HEAD FIRST

The second album of the Goalby-era is made of the same ingredients of the previous "Abominog". It is also moulded by the same hands. Despite the low ratings it's a solid effort, a hard rock number with hints of that new wave of heavy metal hailing at that time from the UK: a lot of energy and good vibes.

The overall impression is an unstoppable flow of refined music which is difficult to resist and it's hard to tell whether is gleaming AOR or pure heavy rock. There are four highlights IMHO: the opener "The Other Side of Midnight", another kick ass hard rock number in the very same way of "Too Scared to Run". But the most interesting part (for a prog lover) is side 2 with the combo "Roll-Overture" and "Red Lights": the former is a real symphonic break, too short and not far from THE ENID, that leads to the metallic up-tempo "Red Lights" featuring typical Heep's dramatic choruses (awesome!). The title and the general mood of the latter reminds me of UFO and their memorable exciting hard rock attitude. The closer "Weekend Warriors" is in a similar way.

The other tracks are more radio-friendly cuts, arranged here and there with heavy metal grit and passion thanks to Peter Goalby his wonderful set of pipes. Well, I know that for many reviewers this is not Uriah Heep anymore; in particular, its bad fame is in part due to the BRYAN ADAMS cover "Lonely Nights". However, I find the song pretty decent and the whole disc more surprising than that I would expect from such poor ratings and negative reviews. At that time the band dreamed that they could conquer the US charts. They did not but still released an appreciable work.