This re-tread release of Heep’s mid seventies recordings, ’75-’77, is another nostalgic exercise in mining a band’s oft re-released albums, but with the additional bonus of alternative versions, demos and live tracks tacked on. It is also a fin de siecle record(s) of the all time classic Uriah Heep line up in the process of disintegrating, and swiftly ushering in a new era in this venerable band’s history.
Their rapid success in the UK and Europe, plus servicing a growing USA fanbase, created huge demands to keep this lucrative show on the road. This and being productive in the studio with prolific album releases clearly overwhelmed them. So much so that there were inevitable casualties. The excellent bassist Gary Thain who, following a serious onstage electrocution, succumbed to heroin addiction and lost his life to an overdose. In the grip of serious alcoholism, the remarkable frontman/vocalist David Byron was eventually jettisoned following his multiple episodes of erratic behaviour. Byron’s final Heep album, the lacklustre and out of character music recorded on the misleadingly titled High And Mighty, possessed an Icarus lesson in mindless excess. High And Mighty also included the peripatetic John Wetton replacing Gary Thain on bass duties. Not forgetting Heep’s high and mighty chief songwriter and Hammond Organ wizard Ken Hensley’s overbearing cocaine addiction.
Overworked by their record label, Bronze, and live promoters, it’s no surprise that they collapsed into an almighty messed up and near unmanageable heep. What is also surprising is that they released what the majority of Heep fans still consider a milestone recording, Return To Fantasy, which opens this collection. It also includes the resurrected John Lawton fronted Uriah Heep Firefly and Innocent Victim album releases.
Collected together, these albums disclose the transition from Byron and Thain/Wetton to the rock solid additions of John Lawton and former Spiders From Mars bassist Trevor Bolder. Again with extra tracks, they reveal this British rock institution back on classic songwriting and playing form.
Obviously aimed at the fanatic completist collector, with a sly eye on newcomers to the Heep oeuvre, this 4 CD set is concisely compiled in a clamshell box adorned with a collage of each album’s artwork and slipcase embossed discs. The accompanying booklet has reasonable liner notes explaining this mid period of dramatic change in Uriah Heep’s long and storied existence. With only Mick Box remaining from this transitional period, and still continuing the band’s legacy, following drummer Lee Kerslake’s recent passing, it is a beautiful dream but with a sub-text of nightmarish scenes.
Review by Paul Davies
