With his new Ayreon album, Arjen Lucassen seems to be moving deeper and deeper into the rock opera world. Looking at the lyric sheet here it looks like something written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. The guest list on each album is getting longer with the singers on this album being assigned roles to play.

The Human Equation follows the story of a man who falls in a coma after plowing his car into a tree. While in a coma, he unlocks some hidden region of his mind where he confronts his emotions and and memories. Meanwhile, his best friend and wife sit at his hospital bed waiting for a sign of life.

Like most rock operas, the songs work best as a unified whole, but songs like “Day Eleven: Love” and “Day Sixteen: Loser” certainly do stand out for the great vocals and melodies. There is one thing that cannot be overlooked and that is the impressive roster of singers and instrumentalists Lucassen has assembled for his latest project: Martin Orford from IQ and Ken Hensley from Uriah Heep make small but invaluable contributions. Hensley’s short but raging Hammond organ solo on “Day Sixteen: Loser” certainly takes us back to Hensley’s work with Uriah Heep.

As for the singers, James LaBrie from Dream Theater plays the part of the man in the coma, simply known as Me. If you are used to Labrie’s work with Dream Theater, be prepared to be surprised here. For the most part, his singing is mellow and happily he proves that he has more depth as a singer than he is generally given credit for. Heather Findlay from Mostly Autumn is cast as Love and her singing is as impressive and moving here as it is with her own band. Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth is given ample opportunity to shine as well; the man has a great voice. Relative newcomer Marcela Bovia also deserves a mention as the wife; judging from her performance with Ayreon, she has a bright future ahead of her.

Line-up:
- Arjen Lucassen / electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, analogue synthesizers, Hammond, Mellotron, additional keyboards, mandoline, vocals as ‘Best Friend’
- Devon Graves / vocals as ‘Agony’
- Devin Townsend / vocals as ‘Rage’
- Eric Clayton / vocals as ‘Reason’
- Mikael Akerfeldt / vocals as ‘Fear’
- Magnus Ekwall / vocals as ‘Pride’
- Heather Findlay / vocals as ‘Love’
- Irene Jansen / vocals as ‘Passion’
- James LaBrie / vocals as ‘Me’
- Marcela Bovio / vocals as ‘Wife’
- Mike Baker / vocals as ‘Father’
- Ken Hensley / Hammond (16)
- Oliver Wakeman / keyboards (17)
- Martin Orford / keyboards (15)
- Ed Warby / drums
- Joost van den Broek / synthesizer (2), spinet (13)
- John McManus / Low-flute (13,16,18), tin-whistle (18)
- Jeroen Goossens / flute (3,5,9,14,18), alto-flute (2), bass flute (5,14), panpipes (6), descant and treble recorder (13), didgeridoo (16), bassoon (18)
- Robert Baba / violins
- Marieke van der Heyden / cello

Track List:
CD1
01. Day One: Vigil – 1:33
02. Day Two: Isolation – 8:42
03. Day Three: Pain – 4:58
04. Day Four: Mystery – 5:37
05. Day Five: Voices – 7:09
06. Day Six: Childhood – 5:05
07. Day Seven: Hope – 2:47
08. Day Eight: School – 4:22
09. Day Nine: Playground – 2:15
10. Day Ten: Memories – 3:57
11. Day Eleven: Love – 4:18
CD2
12. Day Twelve: Trauma – 8:59
13. Day Thirteen: Sign – 4:47
14. Day Fourteen: Pride – 4:42
15. Day Fifteen: Betrayal – 5:24
16. Day Sixteen: Loser – 4:46
17. Day Seventeen: Accident? – 5:42
18. Day Eighteen: Realization – 4:31
19. Day Nineteen: Disclosure – 4:42
20. Day Twenty: Confrontation – 7:03

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This live album is taken from various recordings on John Lawton’s last tour with the band. It was not released at the time, but was put out as an archival live recording later on.

By 1979, David Byron and Gary Thain had left the classic line up, being replaced by John Lawton and Trevor Boulder respectively. Audiences however still demanded to hear a good proportion of material from the band’s Byron era albums, hence we have Lawton singing songs such as “Easy Livin’”, “Look at yourself”, and “July Morning”.

