Hensley's liner notes: "its lyrics speaks simply of the happiness which can be created by 'together' people." But unfortunately the classic Uriah Heep's musical vision was always dominated by the supremely pretentious "organist/pianist/harpsichordist/vibeist/second-guitarist/backup-vocalist/lyricist/composer/liner-note-writer" Ken Hensley.įirst track on side one is "High Priestess," a galloping number which showcases the breadth of Box's guitar playing quite well: echoey slide guitars, whirling wahs, and harmonized double leads twine around the castrati choir of David Byrons to create an effect that is more trippy than heavy. Also Mick Box, one of the most underrated heavy guitarists of the early 1970's. IMHO, the truly "unsung" talents of Uriah Heep rest with singer David Byron, whose multiple-overdub falsettos and piercing shrieks put him on the short list with Freddie Mercury and Rob Halford in the opera-metal-vocalist sweepstakes. It's like a past vision of the future of music which never came to be.
Here they are either a couple years behind the times (psychedelic pop-art highbrow/lowbrow genre blending), or maybe a couple years ahead of the times (neo-classical overreach of the mid-1970s ELP/ELO/Yes/Genesis school) - giving the whole affair the quality of sounding distinctly dated (it probably sounded dated the day it was released) yet somehow retaining a uniquely undatable sound which is what makes it kind of compelling. Recorded and released in the transitional year of 1970, Uriah Heep's second album is a unique entry in their catalog, dominated by a post-psychedelic pseudo-classical prog-ism that contrasts with the more "metalish" heaviness of their debut and subsequent albums.
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