Customer Reviews

Free Spirit

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Free Spirit was the third of Ken Hensley's solo albums. As this one was done just after he left Uriah Heep it appears to be more commercially-motivated than the other two which were done more for artistic reasons. Hensley seems to be attempting to tap into the disco-tinged rock sound popular at the time, which he is not as well suited to as his usual mellow introspective acoustic-electric guitar and keyboard-driven style. The result is a rather faceless, by-the-numbers collection which comparitively lacks Ken's usual inspiration and magic. This album has its moments, however, most notably in "When" a well-conceived lively multipart dance number that features many of the familiar Ken Hensley hallmarks and works brilliantly. However, most of these songs are subpar in contrast to Hensley's usual songwriting brilliance although competently performed and sung. Overall, Free Sirit is listenable and makes for a good timekiller album if you're a Ken Hensley fan, but it clearly does not belong in the class of his first two solos.

This is a reply to "valnh@hotmail.com from Sakhalin, Russia"

I wouldn't call "From Time to Time" a solo album. It's a collection, not a regular record. Neither would I call "Best of Ken Hensley" a solo album. What I was referring to was a brand new one, which I was told is coming out soon (if it isn't already out yet).

A customer from Sweden asked about Hensley's fourth solo album, and I know it. Its name is "From Time To Time" and it is compiled from singles and rarities, the song "If I Had The Time" and some others from Uriah Heep are presented there, but it's strange that there is no song with the same name as this album. It's interesting that there is a song called "Free Spirit"! As for album "Free Spirit", it's a good one but I think that "Proud Words..." is his best.

Look out for Hensley's fourth solo album, which will contain e.g. a new version of my Uriah Heep favorite "If I had the time". If it isn't out yet, it should be somewhere in 1999.

Ken Hensley released three solo albums on the Bronze label. This is the third one. If I'm correctly informed, it was necessary for Hensley to make this record on order to be relieved from his contract with Bronze after he quit Heep. This would be the reason why the songs are generally of low quality -- for Hensley that is. Or it could be that Hensley, the king of the 70:s, was now on his way down.

Still it has some good tunes, such as New York and the ballad No More. Featured on the record are some of Hensley's friends, such as Ian Pace of Deep Purple, Kenny Jones from the Who, Mark Clarke from Colosseum (co-writer of The Wizard, the only thing he did with Heep, not a bad mark in music history) and Trevor Bolder from Heep which should call for success, but the magic from Hensley's other solo albums and projects just isn't there.

My personal favorite with Hensley, besides the records he did with Uriah Heep in the early 70:s, is the album "Orgasm" with the group Machine Head. The record doesn't note Hensley anywhere, but instead he uses a synonyme, probably due to contractual reasons with Bronze Records and Heep. That record contains some remixes of songs he did with Toe Fat before joining Heep, songs for which he was not credited on Toe Fat's self-titled debut. Also try to get "Weed!", which contains the heavier side of Hensley, and lists him as Ken Lesley on the cover.

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