VERY 'EAVY...VERY 'UMBLE

I was only seventeen, fell in love with the Gypsy queen....... Uriah Heep marked their debut with this classic song Gypsy. Hensley's keyboards at his best on this song,check out the live version too off their 1973 release. I am not sure about the heavy prog tag of UH, genre wise, as overall their material even at their progressive peak borders on good old rock and roll or even the lighter side of rock with the blues. Walking In Your Shadow' follows and is a great rock song with some excellent riffs from Mick Box and some solid reliable bass work. ' Come Away Melinda' is a tender song referencing war and demonstrates how good UH were even at their most naive. Great vocal work too. 'Dreammare' gets the album back on track, great harmonising with Byron again in top form. Real Turned On' gets the feet tapping again and is reminiscent of some early Wishbone Ash material. Same era I guess and not far from each other in terms of geography so some similarities between the two bands are plausible.The album finishes strongly with ' Wake Up ( Set Your Sights), beautiful guitar work kicks in after 4 minutes.

In summary this album is easy on the ear and set the foundation for the UH signature sound. Whilst not their strongest it is certainly a strong debut album from one of the longest serving Progressive acts of this era. Three and a half stars.