LOOK AT YOURSELF

"Look at Yourself" is the 3rd full-length studio album by UK heavy/hard rock act Uriah Heep. The album was released through Bronze Records/Mercury Records in September 1971 (US)/October 1971 (UK). After the excursion into progressive territory with "Salisbury (1971)", Uriah Heep returned with a more hard rock oriented album in "Look at Yourself".

The trademark organ and guitar driven hard rock with semi-progressive elements is still the order of the day on "Look at Yourself", so forget about this being a stripped-down and raw hard rock album, athough the progressive tendencies aren´t as dominant here. There are some great hard rocking tracks on the album though. Take a listen to the title track for an example of that. In the other camp there is a track like the 10:36 minutes long progressive rock track "July Morning". The great epic ending to that track with the organ motifs by Ken Hensley and the moog themes played by guest musician Manfred Mann are nothing short of stunning.

The musicianship are as always excellent. Uriah Heep were in those days (and still are) a really well playing band. To my ears the vocals by David Byron are exceptional and the vocal harmonies and choirs are outstanding too. "Look at Yourself" is well produced too, which is another asset, that makes the album a great listen.

Although "Look at Yourself" doesn´t add that much new to Uriah Heep´s sound it´s an excellent album by the band. While "Salisbury (1971)" saw the band experiment with different sounds and styles (that album is arguably the band´s most progressive effort), "Look at Yourself" is more a consolidation that Uriah Heep is first and foremost a hard rock act and only secondly a semi-progressive one. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.