While I may be busy working out my Top 5 for last year, I figure I would break things up with some classic album reviews. I will admit part of this is in anticipation for my Anniversary Series articles, featuring material from the early 70s, but it also works as a good break from all last year's stuff I'm revisiting. And we're going to start off with the two albums Uriah Heep released in 1971!
So early last year, I checked out these guys' first record, and found it to be interesting, though not mind blowing. However, they were clearly on a roll, releasing four albums over the next two years. Right off, there is definitely an evolution here from the first album. While they may have started in Vanilla Fudge territory, they've definitely picked up a few concepts from Deep Purple by now.
Probably the tracks with the strongest Purple influence are "Bird of Prey," "Time to Live," and the 16-minute epic title track. While that epic does try to go for some interesting arrangements with its orchestrations, it really does feel like a groovier, jazzier version of "Child in Time" to me. As for the other tracks, "The Park" had an interesting, folky vibe, and "Lady in Black" had a really nice, haunting atmosphere. "High Priestess" was just okay, but it did make me think of very early Styx, though. However, the music generally flows well, and I enjoyed most of what I heard.
Their maturity is definitely growing here, especially with some better song-writing and jazz-fusion chops, showing a stronger sense of diversity. Byron's voice is great as before, but I can't help but hear some Ian Gillain in it at times. The organist Ken Hensley really stepped up for the songwriting, and it shows. While the organ never takes center stage, it definitely forms the backbone of these songs, and he even sings the lead vocal on a few of the tracks. Overall, I'll say that Salisbury definitely better than their first, and it will be interesting to see where they go from here. Fortunately, you won't have to wait long for my thoughts on their next album!
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Peculiar, meta-styled cover art aside, this album mainly continues their Vanilla-Fudge-and-Deep-Purple inspired sound. It's a solid sound, but I wonder if this album isn't maybe a little less diverse than Salisbury.
Don't get me wrong. It's still pretty solid classic rock. The organs really take center-stage with their aggressive crunch, but the guitars are no slouch either. The vocal harmonies are also very tight, adding layers to the songs. Basically, they're maintaining their quality from the last album. The title track and "July Morning" are staples of their lives sets, and for good reason, as they would make for some great live jamming. However, "Shadows of Grief" is the one that stood out to me as being pretty different, as it seems to be leaning more into ELP's more aggressive style, with that middle section making me think of "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" from early Pink Floyd. There are even more Pink Floyd vibes for the beginning of "What Should Be Done."
While I do think Salisbury was a step up, Look At Yourself generally occupies the same level. Of course, that's not a bad thing, as I got to listen to two pretty solid rock albums. However, I don't know if I'm really picking up on what makes Uriah Heep unique so much as hearing their influences mesh together in interesting ways. I suppose that's how all music evolves, though.
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So this is a bit of a weird one. Half a compilation, half new material, this feels a release to just tide things over while Asia work out their lineup troubles. I don't know if it was really necessary, but it's not a bad little collection of songs.
The classic tracks remain classic. I still consider Asia's debut and Alpha albums to be some of the best AOR ever made, so the first half of the album, which consists of five tracks from those two albums, goes down pretty easy. The second half is when the new stuff comes in, and for the guitars, they pick up a few different guys, including Steve Lukather of Toto fame for the first new track, "Days Like These." It's a decent rock track, but definitely leans more into the 80s pop/rock of Brian Adams or Huey Lewis than Asia. The second new track "Prayin' 4 a Miracle" is decent, definitely closer to Astra territory, despite the terrible spelling. "Am I in Love" is a ballad, which are always a hard sell for me, but Wetton's voice carries the song pretty well. The last new track, "Summer (Can't Last Too Long," brings the energy back up, and I found it be pretty solid, honestly. It has that thick, layered, Asia sound, but with more optimism than usual, making it the best of the four by far. The album then ends with "Voice of America" from Astra, which is an odd choice. I think I would have chosen "Go" instead, as it has better anthemic power, in my opinion.
Overall, I suppose it's a harmless release, sort of like an EP that has some classics to go with it. However, this would end up being the last album with John Wetton until their classic lineup reunion in 2006. It's a curious snapshot of the band in the midst of realignment, before Downes would find John Payne and carry on with him for the next 15-ish years. Outside of "Summer," though, I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone but Asia completionists.
Let me start by saying that HammerFall is one of my favorite bands. I first got into metal by listening to their classic albums like Legacy of Kings, Renegade, and Crimson Thunder. However, when their later albums felt a little underwhelming, I ended up not listening to their latest ones. It's not like their sound has changed all that much (though it did get a bit darker there for a bit), but I did feel like something had been lost. Now that they have a new one coming out this early this year, I figured I would try to catch up on their last few albums. I remember checking out (r)Evolution and thinking it was a decent attempt to capture their former glory, but very little stood out as really great. Built to Last carries on this classic power metal approach and I think does a bit of a better job of it than (r)Evolution did.
Of course, all the HammerFall staples are here. Plenty of chugging riffs and noodly solos, with Joacim Cans vocals soaring over it all, and plenty of double-kicking drum work pushing the songs forward. The band has always found a spot between power and traditional metal that makes the best of both, in some ways. "Bring It!" starts with some good energy, but the songs that really stood out where "The Sacred Vow," "Dethrone and Defy," "Stormbreaker," and "New Breed," as I felt they had that classic power metal vibe, with some interesting ideas and great solos. I even didn't mind the ballad "Twilight Princess," as it has an epic vibe I hadn't heard from them in a good while.
Honestly, this album is pretty consistent, with some good variation in tone and tempo to keep things interesting. "Stormbearker" and "Second to None" shake it up with some mixed meter and shifts in tone, but it never feels out of place at all. I'm probably going to have to listen to this a few more times to really decide how I feel it compares to the classics I cut my teeth on, but Built to Last is definitely an improvement compared to the ones that came right before it.
I'm still working on my Top 5, and I have a pretty good idea of what's going to be my number, but the other four are proving to be difficult. There were more than a handful of generally solid albums that came out last year, and it's hard to rank them. I also catching up on some of the 2021 videos I missed out on, so there maybe one more New Videos article between now and the end of the month, but no guarantees. Until then, rock on! \m/
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