SALISBURY

In my perception "Salisbury" was and is one of the more important album of 1971, able to join Deep Purple Mk1, Deep Purple Mk2, Yes and Genesis and all in one composition, to create a new style: Power Heavy Prog! In this sense some songs are pure Proto Heavy Metal songs with tons of guitars and organ. See "Bird Of Prey": this song present all embrionic elements of Heavy Metal: furious riffs, furious rhythmic section, furious vocal parts, simplicity, a pounding riffs. Vice versa "The Park" is a good ballad, a sort of Heep version of Rooster "Winter": same dark and hypnotic atmospheres, here created by falsetto voices (solo and chorus), harpsichord, bass and drums. A great Jazz part with great guitar improvvisations is included. But also this part is incredibly dark. "Time To Live" is another Proto Heavy Metal song but with less dark atmospheres, due to most airy style, with a hypnotic twin guitar/ organ riff,great organ solo and guitar solo and great voice of David Byron. This song is an incredibly piece of Heavy Prog Blues, a pure Proto Heavy Metal song. "Lady In Black" is another Heep's manifesto: an incredibly electric acoustic ballad with dark atmospheres but with an incredible folk vocal parts. In a sentence: with "Lady In Black" Folk Metal was born! "High Priestess" is a good song of relief, as used in the 70's: Dark theme... Not dark music (easy final result). At the same time "High Priestess" is a great Hard Rock song with all Heep trademark. "Salisbury" is the best Prog track of Heep, a long composition for band, brass and woodwind. Probably also symphonic, in my perception. But sure the most Prog track of Heep. Folk, symphonic, baroque, Rock... An incredibly composition that dwarfing many compositions of many Prog bands, Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Van Der Graaf Generator, Deep Purple... shame that he no longer heard anything similar from Uriah Heep!

In a good substance "Salisbury" is another passage in the street of immortality for Uriah Heep, with great composition (Heep's evergreens) and with their best composition: "Salisbury". An absolute pearl. Not a minor Prog album!