Uriah Heep
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Category: Other music related lounges
Forum Name: Proto-Prog and Prog-Related Lounge
Forum Description: Discuss bands and albums classified as Proto-Prog and Prog-Related
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=26938
Printed Date: February 20 2025 at 04:49
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Topic: Uriah Heep
Posted By: Cristi
Subject: Uriah Heep
Date Posted: August 04 2006 at 19:46
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I realised reading the reviews and comments on this site that I am a Uriah Heep completionist (I am one of the few people that enjoys all their albums).
I know the glory days of Uriah Heep were the David Byron era albums, but still I consider that many other albums deserve a chance (Firefly, Abominog, Sonic Origami for instance)
Now would you please tell me which vocalist from the the list do you enjoy most?
Maybe in the Prog-related category, this poll might actually work...
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Replies:
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: August 04 2006 at 20:01
I admire your spirit and devotion to latter Uriah Heep... I saw your
earlier album poll suffering a onset of rapid decomposition last
week. 
Did anyone ever give you an answer as to favorite latter day Uriah Heep
album... I have only Adominog and didn't respond. I'm a big fan
of 'classic' UR but never really got into the latter stuff...
------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: WaywardSon
Date Posted: August 04 2006 at 20:12
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I voted John Lawton (Firefly was a great album)
But David Byron was definitely the best. Just hear his voice on songs like The Park or Bird of Prey.
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Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: August 04 2006 at 21:00
| Actually there were four or five people that reacted to my early Uriah Heep poll (Which is your favourite 80s Uriah Heep album?). Two persons said 80s Uriah Heep sucks, someone chose Abominog (best choice), the others just agreed that Uriah Heep abandoned prog-rock after Firefly and became a hard rock band. |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: August 04 2006 at 21:06
hahaha... well take it from a master of the DOA thread/poll ... ram it down people's throats... if you are persistant enough people will take notice and wonder what they are missing hahaha ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Cristi wrote:Posted By: Easy Livin
Date Posted: August 05 2006 at 05:40
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For me, current vocalist Bernie Shaw is by far the best after Byron. Hoice is far more suitable for the Byron era material than the others listed. This also means that Heep's more recent albums sound much more like their classic era than those which came in between.
There's no dount Lawton was a great singer, and the tracks he recorded with the band suited his voice well, but albums such as "Live in Europe" demonstrate how much he struggled with other material.
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Posted By: salmacis
Date Posted: August 05 2006 at 15:26
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Sorry about that other poll, Cristi, if I didn't respond to it- I love Heep's music from most eras, but must have just missed it. I'll take them in turn... John Lawton- a supremely talented heavy rock/blues/soul vocalist. Sadly, he got some of the most lightweight material Heep ever recorded, and albums like 'Innocent Victim' and 'Fallen Angel' started to pall a bit for me as they were nowhere near as musically innovative or progressive as what went before. That said, 'Firefly' is still one of the best albums any incarnation of Heep ever recorded, and 'Come Back To Me' has an astonishing vocal performance. Lawton: 4/5 John Sloman- the most controversial singer in Heep, and possibly the most controversial singer in any rock act of the era. Certainly 'Conquest' has its moments ('No Return', 'Out On The Street', 'It Ain't Easy') but for the most part, it's rather weak when compared with any era of Heep. And if you love Heep, avoid Sloman's diabolical live renditions of songs like 'Free 'N' Easy' and 'Suicidal Man'. His vocal excesses most notable for supposedly contributing to Ken Hensley's leaving Heep (not sure how valid that claim is). Sloman: 2/5
Pete Goalby- a difficult singer to rate. Technically a first class singer in the Lou Gramm mould, and worked fairly well on the albums he was on. 'Abominog' and 'Head First' were excellent albums in terms of bridging NWOBHM sound of the time with AOR. But again, this era has little in common with the Heep of old and the most popular era, and Goalby seems to me to be the least distinctive vocalist the band had. Also, again he didn't take to the Byron era classics. Goalby: 3/5
Bernie Shaw- in terms of all round suitability for the job, Shaw is, as Easy Livin' (as ever) rightly says, the best since Byron. However much I like Lawton's voice, Shaw brought with him a renaissance aura, as the band went back to basics and cut some of their best work in ages, in fact more progressive than any era since the Byron one. Is unique amongst Heep singers in that no era (bar the Sloman one which was something of a faux pas, really) is beyond his grasp. In some respects he's an anthology of what made all the Heep singers tick. And 'Sea Of Light' and 'Sonic Origami'(perhaps the latter could have had a few tracks cut) are their best since 'Firefly'. Shaw: 4.5/5
The band's reluctance to do much concerning the new album situation has really disappointed me, however. Look on the 'Travellers In Time' board nowadays and every post more or less either runs down current Heep or Ken Hensley, for some reason. Little wonder I don't post there anymore, but I understand the frustration.
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Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: August 13 2006 at 02:05
Agree with you Micky, not that the later stuff was not good, but just was not Heep without Byron and Thain.
Still will go to see them again when I have the chance.
Iván ------------- 
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Posted By: Sibbe
Date Posted: September 05 2006 at 13:40
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I can't really comment anything about Sloman or Goalby because I have never heard any of their singing. But to me the best Heep singer is and will be Bernie Shaw. This may sound funny but he's the first Heep singer I've listened to. Only after I had seen Heep live with Shaw I started to buy their albums with Byron and I didn't like his voice quite that much.
Just last week I saw John Lawton live and though he is terrific singer I don't think him to be better than Shaw (at least for the Heep). ------------- "I came here for a party and what do I get? Nothing. Not even ice cream." |
Posted By: NotAProghead
Date Posted: September 05 2006 at 13:58
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Lawton, then Shaw. ------------- Who are you and who am I to say we know the reason why... (D. Gilmour) |