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Sweet Freedom

Uriah Heep - Sweet Freedom Audio CD

A fair review of the Uriah Heep "Sweet Freedom" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Uriah Heep reviews here, or go back to the Uriah Heep tabs.

Band: Uriah Heep
Title: Sweet Freedom
Rating:

Release Date: 2004-04-12
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Dreamer 2: Stealin' 3: One Day 4: Sweet Freedom 5: If I Had the Time 6: Seven Stars 7: Circus 8: Pilgrim 9: Sunshine [*] 10: Seven Stars [Extended Version][*] 11: Pilgrim [Extended Version][#][*] 12: If I Had the Time [*][Demo Version] 13: Sweet Freedom [Alternative Live Version][*] 14: Stealin' [Alternative Live Version][*]

Heavy Metal Groups
It is in the middle of the pack. Sweet Freedom is not my favorite Heep cd. Lead singer, David Byron, is still in the group. This cd probably got the most air play because of Stealin, but I liked Pilgrim better. I believe this was there sixth effort.

uriah heep as great as i remember
logged of kind of wondering if this is too good to be true, but hey for once no catch, no gimmicks, complete satisfaction. simple search, transaction, and receipt on of the best purchasing experiences i have ever had, and i am 51. as for URIAH HEEP - SWEET FREEDOM i've been looking off and on for several years, just didn't think this could still be available. unless a serious rocker for old hardly anyone remembers, or have heard of them. immediately opened, played, and WOW!!! now i remember why i wore out the album and 2 cassettes of SWEET FREEDOM!!! thanx! robin .

One of the best from The Heep Remasters series!
The album is cohesive as a whole, as well as seeming to show the group working together as a whole; even though Hensley again writes the bulk of the material. The sixth studio album by Uriah Heep, SWEET FREEDOM is miles and above a better album than the former, creatively fractured THE MAGICIAN'S BIRTHDAY. Whether, he simply got better at writing for the group, or they rose to his style of songwriting; it works. Where the previous album suffered for the slow and lengthy mellow numbers, even when SWEET FREEDOM goes there, many elements of the Rock band behind it all, shine through; rather than lying stagnant in the water. Then there's the fact that when SWEET FREEDOM rocks: it f**kin' ROCKS! Even though Byron returns to that bristling flasetto, he tried using on an outtake from THE MAGICIAN'S BIRTHDAY ("Crystal Ball"); this time it made it to the album, albeit in a slightly modified and more palatable form. I will only say that TMB gets more credit than it deserves because of the superb Dean artwork.

Of the bonus tracks; "Sunshine" is a fantastic outtake that could only be improved by trimming the repeated chorus from the overlong ending. The full version of "Seven Stars" is a tasty treat for anyone who's a big fan of Psychedelia, with it's longer acoustic and synth driven intro. The album version is quite well served by the concise and abrupt intro that emphasizes the start of some serious cock-rockin'; but this lengthier alternate version continues on for more than a minute after the reciting of the ABC's, and comes much closer to what Uriah Heep achieved live than most studio recordings. The extended version of "Pilgrim" differs at the 2:50 mark, where the extended version continues with another 29 second 'Elfen' chorus before the bombastic rockin' organ solo. The guitar solo is extended by a full 32 seconds, however, and makes this version worthy of inclusion. The demo for "If I Had The Time" is a completely different arrangement, that bears little resemblance with it's buried piano riffs, to the trippy synthesizer oriented album version. The vocals of the album track are produced enough to remind one of a Pink Floyd resemblance, while the demo vocals are hardly produced at all. The lyrics themselves are quite interestingly delivered in an entirely different manner. The album version is slightly slower and stripped down to it's bare essentials, in order to emphasize the lyric and bring a depth that the demo hardly approaches. Even though the vocals for the demo start around the 30 second mark, where the album track doesn't start till a minute and 15 seconds; the demo is a full 24 seconds longer! A fascinating window into the creative process of Uriah Heep. The live versions of "Sweet Freedom" and "Stealin" are fine additions to this great album; "Stealin" moreso, for the intro about cowboys and Texans! All in all, one of the best from The Heep Remasters series!.

