By Jim Rowland
BMG continue their series of official picture disc LP releases from the mighty Uriah Heep this month with 1974’s ‘Wonderworld’ and 1976’s ‘High And Mighty’. Whilst those albums may not be quite as celebrated as the albums that preceded them, there’s still plenty to get excited about with these ones.
Originally released in June 1974, Uriah Heep’s seventh studio album ‘Wonderworld’ reached number 23 in the ÜK charts and was the last album to feature bass player Gary Thain. Stylistically it picked up from where its rather fine predecessor, 1973’s ‘Sweet Freedom’, left off, with a more straight ahead hard rock approach, shorter songs, and less of the progressive rock emphasis of earlier albums like ‘Look At Yourself’, ‘Demons And Wizards’ and ‘The Magicians Birthday’. ‘Suicidal Man’, ‘So Tired’ and ‘Something Or Nothing’ are all classic hard rocking Heep at their best, and the heavy blues belter ‘I Won’t Mind’ is another stormer that highlights what a great guitar slinger Mick Box was, and still is for that matter.
‘The Shadows And The Wind’ and ‘We Got We’ have a lighter pop/rock approach but are still decent cuts, whilst title track ‘Wonderworld’ and the epic album closer ‘Dreams’ are another two storming cuts that show a bit more of Heep’s progressive past. All in all, ‘Wonderworld’ is a great slice of classic Uriah Heep. Although perhaps it doesn’t completely hit the heights of the earlier albums, isn’t far behind at all.
Fast forward to 1976 and Uriah Heep’s ninth studio album, ‘High And Mighty’ – the final album to feature vocalist and founding member David Byron. By this time Uriah Heep were going through a difficult transition period. Prog legend John Wetton had replaced Gary Thain on the bass, but David Byron was on his last legs, suffering the effects of heavy alcohol abuse. Tracks such as ‘Misty Eyes’, ‘Midnight’ and ‘Footprints In The Snow’ have a lighter, more AOR rock approach, ‘Can’t Keep A Good Band Down’ has an almost glam-pop feel to it, with ‘Weep In Silence’ and ‘Confession’ being full on ballads.
All of the above make ‘High And Mighty’ a more varied, less focussed album, and it has to be said, whilst not bad by any means, not up to the high standard of the band’s previous work. At least ‘Make A Little Love’ had the hard rocking Heep qualities of old. However, the truly saving grace with this album is the opening cut ‘One Way or Another’, which ironically does not feature a lead vocal from Byron, but rather John Wetton, an exceptional vocalist in his own right, and Ken Hensley. It’s a stormer of tune that stands up with the band’s finest moments, and worth the price of admission here alone.
With this release, ‘High and Mighty’ has been made available on picture disc for the first time ever, while ‘Wonderworld’ has only previously been available in the ‘Every Day Rocks’ box set. The discs themselves feature fully restored original artwork, and are very decent heavyweight pressings, with excellent sound quality.
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