John Lawton is a fine vocalist, and the studio albums he made with Uriah Heep were designed to his vocals well. Yet his style and delivery are far too rough and bluesy though for the Byron era songs which the Uriah Heep audiences expect in concerts. The album would probably have been much more successful if the band were able to stick with the material designed for Lawton.

“Live in Europe” manages to capture an accurate live Uriah Heep of the era. Those who love to explore may find the album interesting.

Line-up:
- Mick Box / guitars
- John Lawton / vocals
- Ken Hensley / keyboard, guitars, vocals
- Lee Kerslake / drums, vocals
- Trevor Bolder / bass

Track List:
01. Easy Livin’ – 3:17
02. Look At Yourself – 5:07
03. Lady In Black – 7:19
04. Free Me – 5:02
05. Stealin’ – 6:06
06. The Wizard – 4:13
07. July Morning – 12:13
08. Falling In Love – 2:57
09. Woman Of The Night – 3:18
10. I’m Alive – 4:11
11. Sweet Lorraine – 11:30
12. Free N’ Easy – 3:20
13. Gypsy – 5:07

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Between the release of Uriah Heep’s albums “Salisbury” and “Look At Yourself”, in 1971, Ken Hensley went to Germany to record an album for a project simply called “Weed”.

This “concept” album related to an infamous rock’n'roll habit! Unfortunately the album sleeve didn’t list the line-up. Aside from Ken Hensley, some members of the 1970/71 Virus line-up were also involved, Bernd Hohmann and Werner Monka at least and possibly their rhythm section as well. All six tracks were composed by the concert promoter Bobo Albes and Phillips’ household producer Rainer Goltermann made sure the sessions in the Windrose Studios in Hamburg were preserved for posterity. The album comprised straight-forward heavy progressive blues-rock with twin guitars and organ to the fore, culminating in the excellent, long instrumental title track. Weed can be compared to other German heavy progsters of the era, such as Zarathustra, Blackwater Park, Epitaph and Armaggedon, as well as Ken Hensley’s similarly obscure (Head Machine) album Orgasm dating from 1969 or 1970.

Track List:
01. Sweet Morning Light
02. Lonely Ship
03. My Dream
04. Slowin’ Down
05. Before I Die
06. Weed

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During his time with Gods and Toe Fat, Ken Hensley recorded an album for a specific project called Head Machine. At this time, Hensley played mainly guitar again, as in the beginning of his career. The producer of the album “Orgasm” was David Paramor, who also produced The Gods’ albums.

The music is good, but not outstanding, and the style is something between The Gods and Toe Fat. Hensley describes this project as a “mercenary” one, which means that they were involved only for the money, professionally speaking. He states that it wasn’t really his band, and there are some doubts about the songwriting credits, since on the album it’s written that Paramor composed all the songs, but there’s definitely a “Ken Hensley touch” on them. It is one of the heaviest records that Hensley has ever been involved.

Line-up:
* Ken Leslie (Ken Hensley) – organ/piano/guitar/vocals
* John Leadhen (John Glascock) – bass guitar
* Brian and Lee Poole (Brian Glascock and Lee Kerslake) – drums
* Mike Road (?) – percussion

Track List:
01. Climax – You Tried To Take It All
02. Make The Feeling Last
03. You Must Come With Me
04. The Girl Who Loved, The Girl Who Loved
05. Orgasm
06. The First Time
07. Scattering Seeds

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After Gods dissolved, Hensley, Kerslake and Glasscock moved on to the heavy rock outfit Toe Fat led by 60s soul exponent Cliff Bennett.

Having decided on a major realignment in musical direction – based largely on the new bluesier material which Hensley was writing – and realizing that a more “progressive” moniker was required to go with their new, heavier style, someone came up with “Toe Fat”. They set out on the UK colleges, pubs and clubs’ circuits where they duly broke in their new material.