Awesome Album By Uriah Heep
The resulting album "Sweet Freedom" came out in late 1973 and it's the fourth release to feature what now is regarded as the classic line-up of this group with David Byron on vocals, Mick Box on guitar, Ken Hensley on keyboards, Gary Thain on bass, and Lee Kerslake on drums. After the success of their first live album, the group wasted little time and immediately began preparing and recording new material at the Ch�teau d'Herouville in France. Throughout the recording, there's a fine mix of hard rock, progressive rock, and an acoustic song. I really liked Mick Box's thick fuzz distorted tone that he uses!

The song that gets to start the album is the Box/Thain penned "Dreamer". Great scratchy rhythm guitar, prominent bass lines, a thick hammond organ sound, and the distinctive vocals of Byron makes this track instantly memorable. Note the cool lead guitar bits that Box throws in between the verses. After it's fade out, we go into "Stealin'" that happens to be the most popular song on the album and only one to get radio airplay. It's a rather southern rock sounding song with repentant lyrics written by keyboard player Hensley who dominates here with his organ playing. Still you get a short solo by Box as well.

For a nice change of style comes the Hensley/Thain written "One Day". I like the anthemic feel of the melodies featured in the verses along with short, catchy, melodic lead guitar bits while in the middle, Byron uses vocal overdubs to great effect and finally it comes to an explosive ending. . . boom! Excellent!
Next is the Hensley written title track "Sweet Freedom" and is one of the best songs on the album! It goes in a prog-rock direction. The guitars, keyboards and vocals harmonize perfectly plus you get very cool bass lines from Thain. Afterwards comes the other progressive rock song included and that is "If I Had The Time" where Hensley uses a moog synth instead of the usual hammond sound resulting in a moody and atmospheric piece. The most memorable part is in the middle when it changes to a haunting section. Towards the end, Box plays a repeating theme on slide guitar.
Now it's on to the poppy sounding "Seven Stars". Box plays his usual thick fuzz distorted electric guitar and an acoustic overdub as well. I really like that part at the end where Byron sings the alphabet forward and then backwards too! But now it's time to go into "Circus". This is an awesome haunting acoustic pop masterpice! It was written by the Box/Thain partnership with help from Kerslake too. Great catchy melodies are showcased and this is one of Byron's best vocal performences here. I also liked the percussion too. It's the shortest song on the album lasting about two minutes and forty seconds. I wish it was longer!
The album closes with the prog rock multi-part epic "Pilgrim" where the songwriting credit is shared by Byron and Hensley. Stunning operatic voclas in the intro and even better sections follow. Then Box comes along to play an incredible, agressive solo drenched in wah wah before the final section, where Byron steals the show with his singing over a melody that's repeated until the fade out that sadly puts an end to the album!

However there's still the bonus tracks to come and the first is the excellent b-side "Sunshine". This is truly a hard rock gem. Stellar voclas by Byron are included in this Box/Thain composition and as the liner notes say, this song could be useful for one of the more modern metal bands to cover. The demo version of "If I Had The Time" is also interesting because it features a different band. Hensley plays piano and acoustic guitar but on the lead guitar is Paul Kossoff and playing drums is Simon Kirke both from the group Free! They add a nice touch to this demo.
Admittedly the two live tracks are not that great, but mostly because of poor sound and the extended version of "Pilgrim" is disappointing too becase it's just a copy and paste job done to the recording featured on the album. In order to have a longer running time, certain parts of the song were repeated! The extended "Seven Stars" is a little better, it runs until the band stops playing instead of the fade out even though is the same recording featured on the original album. These are only minor complains though!

So if you like hard rock and prog rock, then serve yourself. Add this underrated album to your collection! Make sure you get the 2004 remastered version as it includes a thick booklet and bonus tracks! Uriah Heep: A poor man's Deep Purple? No Way!
Thanks for taking the time to read!
Later.

Vintage Metal
Great to hear this album again!Brings me back to another time and place. Classic,sweet metal. Also meant to be played at MAXIMUM VOLUME!!!.

You can see a complete list of all Uriah Heep discography, or go back to the Uriah Heep tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.