Customer Reviews

High and Mighty

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

this is the second heep album to feature john wetton. in fact, he takes the lead vocal on the first track 'one way or another.' this fast song is reminiscent of wetton-era king crimson. it's great and correctly placed because the music to follow is so unlike it. from the searing Box guitar on 'weep in silence' on through the hensley counterattack of 'can't keep a good band down,' this 1976 release is byron's last with the band. the production is crisp and clear, the arrangements, for the most part, are understated and the overall mood is one of reflection and world-weariness. byron is all over this record, yet his histrionics are nowhere evident. neither is the fantasy imagery nor proto-metal feel of the early 70's albums to be found; instead, 'high and mighty' is a tour-de-force and (sadly) a last gasp for byron-era heep . it's as if the presence of wetton (and his pedrigree) in the studio influenced hensley to compose, byron to sing, and box to play, in a mature style bereft of the lumpen AOR arrangements and party-rock cliches that peppered their records after 'magician's birthday.' these same traits would (gradually) return for the lawton-era albums that follow. 'high and mighty,' 'demons and wizards,' 'firefly,' and 'conquest' are my favorite heep efforts. 'demons and wizards' captures the band at their prog-metal best. 'high and mighty' has a psychedelic-ballad feel. 'firefly' is the best of the post-byron releases, combining as it does the plaintive quality of 'high' with the imagery and heaviness of 'demons.' 'conquest' is a great late 70's hard rock record in the trsdition of kiss, old whitesnake, journey. from this, it's obvious that heep is capable of stylistic variety. for awesome guitar, vocals, production, and hard rock ballads, check out the overlooked 'high and mighty.'

The final album with original vocalist David Byron (whose worsening alcoholism and increasingly erratic behavior would shortly lead to his firing), self-produced by the band during a row with long-time manager/producer Gerry Bron, "High and Mighty" is a mixed bag, which showed that while the band were still capable of producing first-rate material even during such turmoil, they needed a producer's objective opinion to tell them when things weren't working.

Positive points: side one of the original LP (tracks 1-4) is incredible; it stacks up well against anything they ever recorded; had the album continued in the same vein, it would have rivaled "Demons and Wizards" as their best, and it is well worth owning for these tracks alone. "One Way Or Another" is a propulsive rocker, surprisingly featuring lead vocals from John Wetton and Ken Hensley (filling in for Byron, suffering from a case of the mumps), while "Weep In Silence", "Misty Eyes", and "Midnight", are archetypal "Classic Heep" songs, all of which would have been among the standout tracks on any of the previous albums.

Negative points: I hate to knock my favorite group, but the remaining tracks, side two of the original LP, are mostly an unfocused, experimental mess, illustrating exactly why bands normally rely on an outside producer to seperate the gold from the dross. "Can't Keep A Good Band Down" is a musical retread of the previous album's far superior "Prima Donna", minus the horns, and the lyrics, complaining about bad reviews in the mainstream music press, come off as whining. "Woman Of The World" and "Can't Stop Singing" are close to unlistenable; the latter being easily the worst thing they ever recorded in any lineup, the "Equator" album included. "Footprints In The Snow" and "Make A Little Love" aren't particularly objectionable; unfortunately, neither are they particularly memorable. "Confession", which closes the original LP, is a gentle and pretty piano ballad, but nothing we haven't heard before (and better) on "Rain" or "The Easy Road".

Overall, certainly not the finale to the Byron era that one could have wished for, but again, worth owning for the original side one.

Only buy this if you are seriously hooked on Heep . I was and still am. The overall impression is of a lot of filler on this, and some odd arrangement ideas which one can only assume were an attempt to drag in new non-rock fans. Still, there are a few classics : 'One way or another' is a heavy rocking gem with amazing vocals by John Wetton (+ Hensley section). It is the only true heavy track on the album. Byron gets his turn on the excellent 'Weep in silence' with great Box guitar. There is the almost epic 'Midnight'(let down seriously by a funky small chorus section!}. 'Can't keep a good band down' is a fair rock/pop blast and 'Footprints in the snow' another good Wetton effort being an acoustic/blues mix. Other trax are just not up to scratch. Don't buy this if you want heavy or classic Heep but it does have some good moments.

Obviously, having Ken Hensley as one of the stronger writers of a band like Uriah Heep can have its pluses and minuses. Unfortunately on this outing, I'm left with a record that is unbalanced and teetering on the verge of throwaway self-indifference...David Byron was well on his way out of the band by the time this came out, yet, he still turns in some fine vocal performances in a professional manner. Midnight is the saving grace of attestment to this. John Wetton and Ken trade verses on the opening number One Way or Another and is actually a suprise that works really well. But Can't Stop Singing, Make a Little Love and Footprints in the Snow are surely much more suited to a side or solo project than that to the music of Uriah Heep as a band.

Truth of the matter is, the band chose to simply back-up Ken Hensley on this outing and in the liner notes to the Sanctuary remaster, he even admits it as such, while also intimating the album's failure as a true Heep album. Granted, Hensley was the most prolific and possibly more instrumentally versatile than that of the other members,(with the exception of John Wetton) but it also shows a weakness and a band faltering and in transition; for a month after the release of High n Mighty, David Byron quit(or was fired) and Wetton left as well, choosing better pastures for himself in the music world.

