Label: Vertigo Records
Release date: 6/13/1970
Production: Gerry Bron
Album length: 40.07 min
Genre: Heavy Rock / Hard Rock
Rating: 8.0/10
In the late spring of 1970, the story begins of a new force that radically shaped the rock scene and, with its sheer uniqueness, left an indelible mark on it forever. The tale of how the critics received the debut is already pretty infamous. There’s Melissa Mills in Rolling Stone magazine: “If this group makes it, I’ll have to kill myself!” And then there were the reviewers who zeroed in on the little word “heavy” in the title of the Uriah Heep debut and went on to compare the level of distortion in the band’s music with Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, two bands cut from a totally different cloth. What an infantile approach. Huh, to sell your “scribblings” more easily, you apparently have to cook up some juicy story, and Uriah Heep were the perfect sacrificial lamb this time around.
Gypsy kills. The explosive interplay of Hammond organ and guitar riffing, Byron’s expressive vocals alongside majestic layered backing vocal lines, a middle section full of improvisation and a (for the time, modern) psychedelic ending made it clear right from the start what Uriah Heep were after. A blend of the familiar and the unfamiliar, “typically Heepish” fresh musical approaches. Stylistically, Gypsy leans toward prog. With their originality, Heep immediately stood shoulder to shoulder with the established names, and on top of that they used their debut to open up new dimensions on the horizon of the wider music scene, ones the critics, on purpose or not, simply missed.
The eight songs are varied compositions, clearly distinct from one another yet each a fully rounded whole. Walking In Your Shadow, which follows Gypsy, is again built on a strong, expressive riff, but it’s more compact, or rather, easier on the ears structurally. I’ll Keep On Trying is basically Gypsy’s punchy “equalizer,” packed with expressive motifs, unpredictable turns and a smartly placed Mick solo in the middle section that fits the whole composition carefully. The progressive experiment Wake Up (Set Your Sights), loaded with a variety of drum embellishments and shifting rhythms that punch holes in the song, ends mystically with David’s heartfelt vocals up front, surrounded by a phenomenal orchestral arrangement. A brilliant way to close the record, leaving the story unfinished.
The cover Come Away Melinda deserves special attention. The verses are set up as a dialogue between a daughter and her father. It’s a showcase of David’s “softer” and incredibly sensual approach, backed by acoustic guitar and phenomenal orchestration (the flute intro and other seasoning), and its sheer conviction wins you over in an instant. The guy gave himself to musical expression with total sincerity, meaning he really lived it. With a refined feel he flexibly shifted the color of his voice and played both roles in the song perfectly. On top of that, they came up with one more trick in the production of this song. They split the dialogue between the left and right monitor to get an extra (desired) contrast, and they pulled it off fully.
In Dreammare, the band’s trademark surely stands out most obviously for the first time. It was to be built upon in the future, and it’s what Uriah Heep are still famous for today, as the unrivaled masters of this musical ingredient. The five-part layered vocal harmonies create an inimitable atmosphere within the composition, one that only the chemistry of Byron-era Uriah Heep could conjure. Magic was born.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Gypsy (6:37)
2. Walking In Your Shadow (4:31)
3. Come Away Melinda (3:46)
4. Lucy Blues (5:09)
5. Dreammare (4:39)
6. Real Turned On (3:37)
7. I’ll Keep On trying (5:24)
8. Wake Up (Set Your Sights) (6:22)
BONUS TRACKS ON THE 1996 REMASTERED EDITION:
1. Gypsy (2:57) edited and remixed version, released on several singles and compilations
2. Come Away Melinda (3:42) alternate version, previously unreleased
3. Born In A Trunk (3:45) out-take, previously unreleased alternate version of a song released for the first time on ‘The Lansdowne Tapes’ (1993)
BONUS TRACKS ON THE 2003 REMASTERED EDITION:
1. Bird Of Prey – original single b-side version (=US album version)
2. Born In A Trunk – alternate version, previously unreleased
3. Come Away Melinda – alternate version, previously unreleased
4. Gypsy – extended mix, previously unreleased version
5. Wake Up (Set Your Sights) – alternate version, previously unreleased
6. Born In A Trunk – instrumental version, previously unreleased
7. Dreammare – BBC live version, previously unreleased
8. Gypsy – BBC live version, previously unreleased
Lineup:
David Byron – lead vocals
Ken Hensley – organ, slide guitar, Mellotron, piano and backing vocals
Mick Box – electric & acoustic guitar and backing vocals
Paul Newton – bass guitar, backing vocals
Ollie Olsson – drums, percussion
Special thanks from the band:
Alex Napier – drums on all tracks except ‘Dreammare’ and ‘Lucy Blues’
Colin Wood – keyboards on ‘Come Away Melinda’ and ‘Wake Up (Set Your Sights)’
