•
Rating: Year of our Lord 1973, the Uriah Heep, despite repeated attempts by critics to bury them, are starting to reap the rewards of intense work (6 albums in 3 years), the '72 has given birth to two true masterpieces, and from the following tour, one of the best live albums in the history of hard rock was drawn. Quite a few bucks begin to circulate, and the tax demands, according to our favorites, become quite hefty, prompting them to cross the Channel and record in France. The chosen studio (Chateau d'Herouville), despite its medieval appearance, seems to be cutting-edge. In reality, as the Jethro Tull would also discover, the futuristic (for the first time, our guys recorded on 24 tracks) machinery mocked the sound engineers by creating a thousand problems. Add to this the discomfort of forced distance from home, the precarious condition of a Hensley recovering from hepatitis, and also the need for a band that hasn't paused for a moment since '70 to catch their breath, and you have all the ingredients: ladies and gentlemen, here comes the decline.
Having exhausted the premises, let's move on to the album. It opens with the beautiful "Dreamer", beautiful and rhythmic, then we have one of the band's classics: "Stealin'", led by a Gary Thain in great shape (when wasn't he?). We reach the central part which is, in my opinion, the weak point of the album: the sequence "One Day", "Sweet Freedom", and "If I Had The Time" results a bit monotonous. The title track is a very beautiful piece, with Thain, as usual, not stopping for a moment, his fingers running up and down the bass churning notes (it's not that the rest of the group does nothing, mind you, but let's give Gary what is Gary's), yet the other 2 tracks follow the same false line without too much imagination, which makes it somewhat boring. We then reach the urgent "Seven Stars", followed by the sweet and melancholic "Circus", which with its simple structure and without too many overdubs (like "One Day" and "If I Had The Time") shows us another side of the Heep. In the latest albums, it was decided to end with a mini-suite, the splendid "The Spell" and "The Magician's Birthday", and here there's no lack of the final piece: "Pilgrim". The attack is dominated by Ken Hensley's gothic keyboards, which then softens to give way to Box's bass and wah-wah, while Byron warms his throat describing us the pilgrim of the title. After 2 verses, a pause is taken, and then Kerslake starts pounding worse than Tyson in one of the hardest passages ever recorded by the band, embellished by a solo from a never-before-so-angry Box. The singing then resumes in a crescendo that only a singer of Byron's level could manage to handle, ending with a final gallop where the guys challenge each other to see who makes the most noise.
In conclusion, it is a very beautiful album (3.5/4 stars) but not at the levels of its predecessors, there's a certain tension that permeates the entire work, and it lacks the freshness and variety that rendered the albums of the previous year immortal. The work on "Demons And Wizards" and "The Magician's Birthday" had already been penalized by the assembly line pace imposed by manager Gerry Bron, but the charge and enthusiasm managed to give that something extra that is still felt today. Unfortunately, however, the miracle did not succeed a third time, the continuous pursuit of success (read dollars) was draining the energy of a group that, managed better, could have gone down in history as the best hard rock band of the '70s. Instead, by now this lineup, definitely the best in the nearly forty-year history of the Heep, was running out of time. Thain was increasingly addicted to heroin and would die a year later; Byron, not to be outdone, had turned to alcohol, which would lead to his expulsion from the group first (1977) and death later (1985). The band has reached the present day with many lineup changes and a discography with many ups and downs, but the magic of the early years is lost, leaving too many regrets.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Dreamer (03:44)
I’ve got a dollar deal hidden
Down in my shoe
So listen friends
I tell you what I'm gonna do
I’m gonna run up
The road of mystery
Hangin' by a thread to a fantasy
A background black
Showing my face
Buried in the image
Of an empty space
I'm back on my feet
Getting no sleep
Makin' it all mine
Give me a chance
To follow the bands
Waitin' for the sunshine
Husslin' my will
In a bar downtown
And f it don't work out now
’ll keep movin' around and around ...