They cut their selftitled first album at Abbey Road with Jonathan Peel – who’d produced the Gods’ albums and latter-day Cliff Bennett Band singles – at the controls. Peel brought in noted session flautist/harp-player Moxy (something of an Ian Anderson look alike/sound alike, as Bennett recalls) to augment the band, and the album “Toe Fat” came together with the minimum of fuss.

Line-up:
* Cliff Bennett – Piano, Vocals
* Ken Hensley – Organ, Guitar, Piano, Vocals
* Lee Kerslake – Drums, Vocals
* John Glasscock – Bass, Vocals
with
* Moxy – Flute, Harmonica

Track List:
01. That’s My Love for You
02. Bad Side of the Moon
03. Nobody
04. Wherefors and the Whys
05. But I’m Wrong
06. Just Like Me
07. Just Like All the Rest
08. I Can’t Believe
09. Working Nights
10. You Tried to Take It All

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Their first album, Genesis didn’t make much of an impact, nor did some non-album singles. The Gods disbanded in early 1969, though a second album, To Samuel a Son, was posthumously released.

The Gods’ second album is, like their debut, Genesis, early keyboard-based progressive rock with a psychedelic hangover, vaguely tied into a concept about the experiences of the “Samuel” in the title track. It’s more varied in tone than their first record, though, and more surprisingly, a little lighter in touch, though you can still hear some of the bluster of keyboardist Ken Hensley’s subsequent group, Uriah Heep.

Line-up:
- Ken Hensley / keyboards, vocals
- Joe Konas / guitars, vocals
- Lee Kerslake / drums, vocals
- John Glascock / bass, vocals

Track List:
01. To Samuel A Son (3:29)
02. Three O’ Clock In The Morning (3:16)
03. He’s Growing (2:25)
04. Sticking Wings On Flies (2:39)
05. Lady Lady (3:18)
06. Penny Dear (2:34)
07. Long Time, Sad Time, Bad Time (3:12)
08. Five To Three (2:59)
09. Autumn (3:12)
10. Yes I Cry (2:42)
11. Groozy (3:41)
12. Momma I Need (3:57)
13. Candlelight (2:34)
14. Lovely Anita (3:32)
15. Maria (3:58)

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The Gods are a band that have gone down in any number of ‘rock family trees’ for housing Greg Lake, Mick Taylor but mainly future Uriah Heep members, Ken Hensley and Lee Kerslake. By the time they released their debut, Greg Lake and Mick Taylor had already moved out; principal songwriting and performing duties are therefore shared between Ken Hensley and Joe Konas. Hensley’s dominance certainly offers hints of the direction he would follow with Uriah Heep.

Musically, they were very derivative of Vanilla Fudge, particularly concerning the bombastic vocal harmonies and heavy musicianship, yet brought their own flavour to proceedings. Certainly, The Gods predictably have a very English sound at times; they are often much more polite than Vanilla Fudge, particularly with the slower numbers.

Line-up:
- Ken Hensley – keyboards, vocals
- Joe Konas – guitars, vocals
- John Glascock – bass, vocals
- Lee Kerslake – drums, vocals

Track List:
01. Towards The Skies (3:24)
02. Candles Getting Shorter (4:28)
03. You’re My Life (3:20)
04. Looking Glass (4:18)
05. Misleading Colours (3:38)
06. Radio Show (3:12)
07. Plastic Horizon (3:26)
08. Farthing Man (3:30)
09. I Never Know (5:41)
10. Love And Eternity (2:41)
11. Baby’s Rich (Bonus) (2:45)
12. Somewhere In The Street (Bonus) (2:47)
13. Hey Bulldog (Bonus) (3:01)
14. Real Love Guaranteed (Bonus) (2:29)

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The recordings on this album are taken from a Television special that Uriah Heep recorded in 1974. Although the special was never actually broadcast, a number of extracts from it appeared on the now deleted “Easy Livin’, a history of Uriah Heep” video. The performance was never intended for commercial release in any format, but with the ongoing demand for Byron era material by the band, a belated release took place in 1986.