This record is half hit and half miss and in hindsight, its a shame that this is last album for the Byron era. The bonus tracks on the Santuary remaster though do offer something of interest to the serious fan. Sundown is a track that has a nice rocking shuffle to it and should have been included on the orginal tracklisting. There's also an alternate version of Weep In Silence which features some great soloing from Mick Box; musically, its the same take, its in unedited form here. I Close My Eyes is a lost track that was recovered and restored and although its another piano driven number, it features another great vocal from Byron. The other outtakes would be working demos for Woman of the World(Does Anything Matter) and Footprints in the Snow(Take Care) and give an insight into how Hensley and co. would work on material that he presented. This album gets two and a half stars mostly for the inclusion of the bonus tracks and it remains of interest to the serious fan, casual fans are better off with Demons and Wizards or ultimately, Live 1973 if you want to listen to classic Heep.

The bass work is really terriffic. Also, the first two songs are amazing--one way or another is probably one of Uriah Heep's very best songs and the extended version of Wepp in Silence is particularly nice. And check out the bass on Midnight. It sort of fizzles out at the end--but an interesting record and worth it--if for no other reason--to hear John Wetton playing with Uriah Heep. Very good stuff!

I THINk THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING ROCK RECORD, GOOD, CATCHY, WELL STRUCTURED ROCKING SONGS, AND ALSO BECAUSE, IF YOU APPRECIATE FINE BASS PLAYING, HERE YOU LL GET JOHN WETTON'S PERFECT, HEAVY BASS LINES.
HE HAD JUST LEFT KING CRIMSON, OR SHOULD I SAY, BOB FRIPP WENT NUTS AFTER 'RED' AND KICKED HIS SORRY BUTT OUT, SO WETTON JOINED SEVERAL BIG ROCK BANDS IN THESE YEARS. HIS WORK HERE IS EXCELLENT. THEN HE PLAYED WITH UK AND AFTER THAT HE FORMED ASIA

LATELY, HIS CHANGE OF STYLE INTO pop romantic STUFF, HAS SADLY DRIED OUT HIS BLOW YOUR BALLS STYLE. . ANOTHER OF WETTON'S RARE BASS STINTS was IN WISHBONE ASH'ES VERY GOOD NUMBER THE BRAVE.

The June 1976 release set the stage for the departure of founding member and vocalist David Byron, whose personal demons was destroying the band, and the final album for bassist/vocalist John Wetton, who left to purse other projects.

The 10 tracks clock in at 38 minutes, with keyboardist Ken Hensley writing eight numbers and co-writing a pair with Wetton. With the quickly evolving FM rock radio to more commercial formats, Hensley and Wetton mostly abandon progressive rock elements for the standard fare that could find a spot in most station formats.

One Word or Another is a sizzling hard rocker with Hensley and Wetton on vocals and Midnight is Byron's swan song, as he delivers a searing performance. But the low points are quite uninspired - Can't Stop Singing, Woman of the World, Make a Little Love - that finds the group trying to find a spot in the rock universe with top arena acts like Bad Company.

Changes were coming and the rocky road on this album shows the tug o' war that was going on before the studio microphones were turned on.

There are great surprises on every Uriah Heep album especially during the 1970s. My favorite and probably one of the best Heep songs ever is "Footprints in the Snow" - this should be a wintertime favorite and played on every rock station in the world - it's that good! "Weep in Silence" is a really cool song as well. There's a great rif in "Midnight" followed by a really 'bright' organ, too bright in my opinion - that's the only thing I don't like in that particular song. This is the last album with legendary David Byron as the singer.

Uriah Heep produced this album and I think
it is damn good. Not as heavy as most but
still has same feel of other Heep albums.
Classic songs like One Way or Another,
Weep in Silence, Footprints in the Snow
and Make a Little Love would please any
Heep fans. Bonus tracks are also great
and shouldn't be missed. If your a Heep
fan or not it's well worth. One of my
favorite albums of all time.

This is honestly the very best Uriah Heep album of all-time. The songwriting has taken an unexpected turn- now the vocal melodies are more experimental and interesting than ever before. "Can't Stop Singing" reminds me of those music boxes that float around in Super Mario Bros. 3, but more importantly, features a nifty little vocal melody that you won't ever forget once you hear it. Excellent song. "Misty Eyes" is a beautiful song that's appropriate for those who like to search for cloud shapes in the sky. It has a dreamy/childhood fantasy sound to it, and I simply adore that unique sound. "Can't Keep a Good Band Down" is a rocking tune with some rather surprising lyrics. I get the feeling the band was getting tired of being bashed by critics all the time, so they wrote this tune. Maybe I'm wrong.

"Sundown" is one of the bands saddest songs, though you can find happiness in the emotions as well. Whenever you need help, search for the sun setting and watch its beauty. "Midnight" totally freaks me out. A song like this sounds like absolutely NOBODY else. That's a good thing in my book. "One Way or Another" reminds me of the Talking Heads! I can't explain why. I think they appeared on the music scene the same year this album was released, but there's probably no connection or anything.

This is seriously the most consistently pleasing Uriah Heep record of all-time. I can't think of many other albums where I enjoy every single song from beginning to end. High and Mighty is just that- a masterpiece. You must listen to it today and take a special ride to a fantasy land far, far away.