Equator (March 1985) sold poorly, due to the fact that “CBS just did a terrible job getting it into the shops”, as Box saw it. On the other hand, what Kirk Blows described as “a solid piece of product that had the potential to do extremely well” was regarded less…
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By this time Gerry Bron was Uriah Heep manager no longer (they were looked after by Neil Warnock in Europe and Blue Öyster Cult’s management team in the US) and then, finally, Bronze Records collapsed under the weight of debts, which, according to Box, “cost Heep a lot of money”.…
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Head First (May 1983), produced again by Ashley Howe (who, according to Goalby, became “like the sixth member of the band”), followed much in the same vein, pursuing (according to AllMusic) “a similar combination of heavy metal firepower and AOR sleekness”. Not long before its release Daisley left the band…
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Produced by Ashley Howe, the Abominog album (according to Blows) was “important … in the way it pulled Heep out of the Seventies and thrust them into the Eighties with determination muscle”, even if it sounded a bit too American. Released in March 1982 (and preceded in February by the…
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A meeting at the manager’s office concerning the songwriting dissent was the last straw and, in September 1980, Hensley quit. Gregg Dechert, a Canadian who had worked with Sloman in Pulsar, came in and the band went on a 23-date tour of the UK. After recording an album’s worth of…
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Ex- Lone Star John Sloman was brought in, a younger singer who played keyboards and guitar and was, in the words of Box, “an all rounder”. But almost instantly, Lee Kerslake departed, after a row with Bron, whom the drummer accused of favouritism towards Hensley’s material. Several tracks of the…
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In the end of 1978, Fallen Angel came out, having completed a hat-trick of studio albums to feature a consistent lineup (only the second time in their career that they had done so). “Too poppy” for Mick Box’s liking (but still, “too eccentric to fit the bill of an AOR…
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Innocent Victim , released in November 1977, “had a slight edge on Firefly ” according to Box, but still in retrospect this “blend of sharp, short rockers and pop-friendly ballads” looked like “an attempt to court the American AOR market”. The single “Free Me” (whose “acoustic style and accent on…
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Firefly was released in February 1977, displaying “renewed effervescence and energy in unveiling what was clearly a new beginning for Heep” (per. K. Blows), “a new vigour and confidence” (according to a Record Mirror review) and also the new singer’s abilities: the latter (according to AllMusic), although lacking the multi-octave…
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High and Mighty followed in June 1976. It was considered lightweight; even Box stated: “less of the ‘eavy and more of the ‘umble” (making pointed reference to Uriah Heep ‘s self-description as “‘umble” in Dickens’ David Copperfield ). The matter of production here became the point of major contention. With…
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