The original album was rather brief, but this was rectified by the remastered version, which incorporates a number of additional tracks from the same performance, plus some other relevant additions. A few of the tracks duplicate the superior versions on the “Live 1973” album, but as these recordings took place around the time of the release of the “Wonderworld” album, tracks from that album and “Sweet Freedom” also appear.

The performance by the band is not one of their best, tempered perhaps by the fact that they were conscious of the need to appeal visually as well as audibly. The recording quality too reflects the fact that it was intended only for television broadcast.

While it is good to hear early live versions of tracks such as “Sweet freedom” and “Stealin’”, only the emotive ballad “The easy road” shines through as anything more than average here. Uriah Heep made one of the best live albums ever. Unfortunately, this wasn’t it!

Line-up:
- David Byron / vocals
- Mick Box / guitar, vocals
- Gary Thain / bass, vocals
- Lee Kerslake / drums, vocals
- Ken Hensley / keyboards, vocals

Track List:
01. Easy Livin’ (4:01)
02. So Tired (3.32)
03. I Won’t Mind (5:54)
04. Sweet Freedom (6:59)
05. Something Or Nothing (3:21)
06. The Easy Road (2:49)
07. Stealin’ (5:26)
08. Love Machine (2:23)
09. Rock ‘N’ Roll Medley (7:45)
10. Out-Takes (5:28)
a) The Easy Road
b) Sleazy Livin’
c) Easy Livin’
11. Stealin’ (6:19)

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Generally accepted as the low point of the band’s studio career, “Conquest” has little to recommend it even to the most ardent fan. This was to be Ken Hensley’s last album with the band, and it is a real travesty that his parting album should be so poor.

To be fair, the main problem with the album is the vocals of John Lawton’s replacement John Sloman. The ex Lone Star singer has a good voice which fitted in well with the music of that band. Unfortunately, his style did not suit the music of Uriah Heep at all. Hensley soon recognised this, leading to a major personality clash between the two. Hensley thus departed after the album had been released, leaving Mick Box as the only original member.

Lee Kerslake’s replacement Chris Slade (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band) makes a much better go of the drums, but it’s doubtful whether he saw his membership of the band as anything other than a temporary appointment.

The songwriting credits are slightly more distributed than on previous albums, although Hensley still manages sole or partial credit on six of the eight tracks. Songs like “Imagination” and Trevor Boulder’s “Fools” would have sounded good if performed by Lawton, but Sloman seems to constantly struggle to identify with them, in fact he seems at times to be completely out of his depth. There are occasional moments of inspiration, such as the synthesiser and guitar interplay on “Out on the street”, and the synth driven ballad “It ain’t easy” (which also suits Sloman’s vocals better), but generally the album lacks inspiration and focus. It seems clear that had the album been made by a previous line up of the band, the songs could have been developed into much stronger pieces (the potential IS there), and the performance too would have been much tighter.

After Hensley’s departure, Sloman’s former band mate in Pulsar, Greg Dechart was brought in on keyboards on a temporary basis. Two of the tracks he recorded with Uriah Heep appear as bonus tracks on the CD remaster of “Conquest”, but they sound nothing like Uriah Heep. The band then effectively split up altogether, founding vocalist David Byron having declined an offer to rejoin Box and Boulder. Box was to pull things together again later on, but the road back would be long and difficult.

Line-up:
- Mick Box / guitars
- John Sloman / lead & backing vocals, piano, percussion
- Chris Slade / Staccato drums, percussion
- Trevor Bolder / bass guitar
- Ken Hensley / obx, vocoder, organ, piano, guitars, backing vocals

Track List:
01. No Return (6:02)
02. Imagination (5:49)
03. Feelings (5:26)
04. Fools (5:03)
05. Carry On (3:57)
06. Won’t Have To Wait Too Long (4:54)
07. Out On The Street (5:57)
08. It Ain’t Easy (5:45)

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The third and final Uriah Heep album with John Lawton on vocals, and the last for the time being with the long serving Lee Kerslake on drums.

