B5Erik

As unlikely as it seems, Uriah Heep has hit a new high point in their career with their last two all new studio albums. The last one was called Wake the Sleeper, and it was really, really good - and so is their new album, Into The Wild.

While Heep's albums have been wildly inconsistent over the years they did put out a lot of good material and were an early Heavy Metal influence along with Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. (Although Heep's early music was very much a product of the 60's and they didn't completely shake the psychedelic element out of their music until the 80's.)

Their new album owes a lot to their early Hammond organ driven music, as well as to their contemporaries Deep Purple. There are some occasional Dio-era Black Sabbath and even recent Iron Maiden influences on the album, but the band has made it a point to make a Uriah Heep album rather than trying to fit in with current trends (which, at their age, is the only thing that would make sense).

Anyway, here are a few recent tracks...

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My favorite recent track...
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Pretty impressive for a band that's been around for over 40 years (even if guitarist Mick Box is the only remaining original member - this lineup has been in place for 24 years, for the most part).

tommy28

No David Byron no Uriah Heep..... for me.

fiver

I love it when someone makes a statement like "no david byron, no heep".
I love the albums with david byron, but how long does an incarnation have to be together before it is accepted and becomes 'legitimate' ?

Another example is Marillion - so many albums made with the current lineup and yet you still get people who think the Fish lineup was the only 'real' one despite only making four studio albums and a live record.

Anyway, I have always liked the 'bernie shaw' version of heep - I have a soft spot for Sonic Origami even though it sounds a little bit like a boston/foreigner/journey mashup to me at times - which is funny since I don't really like those bands yet I love that record. I'm always eager for more Heep news and I loved their recent work too.

I think Heep probably releases more live records than any other band I've ever seen though

B5Erik

Byron's been dead for 26 years. Time to move on.

The current incarnation of Uriah Heep is a very classy band. Mick Box and Phil Lanzon (and occasionally Trevor Bolder) do a very good job with the songwriting. After a couple iffy albums in the mid to late 80's the Heep has come back really strong. Starting with 1995's Sea of Light the band has put out some consistently good albums (Sea of Light, Sonic Origami, Wake the Sleeper, and Into the Wild).

Sean O'Hara

Depends entirely upon the band and the missing member.

The Velvet Underground - John Cale = Still the Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground - John Cale - Lou Reed = an affront to God

Pink Floyd - Syd = Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd - Syd - Wright = Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd - Syd - Waters = Pink Floyd

Bauhaus - Peter Murphy = Love & Rockets debut album mysteriously released as a Bauhaus record

The Doors - Jim Morrison = an abomination

Genesis - Peter Gabriel = a more pop oriented Genesis

Genesis - Gabriel - Collins = crap

Smashing Pumpkins - Iha - D'arcy = Billy Corgan with delusions of grandeur

B5Erik

I really like the Bernie Shaw era for Heep (it may be their best - I sure think it is), and I like him as a singer, but my favorite Uriah Heep singer is probably Peter Goalby.

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Goalby's biggest problem was that he was charismatically challenged. He almost looked like a regular guy who got off work and went straight to the Heep gig. But he had a great voice!

Jason

A lot of it depends on who they bring in too.

Kiss -Ace Frehley + Bruce Kulick = different but viable band

Kiss - Ace Frehley + Tommy Thayer in Ace makeup = nostalgia act with lots of explosions

Gotta say some of these newer UH tracks sound pretty decent.

rw2516

I've been eyeballing a few of those recent live cds that I believe are soundboards. Held off not knowing the sound quality. Anybody have any of them?

B5Erik

So has anyone else here picked up Into The Wild yet?