Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Uriah Heep
Label: SPV Records
Released: 1996
Rating: 3.5/5
This is the only Uriah Heep live recording to come out in the nineties with official-release status. It was captured in the last third of June way back in 1994 in Cologne (Germany), smack in the middle of that final worldwide Pink Floyd concert euphoria and amid loud sighs of mourning for the fallen, burnt-out rock angel Kurt Cobain (Nirvana). By then Uriah Heep had long since lost all relevance, and the masses could easily overlook their musical activity. Throughout that June, Uriah Heep opened shows as the support act for the legendary Deep Purple, who, unlike their contemporaries Uriah Heep, kept their big-band status fully intact, mostly thanks to the sheer elementary power of the Smoke On The Water riff.
The recording dates from three years after their then-current studio album “Different World” (1991) and just before one of their greatest gems hit the market, the album “Sea Of Light” (1995). By then Uriah Heep had been running with an unchanged lineup for eight years, and that lineup is known for an incredible number of live shows and very few new studio albums.
The band struck a deal with a German radio station to broadcast the show later. The concert did go out on air, but not in full. The story behind the gig is that the sound was pretty disastrous for the band because of damaged gear, monitors included. Still, Uriah Heep were over the moon about the tapes and decided to release the recording officially too.
A Uriah Heep set list can hardly be bad if you mix old and new material in equal doses. And it definitely can’t be bad when you’re stuck playing before Deep Purple. That’s when you really have to bring your A-game, since people get even more impatient waiting for that “Smoke On The Water” riff. You have to be razor-focused. On top of that, there’s the awareness that the show is being recorded, which led to an exceptional stage performance. Uriah Heep came across as an extremely tight and coherent unit that, despite having only two members of the finest lineup of all time (from the first half of the seventies) in the 1994 band, blasts through the old classics as if they’d been playing them since the dawn of time. The Hammond keys are an outstanding replica of Hensley’s originals, and the band makes the effort to throw in some longer jams you won’t find on the studio originals (Gypsy, Look At Yourself). Shaw once again proves he belongs among the finest (yet overlooked) hard rock singers, while the rock-solid rhythm section, with Kerslake’s jerky, punchy strokes and the incredibly melodic and impulsive bass lines of the indispensable Trevor Bolder, dictates a relentless rhythmic march through the whole album. The repertoire wouldn’t have gotten such a splendid makeover if Uriah Heep hadn’t also, in their new lineup, delivered such beautiful multi-part vocal harmonies. The stage magic this band is known for is preserved this time around too.
And since on this recording the band leans heavily on classics from one of their strongest works, the album “Demons And Wizards” (1972), the whole thing is that much more tempting. Even the live “Live In Moscow” (1988) confirmed that the new lineup was a lot harder-edged (which was fashionable at the time) compared to the band’s seventies output. Box’s riffs are sharp again and dig into motif frameworks that the older studio versions never got at all. That’s confirmed by the seriously wound-up version of Devil’s Daughter (“Return To Fantasy”, 1975), the flirty and cheeky concert staple Stealin’ (“Sweet Freedom”, 1973), and above all the “Demons And Wizards” gem Rainbow’s Demon, which, after long dry years, finds its way back onto a live set list, along with the excellent Circle Of Hands. The latter kind of makes up on the album for the missing July Morning (“Look At Yourself”, 1971). Gypsy, Look At Yourself, Lady In Black and Easy Livin’ prove the band didn’t dare mess with the repertoire and went “all in” to please the crowd in front of the stage.
Slotted into the set list are the only song from the eighties, Bad Bad Boy (“Raging Silence”, 1989), and Words In A Distance, which would only come out on the upcoming studio album “Sea Of Light” (1995). Given the sound and the very essence of the band’s new lineup, both are unbelievably catchy, compact tracks, extra charged with the fierce intensity of the new Uriah Heep hard rock character. They’re the most steel-hardened of all the material on the album.
Since the album came out in 1996, Uriah Heep had plenty of time to decide on some extra bonus material. So they included a really lovely, mellow, mid-tempo song called Sail The Rivers, which didn’t have room to fit on “Sea Of Light” and which, with its rich Uriah Heep feel for melody, makes this release especially unique and a must for all true devotees of the band.
“Spellbinder” (1996) isn’t one of those albums you could call an undisputed classic that belongs in every household. For that, let’s turn to “Live” (1973) instead. It was an attempt to keep the band’s name in the media, and with it a push from the label SPV Records to keep promoting “Sea Of Light”, as well as a bid to stir up more interest among the crowd in going to Uriah Heep shows. Still, this album is a must for every Heep zealot. It’s packed with devilish intensity and live-wire catchiness that can only come from the Uriah Heep brand.
Lineup
Bernie Shaw – vocals
Phil Lanzon – keyboards, backing vocals
Mick Box – guitar, backing vocals
Trevor Bolder – bass guitar, backing vocals
Lee Kerslake – drums, backing vocals
Production
Uriah Heep
Track list
1. Devil’s Daughter (4:38)
2. Sealin’ (5:32)
3. Bad Bad Man (3:58)
4. Rainbow Demon (4:13)
5. Words In The Distance (4:42)
6. The Wizard (3:44)
7. Circle Of Hands (7:24)
8. Gypsy (7:08)
9. Look At Yourself (4:56)
10. Lady In Black (5:48)
11. Easy Livin’ (3:02)
12. Sail The Rivers* (6:52)
Album length: 62.57
* bonus studio track
