Uriah Heep - Sonic Origami | ||
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Album Cover: |
Label: Eagle Records Producers: Pip Williams Year: 1998 Total Playing Time:75:38 mins:secs Review date: 12 Feb 1999 |
| Web site: www.uriah-heep.com
Email: | ||
| Rating: 8 | ||
| Verdict: After a somewhat cool initial reaction, this one has grown on me | ||
| Uriah Heep! Now there is a blast from the past. Uriah Heep had already made a name for themselves by the time I discovered them. That was way back in the 80s with the 'Abominog' album. 'On The Rebound' from that album was a firm favourite at the time & indeed I bought one of those cheap 'Anthology' albums a few years back just get that track. After 'Abominog', I also bought 'Head First' which could well have been the follow-up. Apart from the anthology album, I haven't bought any further Uriah Heep albums, up until now of course. Even though my interest may have waned, the band has keep going with various line-ups. The current line-up features Bernie Shaw on vocals. After that long break, a couple of good reports about their latest release were enough for me to decide to find out what Uriah Heep were doing these days.
I put this in the CD player, listened to once, said "Disappointing" and didn't even bother to listen to it for a few weeks. Then one day a quest for something different to listen to brought me back to Sonic Origami. This time I must have approached it with a more open mind, or maybe I just had the time to listen to it properly, because I found myself thinking that perhaps I had been a bit hasty in dismissing the album & that it might be worth including a review of it on my web site. So why my initial cool reaction. Well, from the reviews I had read, I was expecting something along the same lines as 'Abominog' & 'Head First'. Sure, there are elements of those albums present in heavy doses, but it's a mixture of this commercial era with the pomp tendencies of their early days. This isn't as immediate, or as heavy, as I was expecting. Part of the problem is the 75 mins running time. Not that I'm complaining, but it does mean that you're going to have to set aside a bit of time to sit down & listen properly. I'm certainly glad that I did. Uriah Heep have been around long enough to not really need a description from me, but for those of you that have heard any of their material, I'd describe them as a mixture of AOR/Hard Rock with a big dollop of Pomp thrown in. OK, so they aren't exactly going to be targeting the charts with that approach, but I'm sure Mood Swings readers aren't that interested in what makes it into the Top 40. Uriah Heep put their signature all over the opening track, 'Between Two Worlds', and keep things running fairly smoothly throughout the rest of the album. Between Two Worlds features a swirling Hammond to start with before continuing with some uptempo rocking that is maintained for the first 3 songs. On 'Heartless Land' they pause for breath. Just sit, listen and enjoy. Unfortunately, the next track, 'Only The Young', isn't quite so memorable. The Pomp AOR of 'In The Moment' & the stark beauty of 'Question' are more acceptable. 'Change' is mid-tempo filler. 'Shelter From The Rain' is a more electric-based slowie, but with a hint of Pomp. 'Everything In Life' rocks along ala early Heep. After that reference to the past, the band adopt a modern rhythm track to accompany the 'Across The Miles' ballad. Being old hands at this making albums lark, Heep know it is a good idea to save some good tunes for the end of the album. 'Feels Like' is the most commercial sounding tune on here. What can I say about 'Golden Palace', apart from the fact that it is 8:34 m:s of shear beauty that flows from the orchestra beginning into a Pomp-tastic delight. On the limited edition version, the bonus track, 'Sweet Pretender', is a melodic rock track where the chorus outshines the rest of the track. After a somewhat cool initial reaction, this one that grown on me. | ||
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