Uriah Heep or Blue Oyster Cult? - Progressive Rock Music Forum

Blue Öyster Cult

Mascodagama wrote:

Cult. Their unique approach on the early albums really grabs me and they've got so many good songs.

I'm afraid I've always felt Heep were second-rate. I wanted to like them, but their stuff doesn't really make it for me.

So true. I remember way back in the '70s I wanted to love Uriah Heep. They had such a cool name. Some of their album covers were awesome. They looked cool, in a sort of homely way. But there were only a smattering of songs I really liked. BOC on the other hand grabbed me in strange ways. They were sort of campy. UH took themselves too seriously while BOC knew they were being ridiculous.

I like both bands a lot, and have all of their albums (well, Heep through Abominog that is). It's hard to pick one over the other, because each has had unique and important contributions. The Heep had a more overtly progressive beginning, but BOC has had more consistent - in my opinion - control over their music. I appreciate the Brit influence of the Heep, but also the American twist in the BOC. The Cult had some great lyrics and imagery from Sandy Pearlman, a respectable writer and observer of time and history in his own right (but that's cheating a bit, since he wasn't specifically in the band).

Just enjoy both! We have two hands, so why not fill two goblets with your favorite wine, mead, or beer, and give two hearty toasts! We don't need to poison prog by descending to western ways, and getting competitive, etc. An eastern approach would be to value both; addition rather than subtraction (1+1 rather than 2-1). One way rises up, the other goes down...

Edited by Boojieboy - September 27 2017 at 10:03

BÖC - the more I listen the better they get. Uriah Heep - I don't know apart from a few killer tunes they never did anything for me.

I could vote either way on this one

I guess I'll go with BOC for Don't Fear the Reaper
and all of Secret Treaties

Prog On!

I worked on a Uriah heep gig on the conquest tour (1980 I think) with Samson and Budgie, both of whom blew UH out of the water.. Mick Box seemed a nice enough guy, very jolly and fairly laid back but the gig was mess and they had a Canadian keyboard player who ran about with a keytar and a drum kit with the weirdest shaped drums.. I always thought they WERE Spinal tap... ive got it in my head that Trevor boulder was playing with them again at that point but... time does funny things to your memory

The.Crimson.King wrote:

verslibre wrote:

BOC! Buck is one of the most underrated shredders ever. The guy really doesn't get his props (at least not since the band's heyday ended in the mid-1980s).

Besides his underrated playing, I also really like Buck's voice when he takes the lead vocal like on "Then Came the Last Days of May", "Burning For You", etc...

Yeah, Buck's a fine singer, too. Do you have his solo album, Flat Out?

eBay

Cult. Their unique approach on the early albums really grabs me and they've got so many good songs.

I'm afraid I've always felt Heep were second-rate. I wanted to like them, but their stuff doesn't really make it for me.

Edited by Mascodagama - July 12 2017 at 13:05

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BOC! Buck is one of the most underrated shredders ever. The guy really doesn't get his props (at least not since the band's heyday ended in the mid-1980s). They still tour ("On tour forever"), but the very last album of original music they recorded, Curse of the Hidden Mirror, is actually one of their best! Hard to believe it's been 16 years, already!

That said, I do enjoy Heep, especially (wait for it) Firefly...with lead vocals by John Lawton.

eBay

Uriah Heep is boring. BOC is awesome.

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Poll Question: Uriah Heep or Blue Oyster Cult?
Poll Choice	Votes	Poll Statistics
Uriah Heep	20	[51.28%]
Blue Oyster Cult	19	[48.72%]
This topic is closed, no new votes accepted

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