WAKE UP (SET YOUR SIGHTS)

This single contains two very good -- and certainly not very 'eavy -- songs from URIAH HEEP's debut album Very 'Eavy... Very 'Umble (1970), and actually they both are my favourite tracks on it.

On the album the excellent closing track 'Wake Up (Set Your Sights)' is over six minutes long, while the single edit is almost three minutes shorter. Being probably the proggiest composition on the album, it is somewhat brave and surprising choice for a single, but no complaining, although it goes without saying that the full version is better.

The melancholic anti-war ballad 'Come Away Melinda', in which David Byron impressively interprets the heartbreaking dialogue between a little girl and his father, is according to All Music Guide "an overproduced, melodramatic cover that tries to marry the band's full-throttle musical style to a message song". Why such negativity, I wonder. Overproduced it is not, but admittedly melodramatic, which is definitely part of its charm. I think I once heard the original song, which is written by Fred Hellerman and Gérald Minkoff, but I don't recall who was the performer, most likely some quite forgotten artist anyway. But Heep's version is by far the best known, and in my opinion among their finest songs, despite being a cover. Such a beautiful Mellotron sound in the beginning, and the gradual increase of tension is gorgeous and emotionally effective. Especially this song is Byron's finest moment as a vocalist.