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Live

Uriah Heep - Live Audio CD

A fair review of the Uriah Heep "Live" 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: Live
Rating:

Release Date: 2004-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Sunrise 2: Sweet Lorraine 3: Traveller in Time 4: Easy Livin' 5: July Morning 6: Tears in My Eyes 7: Gypsy 8: Circle of Hands 9: Look at Yourself 10: Magician's Birthday 11: Love Machine 12: Rock 'n' Roll Medley: Roll Over Beethoven/Blue Suede Shoes/Mean Woman Blues/Hound 13: Something or Nothing 14: I Won't Mind 15: Look at Yourself 16: Gypsy 17: Easy Livin' 18: So Tired 19: I Won't Mind 20: Something or Nothing 21: Easy Road 22: Stealin' 23: Love Machine 24: Rock 'N' Roll Medley '74: Roll Over Beethoven/Blue Suede Shoes/Mean Woman Blues

Must have it Live
I realise this is an old album to be reviewing here in late 2009 but if you like Uriah Heep & are curious of their sheer raw power. . then BUY this CD & TURN IT UP.
Gypsy is very long & "trippy" (if that is still a word). This was a time when bands played Live, recorded it, cleaned it up a little but it is great. Uriah Heep have MANY more Excellent Live CD's but this one was the beginning. The classic Heep line up was in full swing. Listen to the greatness of David Byron's voice, Gary Thains bass playing, Ken Hensleys hammond organ has it's own personality, Lee Kerslake was great on drums LONG before he joined Ozzy Osbourne & of course MICK BOX is the Power House on lead guitar since the beginning & he's still going strong.

Double Life
This album especially. A historically underrated band, Uriah Heep has been well served with remastered versions of their albums, showing that popular acts (like Dickens) sometimes prove the critics wrong in terms of quality and longevity.

For one thing, it's raw and truthful. Unlike other classic Seventies double-live albums, "Uriah Heep Live" was recorded one sole January night in Birmingham, England, and unlike similar albums by the Allmans, Derek and the Dominos, Led Zeppelin, and Thin Lizzy, it doesn't reveal significant overdubs or splicings. The Seventies were an age when studios and producers became name brands, and even "live" albums were stamped with their mark. "Uriah Heep Live" isn't, yet almost every track is superior to its studio incarnation. What makes this version of this exceptional album the best yet is the bonus disc of additional live tracks.

The original 1989 CD release did not include the 'Rock 'N' Roll Medley' from the vinyl album. The 1996 Castle remaster corrected this due-to-CD-time-limitations problem with the additional track, better sound, and superb packaging. The 2003 Sanctuary remaster sounds even better (thicker, more detailed) and includes not just the complete album but an additional disc of live material mostly postdating the 1973 album. The first four tracks were originally heard as a U. S. radio show compiled from live recordings made in 1973 ("Uriah Heep Live") and 1974 (Shepperton Studios sessions). The other eight tracks come from the Shepperton Studios sessions BUT, like the two (duplicate) tracks that were included in the radio show, with tremendously improved sound quality. That is, the formerly hard-to-hear guitar parts are now as loud as they should be, and the "Wonderworld" tracks come across as they always should have--as classic Uriah Heep. The mushy echo is gone.

Uriah Heep fans should feel blessed. Young goth listeners could do far worse than trying out a band that, in its early years, could drive reviewers to contemplate suicide. Any other fan of 70s hard rock would do well to pick up this exemplary reissue.

Expanded Deluxe Remaster of Uhiah Heep - Live '73
It certainly made my Top Ten list of "The Best of the Best Live Albums" listmania list. Uriah Heep Live in 1973 is one of my all-time personal favorite Live albums by any band. If you are not familiar with the music and are looking for a "music review", see other reviews for the older single disc $9. 98 version. There are plenty of good reviews.

My review is mainly about the new Sanctuary Records Expanded Deluxe Remaster and how it compares to other previous releases. I recently decided to finally upgrade my Uriah Heep Live cd and decided on this Import version. I have a very old original Mercury Records/Polydor release from 1989. It was a single disc (69:25) with 12 tracks, a simple 3-leaf fold-out booklet with mini-biographies of the band members, some production notes, and some small color photos on one page. The older version really only had 11 songs on it since the "intro" is track 1, which is the "Give us a minute to tune the guitars and voices and things and we'll be with ya" part. The Rock 'n Roll Medley was cut on the early version due to the indusrty standard 74 minute compact disc in those days.

This Expanded Deluxe edition 2-disc set is a great improvement. Disc 1 is the complete concert as we all know it, same as the original 2-LP vinyl release on Bronze Records (SRM-2-7503). Clocking in at (77:47) the sound is good. Compared to my older release, the new Sactuary Import has slightly more output. Their is a restored even balance. More defined clear bass response. Much better high-end frequency response. Crisp highs without additional tape hiss. Improved separation. On my older Polydor release, the instruments and voices sound slightly "distant". Buried a little in the murky bass response. On the Import, everything is brought forward sonically.

The two discs are housed in a standard size double cd jewel case. I guess it would be considered "slimline". There is a 23 page booklet which includes the original sleeve notes, original full-size photos of each band member (w/signitures), full gate-fold live stage shot, and newly updated commentary from surviving members Ken Hensley and Mick Box. There are even two pages of reproduction album dust covers showing bad reviews for the band!

Disc 2 is all bonus material. Basically other Live recordings from the same 1973-74 era. Disc 2 is (55:28) in length and contains 12 tracks. If you look at some of the track listings for this product you will notice some tracks appearing twice. Here's the story on that. The first four songs are from a US Radio show that was broadcast in 1973. Songs include Something or Nothing, I Won't Mind, Look at Yourself, and a heavily edited version of Gypsy. The other eight tracks are from the infamous Shepperton Film Studios show from June 1974. These are Easy Livin', So Tired, I Won't Mind, Something or Nothing, The Easy Road, Stealin', Love Machine, and the Rock'n Roll Medley. This additional material was discovered by Robert Corich while doing research for this project.

The only thing missing is a live recording of The Wizard, which is rumoured to have been played during the show, along with Lady in Black, Bird of Prey, and Come Away Melinda. But, these tracks were cut to fit onto the 2-LP format. And, as stated by Robert Corich in the production notes, no multi-track tapes, except for the one used to make the original vinyl album, exists today.

I highly recommend this Live album. Especially if you tend to lean towards Hard Rock or Heavy Metal.

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.