I’ve gone with Uriah Heep for this week’s Metal Mondays post as it’s a name that came up a couple of times in my research (reading Wikipedia). They’re another of those bands labelled as pioneers of heavy metal. I’ve seen them referenced in articles over the years, but couldn’t tell you anything about them, so like last week’s Deep Purple post, I went in blind to this one.
Their debut album came out just a week after Deep Purple in Rock and the bands rehearsed the albums alongside each other at the same venue. This did not get the favourable contemporary reviews that Deep Purple did though. In Rolling Stone, reviewer Melissa Mills said “If this group makes it I’ll have to commit suicide.” Rest assured, you won’t get that sort of attention-seeking criticism here at No Frills Reviews. At most, I’m gonna be ambivalent. Although, I am gonna proceed to give this a pretty negative review.
I considered titling this “Heep of Shite”, but it felt a bit too obvious, and it’s not actually that bad. But, I think I set myself up for disappointment by coming in expecting something heavy. Wikipedia, you have failed me. This feels like the furthest away from metal of these early heavy albums I’ve reviewed so far.
Uriah Heep – Very ‘Eavy, Very ‘Umble
From the start this feels a lot more like fiddly prog rock, which immediately put me off. I got more optimistic as the guitars began to sound a bit thicker and build momentum towards something heavier. But the vocals kind of kill it. There’s a hint of Ozzy in there, but without any of the personality; like the rough edges have been shaved off. I’ve talked previously about there being a controlled chaos with the vocals of Robert Plant or Ian Gillan. This just feels controlled. There’s no sense of wildness to go alongside the technical competence; it’s overwrought musical theatre-style rock.
Things improve by tracks three and four, but we’re nowhere near heavy. Come Away Melinda is a cover of an anti-war song, originally released by Harry Belafonte, and is a lot closer to folk. Then we go into a piano-led jazzy, blues number in Lucy Blues. The vocals, and the band generally, seem a lot better suited to the slightly softer side of rock, as demonstrated on these two tracks.
They go slightly heavier again with Dreammare and it does kind of rock. But it again goes into musical theatre territory. It probably makes no sense to say a song is too performative…but it’s too performative. And I can’t forgive lines like “Unicorn of many colours rides to paradise”. Fuck off, man. Who does that shit appeal to?
The next song is solid enough, but there’s something lacking; they just don’t really convince as hard rockers. It all sounds a bit too deliberate and clean. A song called “Real Turned On” has to feel raw or even sleazy. But there’s a fine line between sleazy and creepy. Sleazy is the dude who’s a bit too old to still be out on the pull every weekend, but at least you know what you’re getting with him. Creepy is something more sinister. And they cross over that line with “I’ll buy you a bottle of wine. Just take a little drink and everything will turn out fine”. C’mon, there’s a heavy implication that he’s spiked her drink there. For the It’s Always Sunny fans out there, this is definitely the sort of lyric that Dennis Reynolds would write. I can imagine ‘Date Rape Rock’ being a fairly lucrative sub-genre in 1970, but in 2023 this gets a hard NO.
By this point in the album I’ve pretty much given up, but I’ll Keep On Trying does have some of the best guitar on the record as they add some dirty fuzz into the mix. But again, there’s something missing. It sounds muted; like it’s theoretically heavy, but it’s not actually LOUD. There’s no passion or spontaneity here, it feels like a group of competent musicians replicating the heavier sounds that were becoming increasingly popular at the time.
Usually when I say I don’t consider a band to be metal, it’s meant as more of a compliment. But, when I say it here, it’s a negative. What I do appreciate about metal is how hard it goes. This doesn’t.
In terms of their influence on metal, it’s possibly some of the worst aspects; technically proficient but soulless wankiness, and fantasy bullshit. Just look at some of the bands who have acknowledged them as an influence; Fates Warning, Avenged Sevenfold, Demons & Wizards, Fifth Angel. I mean, I’ve never actually listened to any of these bands, but c’mon, seriously just look at their names.
To end on a slightly more positive note, a lot of the album is a perfectly ok listen. There’s just nothing heavy or interesting enough to make me want to go back to it. And the strongest moments are when there’s no pretence of them being heavy. Listen to Come Away Melinda and Lucy Blues, and don’t come in expecting anything heavy.
Rating:
Best Tunes: Come Away Melinda, Lucy Blues
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