Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Uriah Heep
Label: Bronze Records
Release: 1970
Rating: 3.5/5
In late spring 1970, the story begins of a new medium that profoundly shaped the development of the rock scene and, with its uniqueness, left an indelible mark on it forever. The story of how critics received the debut is already pretty infamous. From Melissa Mills in Rolling Stone magazine: “If this band ever makes it, I’ll be forced to commit suicide!”, to reviews that narrowly fixated on the word “heavy” in the title of the Uriah Heep debut and then compared the level of distortion in the band’s music with Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, who were bands cut from a completely different cloth. What an infantile approach. Huh, to sell your “scribblings” more easily you’ve got to invent some juicy story, and Uriah Heep were the perfect sacrificial lamb this time.
Gypsy kills. The explosive duet of Hammond organ and guitar riffing, Byron’s expressive vocal alongside magnificent layered backing vocal lines, a middle section full of improvising 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, of “typically Heepish” fresh musical approaches. Stylistically, Gypsy leans toward prog. With their originality, Heep immediately stood shoulder to shoulder with the established names, and with their debut they also opened up broader, still undiscovered new dimensions on the horizon of the music scene, ones the critics, deliberately or not, simply missed.
The eight songs are clearly distinct from one another as varied compositions, and equally complete wholes. Walking In Your Shadow, which follows Gypsy, is again built on a strong, expressive riff, but it’s more compact, or better put, structured to go down easier on the ears. I’ll Keep On Trying is basically Gypsy’s punchy “equalizer,” full of expressive motifs, unpredictable twists, and cleverly placed soloing from Mick in the middle section that fits carefully with the whole composition. The progressive experiment Wake Up (Set Your Sights), loaded with all sorts of drum embellishments and rhythm changes that perforate the song, ends mystically with David’s heartfelt vocal up front, surrounded by a phenomenal orchestral arrangement. A brilliant closer that leaves the story unfinished.
The cover of Tim Rose’s original Come Away Melinda deserves special attention. The verses are set up as a dialogue between a daughter and her father. A showcase of David’s “softer,” incredibly sensual approach, backed by acoustic guitar and phenomenal orchestration (a flute intro and other spices), it wins you over instantly with its conviction. The guy gave himself to the music with total sincerity, which is to say with real feeling. With a refined touch he flexibly shifted the color of his voice and played both roles in the song superbly. On top of that, they came up with one more production trick for this song: they split the dialogue between the left and right speaker to get an extra bit of the contrast they wanted, and they pulled it off fully.
In Dreammare, for probably the first time, the band’s trademark stands out most obviously. It was built up even further in the years to come, and it’s what Uriah Heep are still famed for today as unrivaled masters of that musical element. The use of five-part layered vocal harmonies creates an unrepeatable atmosphere within the composition, the kind that the chemistry of Byron-era Uriah Heep was capable of conjuring. Magic was born.
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)’
Production
Gerry Bron
Track list
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)
Album length: 40:05
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
