Uriah Heep Masters of Rock Logo series#

What else is the aforementioned Wizard except a surrogate Timothy Leary acid advocate? And in the song of the same name, 'Sweet Lorraine' sounds suspiciously like a pusher: 'Would you like to take this magic potion with me / on a trip to a cosmic playground far beyond?' (Cue the mind-altering synthesizer siren.) But depth and deeper meanings were never meant to be a part of the Uriah Heep experience, and at least the drug references are reasonably discreet. The lyrics too are often inane (from 'The Wizard': 'He told me tales and he drank my wine / me and my magic man kinda feelin' fine.'). The most ambitious song in this set ('July Morning', from the 1971 LP 'Look at Yourself') actually earns its length from little more than an extended coda, built on a simple riff repeated ad nauseam over a primitive Moog solo (played by guest MANFRED MANN, but uncredited in the notes for this CD). Visitors to these web pages looking for textbook Heavy Prog won't find anything too sophisticated here, just a dozen of the band's typically brisk and economic rockers. Even better, this single disc, 60-minute collection has its own track-to-track integrity, tracing a thirteen-song sequential arc over what diehard Heepsters agree are the band's best albums, spanning from their 1970 debut through 1973's 'Sweet Freedom'. And their troglodyte reputation wasĮffectively undermined by a name borrowed from classic English literature, in this case a character out of Charles Dickens.īut at this late date does the world really need another Uriah Heep compilation? Maybe not, but it's a blast from the past for someone who hasn't heard the music in more than thirty years. Was something more than just a poor man's DEEP PURPLE. Model for the comic relief rockers of Spinal Tap, but in their brief prime (circa 1970-1974) the Heep

Uriah Heep Masters of Rock Logo series#

Is it just me, or does it seem a trifle oxymoronic to include the headbangers of Uriah Heep in a retrospective CD series of greatest hit packages titled '20th Century Masters'?Īll right, so that's a not entirely objective knee-jerk reaction. Tracks taken from the previously released albums: Lee Kerslake / drums, percussion (tracks 7-12) Alex Napier / drums, percussion (tracks 1-2) Nigel Ollson / drums, percussion (tracks 1-2)

Gary Thain / bass guitar, vocals (tracks 7-12) Ken Hensley / keyboards, guitars, synthesizer, mellotron and vocals