URIAH HEEP

Ah, the complications of the music industry. Uriah Heep's debut album 'Very 'eavy ... Very 'umble' was released in the US nearly a year after it was released in the UK, although this time it was an eponymous debut and had a slightly different tracklisting. To be precise, Lucy Blues, a 5 minute bluesy piece, had been swapped for Bird Of Prey, the opener of the band's next UK album 'Salisbury'. Because of this, the US version of 'Salisbury' had to swap Bird Of Prey for Simon The Bullet Freak, but that's another story.

As I explained in my review of 'Very 'eavy ... Very 'umble', this is a weak debut album with just a couple of strong tracks. However, the inclusion of Bird Of Prey brings that number up to three. This heavy rocker has a very strong main riff, and a slightly progressive feel, due to the thematic change ¾ of the way through the song. The 'oo's and 'ah's towards the end of the song are quite silly, but that's all part of the fun of this track. If I had to question one thing, it's Byron's high pitched vibrato at the end of each line. This man certainly has a unique voice, and in the US album version he seems to have more power and control over it than in the UK album version.

In all honesty, I prefer the cobwebbed David Byron to the hellish snake thing on the cover. The UK album cover has more colour and interest and creativity than the drawing that could have come from anywhere. The US cover simply doesn't fit the music.

Because this is practically the same album, I feel like giving it the same rating. The pros and cons of the US version cancel each other out, and being British, I'd have always gone for the UK version anyway. The deluxe Sanctuary remaster of 'Very 'eavy ... Very 'umble' has all the tracks from both albums, and both sets of artwork, so you can get two albums in one essentially!