Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Uriah Heep
Label: Sanctuary Records
Released: 1977
Rating: 3.5/5
With “Innocent Victim,” Uriah Heep turned sophisticated, almost too smooth and light on the ear. The music lost its experimental edge, and the progressive moments of the Byron era were gone. Even as Heep went more and more pop, though, Lawton brings the sheer performing power of his vocals to the poppy Heep era, especially his razor-sharp feel for improvising and bringing emotions to life. Totally lived-in, with a good dose of bluesy eroticism. The guitars are pushed back in the production, there’s practically no Hammond organ, and Hensley often grabs a guitar himself, so now there are two guitarists in the band. The guitars sit in a fine balance, on simply built pop rhythms! And then Lawton blows in like a storm with his erotic, passionate bluesy voice in a clearly pivotal role and loads the album with a heap of feeling. That gives the record that little something extra (the “something” not every album has), so you can say without mincing words: “Yes, this is the stuff the greats are made of!” Lawton’s rough, fired-up vocals were a bullseye. Even more so because Hensley suddenly felt like writing lighter rock in compact form, with polished, melodic, expressive choruses. Light rock’n’ roll drive in Keep On Ridin’, Flyin’ High, Roller, Free Me and Cheat ‘n’ Lie.
But as sophisticated as Heep got, the fourth track, Free ‘n’ Easy, is that much more of a shock. In the pre-chorus, Free ‘n’ Easy is pure heavy metal. It carries a “ride” rhythm, that galloping Kerslake drive lifted straight out of Easy Livin’, so a full dose of adrenaline rush. Lawton is convincingly devastating on vocals again, and Box’s guitar buzzes venomously, pulling all the strings of this excellent heavy rock assault.
Illusion is the song that ties “Innocent Victim” to its predecessor “Firefly” (1977) most intensely, almost by magic. A dreamy song, with tender, soft vocals wrapped in superb “heep” multi-vocal lines. That magic only Uriah Heep know. A sad solo in the instrumental middle section, and a song built on a Mellotron backdrop, just like Firefly, for example. This re-release adds Illusion in its full version. On the original it ends with a funky fade-out, with a three-part guitar harmony laid over it. Well, this added bonus track is called Ilussion/Masquerade. And the second part of this bonus track, called Masquerade, carries that excellent funky section in full. Another dreamy moment like that is caught in the great The Dance, which burns with a combination of Mellotron and an almost-disco pop wah-wah guitar, and with a superb contrast at the center of the song, created on one side by Bolder’s melodic bass line and on the other by the explosiveness of Lawton’s vocals. This song brilliantly morphs into the magical closing of the record. Choices and its melancholy are pushed up another notch, which brings real dramatic atmosphere to life. This is the record’s moment that is the atmospheric equivalent of the title track of “Firefly.” But the song is quite different. It’s interesting that Heep don’t resort to vocal harmonies here, while Choices is instead packed with superb guitar motifs that weave tastefully through the song and link up seamlessly. Nothing new in all that artful “heep” feel for writing expressive compositions. The song’s ending is, along with Free ‘n’ Easy, the hardest-hitting moment, and Kerslake’s drums finally come alive in this part too. Lee got little room to maneuver on “Innocent Victim,” and it shrank even more with “Fallen Angel” (1978).
And then the star of the album. The hit of hits in 1977, the one that got Uriah Heep every record going, especially in Germany, called Free Me. It came about completely spontaneously in the studio. Spontaneity means total victory, when you expect nothing, plan nothing, and exactly what your heart honestly craves comes to you. And that’s how the inspiration for this hit composition came to Uriah Heep. Free Me is a pure pop gem. Simple as hell. A real “heartbreaking” moment. Sophisticated, yet soaked in Lawton’s sensuality and passion, enough to set every woman’s heart on fire. This is a song written for the skin of singers like John Lawton. Funny, singers like Lawton? Wrong, it was written only for Lawton. You simply can’t find another singer like him!
The first cracks appeared in the band. Hensley leaned toward pop sounds, while Lawton had more heavy rock sparks smoldering in him and wanted to write songs like Free ‘n’ Easy, which he understandably missed more than enough during his time in Uriah Heep. Hensley had Gerry Bron’s green light for composing Heep material and so was the quiet leader of Uriah Heep’s evolution. Of course, Ken had clearly lived out his hardest-hitting years long ago in the Byron era of Heep, and now he felt great composing completely new material for a new look for Uriah Heep. Hensley composed five songs for the new record, and four of them are distinctly pop-oriented (Free Me among them), while Illusion is an “up-lifting dreamy experience” in the vein of Firefly (and the “Firefly” material was actually written entirely by Hensley anyway).
The excellent The River, which didn’t make “Innocent Victim,” is added to the remaster as a bonus track. When you hear it, it becomes pretty clear why. A funked-up, melodic Bolder bass “propels” it, and Kerslake hits hard on drums too. The rhythm line is more explosive than most of “Innocent Victim,” and Bron’s policy toward the band was obviously that “Innocent Victim” had to sound as commercial as possible. In other words, as soft as possible. The River, on the “Innocent Victim” record, would have been an undeniable band-aid for everyone who missed Uriah Heep with Byron.
“Innocent Victim” isn’t what Uriah Heep spoiled us with under David Byron. It’s the logical follow-up to “Firefly.” With far fewer miraculous moments of the highly ambient atmosphere that “Firefly” was still full of, it’s a complete swerve toward the commercial pop rock trends of the time. A great album as far as this kind of composition goes, which was never a problem for Uriah Heep. “Innocent Victim” isn’t some especially shiny jewel in the crown of all Uriah Heep albums. But on the other hand, once you set aside the “Heep” past with Byron, you arrive at the simple conclusion that “Innocent Victim” is an utterly simple, sexy, thoroughly finished pop rock album. The stuff greatness is made of, the kind only the greats have.
Line-up
John Lawton – vocals
Mick Box – guitar
Ken Hensley – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals
Trevor Bolder – bass guitar
Lee Kerslake – drums, backing vocals
Production
Gerry Bron
Track list
1. Keep On Ridin’ (3:41)
2. Flyin’ High (3:18)
3. Roller (4:38)
4. Free ‘N’ Easy (3:02)
5. Illusion (5:02)
6. Free Me (3:35)
7. Cheat ‘N’ Lie (4:50)
8. The Dance (4:49)
9. Choices (5:42)
Album length: 38:37
BONUS TRACKS ON THE 1997 REMASTERED EDITION:
1. Illusion / Masquerade LLUSION / MASQUERADE (8:18) full unedited version, Masquerade was single b-side
2. The River (3:07) Out-take, released for the first time on ‘A Time Of Revelation’ (1996)
