschool, Alex Harvey, Golden Earring, Artur Brown, Jeff Beck, Whitesnake - the list goes on) prove to me that I may have not have heard a lot of my favourite music yet, but, when I do, it’s likely to be from some obscure and unheralded album from 1967-1987. Dreammare, I’ll Keep on Trying and Gypsy are all prime examples of this style. ![]() The choral vocals are a big part of the attraction for me and make an excellent counterpoint to the thudding, thundering music. I’ve heard that the band was regularly compared to Deep Purple, but Mick Box pointed out the big difference was Purple had one singer, the Heep had five. What an amazing song! It made me wonder other Heep classics were out there waiting to be heard, so I was particularly excited about this album of the week. The now gone classic rock station, KZEP (how about those call letters?) routinely played stuff from the 70s and 80s that I’d never heard of, including Uriah Heep’s Stealin’. I have always been a fan of hard rock and heavy metal, but this city took it to the next level. Mike Knoop: This is as much a review as a shout out to my adopted hometown of San Antonio. And no hard feelings please, it's just my opinion. As for the other songs? Sorry: all forgettable. To me, Heep is a weaker, second-level band anytime you compare them with other rock releases of the same year. The same pattern occurs even with their best efforts, like Demons And Wizards and Sweet Freedom. What about ELP, ZZ Top and Wishbone Ash's first albums ? The list gets bigger if we research a little more. Someone can argue it's their first album against established bands. Heep have consistently made weaker albums when compared with other contemporary bands. Mauricio Telles: I'll be in the opposite of most opinions here, and will explain why: Certainly a band that despite their longevity deserved much more respect and renown. Perhaps this album jumps styles too much for some, but it deserves an 8/10. Strong and heavy, melodic, soaring melodic vocals. But it's still a pioneering work for Heep's unique and influential 70s style, and Gypsy is an all-time heavy rock classic.Īdam Ranger: They were to release better over the years, perhaps more consistent albums, but as a debut, this has all the signs of what they were to be. The sound and style are still partly '60s', and the songwriting hasn't reached the Heep (Hensley-dominated) standard. They're one of my favourite groups and Gypsy is their trademark by far, but I can't say that the album reaches the quality of the following albums. A few bands try to transform the blues in to a harder sound and combine it with the new possibilities offered by organs, among them Uriah Heep. Jochen Scholl: It's 1970 in swinging London. The US release, with a much-inferior cover, alas, is actually improved musically, with the thunderous and operatic Bird Of Prey taking the place of the generic throwaway Lucy Blues, and gets a 9/10. They would get even better over subsequent albums, but this is a solid 8.5/10 in my book for the original UK release. While acoustic instruments play a role (see the aforementioned ballad), the album is primarily driven by Ken Hensley’s distorted Hammond organ, Paul Newton's virtuoso bass playing, and Mick Box’s fuzz guitar, which provide the perfect backing for singer David Byron’s chest-pounding vocals and operatic screams. Joe Cogan: A fantastic debut ranging from roaring proto-metal ( Gypsy) to psychedelic ( Dreammare) to jazz-influenced prog ( Wake Up (Set Your Sights)), plus a lovely and haunting ballad ( Come Away Melinda). ![]()
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