While Ken Hensley still dominates the song writing, the rest of the band also make contributions. Lawton for example wrote 2 tracks, and co-wrote a third. Unfortunately, with Hensley having contributed so much to previous albums, his inspiration appears to be declining rapidly, and the rest of the band do not share his worthy credentials in that field. Understandable as this is, It does make for a somewhat disappointing album. Things would get worse on subsequent output before they got better and taken in context, this is far from being a bummer. The band themselves (Hensley and Box) in the sleeve notes for the 1997 remaster felt that the album was a bit “poppy”, and this a fair description.

Ironically the best track is Lee Kerslake ballad “Come back to me” (co-written with Hensley), written as an anguished plea to his then recently estranged wife. Lawton’s vocals are ideal for the song, which he sings with great passion.

The tracks are all short, the longest being the title track at just over 5 minutes. On “One more night”, Lawton almost carries off an Elvis impersonation, but on most of the tracks, the performance is all too similar and lightweight. In retrospect, it’s all to obvious that the band had taken their eye of the ball, and were drifting away from their roots, into a more commercial area which did not fit well with their strengths. It would be several years until they found their way again.

By the way, the sleeve was a vast improvement from “Innocent victim”, with a rather attractive image of a female warrior who has just vanquished her next meal, in the gatefold cover.

Line-up:
- Mick Box / electric and acoustic guitar
- Trevor Bolder / bass guitar
- John Lawton / lead vocals
- Lee Kerslake / drums, syn-drums, back-up vocals
- Ken Hensley / keyboards, synthesizer, slide and acoustic guitar, back-up vocals

Track List:
01. Woman Of The Night (4:07)
02. Falling in Love (2:59)
03. One More Night (Last Farewell) (3:35)
04. Put Your Lovin’ On Me (4:08)
05. Come Back To Me (4:22)
06. Whad ‘Ya Say (3:41)
07. Save It (3:33)
08. Love Or Nothing (3:02)
09. I’m Alive (4:18)
10. Fallen Angel (4:51)

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Once you get past the rather grotesque and somewhat inappropriate cover picture, Uriah Heep’s second album with John Lawton on vocals is a pleasant, if rather lightweight offering.

The songs are pretty straightforward, leaning more towards melodic rock than prog. Once again, Hensley favours his synthesiser over the Hammond organ sound which laid the foundations of the band’s early work, creating a more orchestral backing. There are a couple of good ballads in “Choices” which has great power, and the softer “Illusion. “Free me” is a catchy pop tune. It’s not exactly challenging but should have been at least a minor hit in the UK, as it was in several other countries.

“The dance” is almost funky, a style which suits Lawton’s voice far better than it would have Byron’s. Finally, there are a number of more traditional rock tracks such as “Keep on ridin’”, “Flyin’ high” “Free’n'easy” and “Cheat’n'lie”

Ultimately I am left with a feeling that the band’s inspiration, and especially Hensley’s, is drying up rapidly. This is perhaps further evidenced by the fact that non band member Jack Williams wrote two of the songs, and co-wrote a third with Hensley.

Line-up:
- Mick Box / guitars
- John Lawton / vocals
- Ken Hensley / keyboard, guitars, vocals
- Lee Kerslake / drums, vocals
- Trevor Bolder / bass

Track List:
01. Keep On Ridin’ (3:41)
02. Flyin’ High (3:18)
03. Roller (4:38)
04. Free ‘N’ Easy (3:02)
05. Illusion (5:02)
06. Free Me (3:35)
07. Cheat ‘N’ Lie (4:50)
08. The Dance (4:49)
09. Choices (5:42)

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While the history of Uriah Heep is littered with line up changes, the single most important one in terms of their sound took place between the previous album, “High and Mighty”, and this one. With David Byron having been sacked as lead vocalist, John Lawton (ex Lucifer’s Child) was brought in as his replacement.

In opting for Lawton, the other band members had decided to go for someone with a completely different voice and style, so right from the first few bars of “Firefly” the listener is aware of a fundamental change. Lawton’s voice is deeper and much rougher, with more of a blues/jazz tinge.

