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Rating: There was a time when David Byron, Mick Box, and Ken Hensley painted wonderful hard rock frescoes, with the epic veins of a masked and delicate progressive. A personal and unique style that elevated works like "Salisbury," "Demons & Wizards," and "The Magician's Birthday" to cult objects (and masterpieces) of seventies rock. Works that contributed to making Uriah Heep famous and sweeping away doubts that had eclipsed their beginnings, as a band "in the shadow" of the giant Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath.
This obscurantism towards the band has, over the years, combined with setbacks that have undermined the stability of Uriah. The departure of bassist Gary Thain in 1975 and his death by heroin overdose in the same year: the departure of singer David Byron in 1976, who later died in 1985. Subsequently, other innumerable line-up changes, particularly behind the microphone (Lawton, Sloman, Goalby) until the arrival of Bernie Shaw, after the album "Equator," considered by many as the worst work ever produced by Uriah Heep. Amid all this, the farewell of keyboardist Ken Hensley, one of the most important elements for the band's songwriting.
Mick Box and the group shattered by all these events had to rise again and start over and Bernie Shaw was the figure that provided stability: certainly less gifted than Byron, he nonetheless demonstrated the ability to adapt to the new course of Uriah Heep, which saw the five Englishmen shift from the progressive and epic hard rock of their beginnings, to AOR and more easy-listening solutions initiated with "Abominog" (1982). A stylistic direction that is largely present also in "Raging Silence," the first album with Shaw on vocals, released in 1989.
The Uriah Heep of the '80s were not exciting: some interesting works, but nothing compared to the seventies episodes that launched them despite the aversion of some music journalists. "Raging Silence" was yet another attempt to recover and redeem a career that started superbly, was quickly slipping away. However, the considerable difficulties did not stop the "new" course of Uriah, who in "Raging Silence" poured their way of making music, naturally changed from the past. A CD that within their career has also been defined as "anonymous": admitting that the level is certainly not that of the past, one must not underestimate the importance of a work that primarily aimed to bring Uriah Heep back to a certain level, after going through hell. Highlights of the album are "Blood Red Roses," "More Fool You," and the ballad "When the War is Over," where Bernie Shaw demonstrates his good vocal skills.
The roar of English rock from the '70s has always had its darkest and less "studied" peak in Uriah Heep. "Raging Silence" was the album of the "return." For this alone, it has an intrinsic importance that should not be underestimated. The album in which the survival instinct fully manifested itself.
1. "Hold Your Head Up" (4:33)
2. "Blood Red Roses" (4:10)
3. "Voice On My TV" (4:21)
4. "Rich Kid" (4:49)
5. "Cry Freedom" (4:35)
6. "Bad Bad Man" (4:11)
7. "More Fool You (More Fool Me)" (3:34)
8. "When The War Is Over" (5:09)
9. "Lifeline" (4:53)
10. "Rough Justice" (4:22)
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Hold Your Head Up (04:33)
And if it's bad
Don't let it get you down
You can take it
And if it hurts
Don't let them see you cry
You can make it
Just hold your head up woman
Hold your head up woman
Hold your head up woman
Hold your head high
Hold your head up woman
Hold your head up woman
Hold your head up woman
Hold your head high
And if they stare, just let them
Burn their eyes on you moving
And if they shout, don't let it change
A thing that you're doing
Hold your head up ...
04 Rich Kid (04:49)
She's a rich kid
She wears diamond rings
Knows how to walk
Knows everything
About love, she's not too sure
What she's looking for
Fresh from the woods
Out on the street
She's looking good
Looking so neat
She don't know if she should
'cause she don't know
If she's bad or good
She don't care if it
Hurts her father
She don't care if it
Breaks her mother
She don't care anymore
She just wants what
She's never had before
All she wants is love, she's ready
She wants love
And she's gonna get it
All she needs is love
She's gotta have it, someone to love
All she wants is love, she's ready
Gotta have love, she'll get it
All she needs is love
She's never had it, someone to love
She was a school boy's dream
High school queen
She had it all when she was sixteen
Stayed away from boys
'cause she thought she'd get hurt
Why did she listen to
Her mother's words
Couldn't go out
Had to stay home
And how she hated
Being on her own
She needs love like everybody else
Now she's gonna
Get some for herself
All she wants is love, she's ready
She wants love
And she's gonna get it
All she needs is love
She's gotta have it, she needs love
All she wants is love, she's ready
She wants love
And she's gonna get it
All she needs is love
She's gotta have it, someone ...
08 When the War Is Over (05:08)
When the war is over
Got to get away
Pack my bags to
No place in no time no day
You and i, we used
Each other's shoulder
Still so young
But somehow so much older
How can I go home
And not get blown away
Ain't nobody gonna
Steal this heart away
When the war is over
Got to start again
Try to hold a trace of
What it was back then
You and i, we shared
Each other's stories
Just a page that's
Lost in all it's glory
How can I go home
And not get blown away
You and I had our sights
Set on something
Hope this doesn't mean
Our days are numbered
I've got plans for more
Than a wanted man
All around is chaos and madness
Can't help feeling
Nothing more than sadness
Only choice to face it
The best I can
Ain't nobody gonna
Steal this heart away
And not get blown away ...
09 Lifeline (04:53)
Well I'm not superstitious
But there's something
Going on inside
Could be friendly, could be vicious
And there isn't any place to hide
It's my imagination
A blessing or a curse
No, I can't ignore it
For better or for worse
It wakes me when I'm sleeping
A thief that takes my breath away
And I find myself
Reaching for a lifeline
Throw me a lifeline and
Bring me back in time
I need a lifeline, throw me a lifeline
I'm going down for the last time
Sometimes I can't control it
Sometimes it isn't there at all
Sometimes I try to roll it
And wind up staring at the wall
My imagination
I love the games it plays
I get in so deep that I get lost
For days and days
It sometimes leaves me shakin'
Standin' in the dark alone
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Other reviews
By Heepster74
"Rough Justice is an excellent seal to yet another work that confirms Uriah Heep’s great creative tradition."
"Finally, Mick Box’s guitar is prominent on classic rock tracks like Rich Kid and Bad Bad Man."