Tll I'm back on my feet
Getting no sleep
Makin' it all mine
Give me a chance
To follow the bands
I’m waitin' for the sunshine, yeah
A dreamer, a dreamer
Hangin' around
A dreamer, a dreamer
Trying to hitch a ride
A dreamer, a dreamer
Hangin' around
A dreamer, a dreamer
When I turn my back
You're by my side
Well I fought my way
Through the back-stage door
Staring at my goal
Till my eyes get sore
And working my way
Through the little I say
Caring no less just
The light of the day
A background black
Showing my face
Buried in the image
Of an empty space
I'm back on my feet
Getting no sleep
Makin' it all mine
Give me a chance
To follow the bands
I’m waitin' for the sunshine, yeah
Just a dreamer ...
When I turn by back
You’re by my side
Dreamer ...
02 Stealin' (04:54)
Take me across the water
‘Cause I need some place to hide
I done the rancher’s daughter
And I sure did hurt his pride
Well, there's a
Hundred miles of desert
Lies between his hide and mine
I don't need no food
And no water, Lord
‘Cos I'm running out of time
Fightin', killin', wine and women
Gonna put me to my grave
Runnin', hidin', losin', cryin'
Nothing left to save but my life
Stood on a ridge
And shunned religion
Thinking the world was mine
I made my break and a big mistake
Stealin', when I
Should've been buyin'
All that fightin', killin'
Wine and those women
Gonna put me to an early grave
Runnin', hidin', losin', cryin'
Nothing left to save but my life, life...
So I stood on a ridge
And shunned religion
Thinking the world was mine
I made my break and a big mistake
Stealin', when I
Should've been buyin'
I was stealin’
When I should’ve been buyin’
I was stealin’
When I should’ve been buyin’
Stealin’, when I
Should’ve been buyin’ ..
I was stealin’ ...
06 Seven Stars (03:55)
Don't try to be anything else
But what you are
Don't try to do anything else
But the things you do
'cause I had a dream
About seven stars
And the seven good things
That you are to me
The very reason I'm livin'
Is just for lovin' you
And the seasons are changin'
Makin' it all come true
¡®cause with the spring
And clearing skies
Love's soft light
Will fill my eyes for you
Who fills my head
With these dreams
As I'm leaving my mind
Seven new stars are born
Seven are waiting to die
The very reason I'm livin'
Is just for lovin' you
And the seasons are changin'
Makin' it all come true
'cause I had a dream
About seven stars
And the seven good things
That you are to me
Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ...
07 Circus (02:46)
Walkin' around this concrete garden
Viewing all in vain
Thinking why a dream
Is driving everyone insane
Then someone will come
And make you feel
The master in control
Still you're picking up
And screwing anyone
Who's got a soul
I've been here
Far too long to remember
Sights and sounds
From this town of clowns
Makin' up, dressin' up
Walkin' around
Thinkin' that you're Greta Garbos
I'm sorry my dears
But we only sat down
And laughed and laughed in sorrow
But it was you
That opened the door
And it's that we thank you for
Everyone insane ...
Everyone’s insane
08 Pilgrim (07:05)
A pilgrim at the grey of dawn
Leaving in the mist of morning
On his journey of goodness
Heaven sent, God blessed
Pilgrim laughing at the world
Spreading joy
At the touch of his hand
Wiping out all the misery
Making love and history
Those of us who don't know war
We shouldn't try to make it
So many did and even more died
Do you think you could take it?
Love lies waiting at my back door
Such a beautiful matter of fact
Life's like an apple
With love as the core
And I'll tell you ¡®bout that
Just a man in my prime
Love was there
But I had no time
I was cheered and adored
And I thought fame
Was all the world
Battles won and victory cheers
Were the sounds
I'd heard for years
But the women I really loved
Was losing me
To all this blood
I only knew I had to win
And build a world
Where I was king
But leaders come and leaders go
And that's the truth
I came to know
Love or war I couldn't choose
And so both
I had to lose
Loading comments slowly
