Uriah Heep. You may have never heard of them. I hadn't until earlier this year. I was really confused, I thought I knew most of the rock bands worth knowing, and then BOOM, it hits me... I know nothing! My world hath been rocked, Maiden save me!
In fact, their first album was released in 1970, entitled Very 'eavy... Very 'umble. They followed up in 1971 with Salisbury which is more solidly progressive rock. The self-titled song from that album is freggin' epic, check it out. They released Look at Yourself in 1971, which included one of my favorite songs by them -- July Morning.
Uriah Heep made 12 albums between 1970 and 1979 -- which is an awesome amount of work. They played contemporaneously with the greats: Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zep, Priest, RUSH. It's too bad they couldn't turn it to 11, for they will always be stuck on 10.
By the time 1980 rolled around their popularity waned, and children across the world wept, with their parents never knowing the true reason. However, they left a mega-epic legacy on the bands forming in the late 1970's. I could never put them in the category of heavy metal founding fathers... but they were one of those bands that you know influenced bands that influenced bands that I care about. And for me, that is enough. I thank you.
P.S. Uriah Heep still plays in Germany and Scandinavia, if you feel like a very weird vacation.
"The Wizard" off of 1972's Demons and Wizards
(I'm glad mustaches went out of style)
Uriah Heep was a well known progressive rock band in the 1970's. They were something like a mix of King Crimson and RUSH, but they are certainly their own beast. There was at least one tour where RUSH opened for them, in RUSH's early days.
In fact, their first album was released in 1970, entitled Very 'eavy... Very 'umble. They followed up in 1971 with Salisbury which is more solidly progressive rock. The self-titled song from that album is freggin' epic, check it out. They released Look at Yourself in 1971, which included one of my favorite songs by them -- July Morning.
Uriah Heep made 12 albums between 1970 and 1979 -- which is an awesome amount of work. They played contemporaneously with the greats: Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zep, Priest, RUSH. It's too bad they couldn't turn it to 11, for they will always be stuck on 10.
By the time 1980 rolled around their popularity waned, and children across the world wept, with their parents never knowing the true reason. However, they left a mega-epic legacy on the bands forming in the late 1970's. I could never put them in the category of heavy metal founding fathers... but they were one of those bands that you know influenced bands that influenced bands that I care about. And for me, that is enough. I thank you.
P.S. Uriah Heep still plays in Germany and Scandinavia, if you feel like a very weird vacation.