John Wetton also left the band before this album was recorded, being replaced by ex Spiders from Mars bassist Trevor Boulder. Boulder has gone on to become one of Heep’s longest servicing members, and is in fact still in the band today.

The music on “Firefly” is generally lighter than previous albums, with Hensley choosing to create an almost orchestral texture with the keyboards, on which the album is built. Yet again, Hensley dominates the song writing, with only one short track “Who needs me” being a rare Kerslake composition. The title track is a very soft but beautiful piece, a million miles from “Easy Livin’”. Even when the band rock, such as on “Been away too long”, it’s not the all out wall of sound of the early days.

When listening to this album, it is necessary to first put aside any preconceptions about the music it will contain. It’s not really a follow up to “High and Mighty” but a new beginning for the band with a new direction and sound. Once that is accepted, it’s actually a very enjoyable album, with strong melodies, and tight musicianship.

Line-up:
- John Lawton / lead vocals
- Mick Box / guitars
- Trevor Bolder / bass guitar
- Lee “The Bear” Kerslake / drums, vocals
- Ken Hensley / keyboards, guitars, vocals

Track List:
01. The Hanging Tree (3:42)
02. Been Away Too Long (5:04)
03. Who Needs Me (3:40)
04. Wise Man (4:44)
05. Do You Know (3:15)
06. Rollin’ On (6:32)
07. Sympathy (4:50)
08. Firefly (6:18)
09. Crime Of Passion (Bonus, Single B-Side) (3:37)
10. Do You Know (3:16) (Bonus, Demo)
11. A Far Better Way (5:50) (Bonus, Outtake)
12. Wise Man (4:48) (Bonus, TV backing track version)

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David Byron’s final album with Uriah Heep came all too soon. The recording of “High and Mighty” was apparently a somewhat piecemeal affair, with only Hensley (who yet again dominates the song writing) and Wetton committed in full to the project. The absence of Gerry Bron as producer for the first time is less apparent than might have been expected, but he was reportedly unimpressed with the results.

The two sides of the LP make an appropriate division between what turned out to be an impressive side one, and a poor side two. Mick Box is largely absent throughout, with Hensley by and large providing both keyboards and guitar.

The opening track, “One way or another” doesn’t even feature Byron’s vocals, with Wetton taking on those duties. Ironically Byron, who was reportedly comfortable with the finished track, played Hammond organ on it instead. It is though an intriguingly successful diversion for the band in a slightly less organised direction. Hensley’s middle 8 restores the more melodic sound, providing a harmonic counterpoint. The track has similarities to “Dreamer” which opened “Sweet Freedom”.

Byron first appears on the beautiful “Weep in silence”, a softer track but highly melodic almost emotional, with Hensley’s keyboards swirling around the pained voice of Byron.

“Midnight”, which closes side one, is a miniature epic in about 6 minutes. In that time it moves from an attention grabbing opening riff, through a number of time changes and brief instrumental breaks, to fade with a reprise of the opening riff. “Midnight” stand proud alongside Hensley’s finest compositions, and would have made a fitting end to the Byron era Uriah Heep. Unfortunately, they continued onto side two of the album, which brings together some of the weakest material recorded by the band while Byron was a member.

Had the entire album been up to the standard of the four tracks on side one, “High and mighty” would have been worthy of it’s name. Unfortunately side two of the album only served to indicate that radical change was needed, and such change was indeed, just around the corner.

Line-up:
- David Byron / vocals
- John Wetton / bass, guitar, Mellotron, electric piano, vocals
- Lee Kerslake / drums, percussion, vocals
- Mick Box / lead guitar, acoustic guitar, 12 string acoustic guitar
- Ken Hensley / organ, piano, Moog synthesizer, tubular bells, electric piano, guitar, slide guitar, acoustic guitar, electric 12 string guitar, pedal steel guitar, vocals

Track List:
01. One Way Or Another (4:37)
02. Weep In Silence (5:09)
03. Misty Eyes (4:15)
04. Midnight (5:40)
05. Can’t Keep A Good Band Down (3:40)
06. Woman Of The World (3:10)
07. Footprints In The Snow (3:56)
08. Can’t Stop Singing (3:15)
09. Make A Little Love (3:24)
10. Confession (2:16)

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The title of course refers to the “Demons and Wizards”/”Magician’s Birthday” period, which had brought Uriah Heep both their best music, and their biggest success to date. It is however is somewhat misleading, as there’s little in the way of wizards, demons, or indeed magicians. What there is however is a good collection of Uriah Heep songs.

With John Wetton on bass in place of Gary Thain, the band had the opportunity to exploit Wetton’s songwriting and vocal skills, but once again it’s Hensley’s songwriting which dominates the album. David Byron is still in fine form vocally, thus Wetton becomes almost a session player, providing bass and only occasional backing vocals.

Apart from the opening title track, side one of the LP contains much the weaker tracks on the album. “Return to fantasy” is a fine piece of faster paced Heep, with a driving rhythm, and pulsating keyboards. The remaining tracks on side one are a bit by-the-numbers Heep, although “Beautiful dream” has some good keyboards.

The second side is more diverse, with a couple of fine ballads allowing Byron to display his more sensitive side. The unaccompanied intro to “Why did you go” is particularly delicate, and would have been a challenge beyond most of Byron’s contemporaries. The final track, “A year or a day” builds superbly from a slow soft start to a climactic conclusion, with lyrical echoes of “The wizard”.

While “Return to Fantasy” is a fine album, it does not consistently meet the enormously high standards the band had set for themselves. There are some excellent moments, but there’s also an apparent lack of ambition at times, with some treading of water in evidence.

Line-up:
- David Byron / lead vocals
- Mick Box / guitars
- Ken Hensley / keyboards, guitars, synthesizer, vocals
- Lee Kerslake / drums, percussion, vocals
- John Wetton / bass, Mellotron, vocals

Track List:
01. Return To Fantasy (5:52)
02. Shady Lady (4:46)
03. Devil’s Daughter (4:48)
04. Beautiful Dream (4:52)
05. Prima Donna (3:11)
06. Your Turn To Remember (4:22)
07. Showdown (4:17)
08. Why Did You Go (3:53)
09. A Year Or A Day (4:22)

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With the soon to come sacking and subsequent death of Gary Thain, it seems incredible that this was to be the last album by the line up which has come to be regarded as Uriah Heep’s finest. In fact they only recorded four studio albums together, although the nucleus of the band (Box, Byron, Hensley, and from “Demons and Wizards on Kerslake) recorded more.

“Wonderworld”, Hensley’s name for his dream world where he finds inspiration for many of his songs, continued the slightly softer more melodic approach of its predecessor “Sweet Freedom”. The opening title track is a power ballad, with soft melodic verses and a sweeping chorus; it is reminiscent of “Sunrise” from “The Magician’s birthday”. “The shadows and the wind” has Heep’s most complex ever vocals arrangement, almost Beach Boys like in structure, if not sound. “The Easy road” is one of those lovely soft Hensley ballads, which he appeared to write with Byron’s vocal prowess in mind. It really is a truly moving song.

On side two of the album, “I won’t mind” is a plodding blues, and despite the excellent guitar work, one of the most disappointing Heep tracks of the period. The final track “Dreams” has a melody which sounds very similar to the old single “Windmills of your mind” by Noel Harrison. It’s a very good track though, if slightly lacking in the impact which previous final tracks have had.

In all, “Wonderworld” is another solid album by the classic line up, but the cracks are definitely beginning to show It does lack the knockout punch of other albums by that line up.

Line-up:
- Ken Hensley / organ, guitars & vocals
- David Byron / vocals
- Mick Box / lead guitars
- Gary Thain / bass
- Lee Kerslake / drums

Track List:
01. Wonderworld (4:29)
02. Suicidal Man (3:38)
03. The Shadows And The Wind (4:27)
04. So Tired (3:39)
05. The Easy Road (2:43)
06. Something Or Nothing (2:56)
07. I Won’t Mind (5:59)
08. We Got We (3:39)
09. Dreams (6:10)

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