Customer Reviews

Sea of Light

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In 1994, Uriah Heep experienced a beautiful transformation back into the band they used to be in "Demons and Wizards" days (1972), a return haralded perfectly by the fact that the cover was painted by the same artist who did Demons and Wizards' cover, Roger Dean. Honestly, SoL's is probably my second favorite Uriah Heep cover of all time (perhaps after the "gallery of statues" we see on "Wonderworld", which I just love), so the album is already off to a magnificent start before you've even put the disc into the player. Ten years after the release of SoL, the band still shows no sign of slipping in terms of the quality of their music... I for one am anxiously anticipating their next new album, which word has it will be out this summer (possibly in June).

SoL starts off with a loud and true rocker (making a great first impression for any newby you might happen to loan it to, if the thought of listening to music from the seventies immediately causes them to twitch), the excellent "Against the Odds". Love it... it starts off with an ethereal, quiet, synth introduction, immediately bringing to mind the idea of sunshine... or if you want, given the title of the album, a luminous ocean somehow emanating forth light from its waves... giving the listener a feeling of peaceful serenity that lasts only a few seconds before being broken (though not unwelcomely) by a fast and thunderous guitar solo by the one and only Mick Box. The song that follows from that is just great... awesome lyrics sung by the beautifully-voiced Bernie Shaw ("in the court of kings, I look around; My blood runs cold, I close my eyes"), great, only-Uriah Heep-could-do-this backing vocals, wonderful organ playing courtesy of Phil Lanzon... awesome stuff. I honestly can't think of a better way to begin an album.

Though the first two albums from this current line-up of Uriah Heep had their moments but were still, in my humble opinion, no masterpieces, that's no longer the case starting with SoL... Eleven more songs of the same quality come after "Against the Odds", in a nice variety of styles and moods. We get more rockers (my favorite of which is Trevor Bolder's fast and furious "Fear of Falling"), ballads (like the all-acoustic "Dream On" which closes the album), rocker/ballads (the beautiful "Spirit of Freedom", the opening of which always makes me imagine a mountain trying to fly and succeeding), and even some symphonic/progressive rock (the undefinable "Love in Silence", fascinatingly enhanced by an orchestra).

The well never seems to run dry... each track has something about it that can be looked forward to, and the musicianship is excellent in every respect. I was particularly happy to note that keyboardist Phil Lanzon at last discovered that true Uriah Heep music relies not on synthesizers (as it unfortunately did heavily in the eighties, with the three albums featuring keyboardest John Sinclair and the two albums before this one that Lanzon played on), but on piano and organ, primarily. Yes, there is synth to be heard (as I noted in my description of the first track), but it's sparingly and only effectively used and in no way distracting (check out the piano solo on "Mistress of All Time"!). It lends a sort of timelessness to the music that makes it impossible to date... that sort of fantasy, fairy-tale quality that Heep hasn't, with a few exceptions (like the excellent "Night of the Wolf" track from 1985's "Equator", which was organ organ left and right) given us since the Demons/Wizards/Magicians days of the early seventies.

The glory days of Uriah Heep have returned. Anyone who used to be a fan but then lost them once the eighties rolled around, as well as anyone who's never even heard Uriah Heep before listen to me: SoL is a great way to discover/re-discover one of the greatest bands of all time, and I certainly hope you will give it a try. You'll have a lot of fun, experience some great feelings, and by the time it's over you'll feel as though you just sailed around the world.

Carry on Carry on,

MN

Heep's 1995 album, currently being released in limited quantities in the U.S., is being hailed as the best effort since the band's classic days of the early seventies, and with good reason. The current lineup has lots of exeprience and use it to create masterful hard rock. "Mistress of all Time", "Spirit of Freedom" and "Love in Silence" are all stunningly beautiful, exemplifying the kind of power-ballad that this band has always done so well. However, there are a good dose of harder rocking numbers to show the band aren't all light and no shade. Great album. Although the days of Demons and Wizards and The Magician's Birthday are long gone, this is as much as a Heep fan can hope for from the boys in the nineties.

On 1995's Sea Of Light [released in US by Spitfire in 99], Uriah Heep went back to try and regain the magic of the early '70s. And here, the band do regain the spirit and quality of their classic albums. There's a bit of everything here for the old Heep fan from the opening metal chords of "Against The Odds" , to the progressive epic ballad "Love In silence", to the brilliant acoustic ballad that closes this disc "Dream On" -- Heep show that they are not 'dinosaurs' of the 70s, but rather a very underrated band that still has lots of new great music to offer to fans of classic rock and HR. Sea Of Light consisting of 12 strong tunes, was the 3rd studio album by the line-up lead by original guitarist Mick Box, keyboardist Phil Lanzon, longtime drummer Lee Kerslake, bassist Trevor Bolder, and the magnificent vocals of Canadian boy Bernie Shaw. If you hadn't bought a Uriah Heep album since the mid 70s -- this is a good one to re-introduce yourself to the band in the 90s! Highly recommended!!

After a string of mediocre albums that flopped commercially in the 80s and early 90s, it really looked like Uriah Heep had reached the end of the line by 1994. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, along came "Sea Of Light", one of the best albums of their career. Abandoning the cheesy synths, hair-metal vocals, and MTV-style songwriting that had marred their work over the past decade, and caused all but the most die-hard fans to give up on them, they decided to produce an album that sounded like Uriah Heep again, and the result was astonishing. Huge credit goes to keyboardist Phil Lanzon, who brings back the classic Hammond organ that was Heep's signature sound, and vocalist Bernie Shaw, whose singing takes a quantum leap on this CD (on many tracks, he sounds uncannily like original vocalist David Byron). Some of the band's finest songwriting since "The Magician's Birthday" can be found here, from the power of "Time Of Revelation" and "Universal Wheels", to the grace of "Mistress Of All Time" and "Love In Silence", to the delicate, haunting beauty of "Dream On".

"Sea Of Light" is a triumph, and laid the groundwork for its (arguably even better) follow-up, 1998's "Sonic Origami". A must for all Heepsters, and highly recommended to anyone else.

This was a welcome surprise when I thought this band was all but gone forever. The music is solid and the musicians are great and suggest that this band will soldier on for a long time. Sonic Orgami is also fantastic. Long live the Heap!!

This album has to be one of the best Heep has ever put out! Having been a fan for a long time, this album is so "mature" but still rocks. Phil Lanzon and Mick Box are a great writing duo a la Box and Hensley. It took a few albums, but they are at that point now. Standout tracks are "Against All Odds", "Time of Revelation", "Logical Progression", "Fires of Hell" and "Dream On". The latter being the best ballad that I have ever heard. The follow up "Sonic Origami" was given 4 and a half stars. This one gets 5+! I would recommend it to any Heep fan, rock fan or prog fan. The song writing has caught up to the musicianship finally-AGAIN.

Really amazing. After a dreadful boredom as DIFFERENT WORLD, UH made an absolute masterpiece, a miracle of tenderness and emotion. The pair composition Box / Lanzon is unmatched and the work of keyboardist, along with Bernie Shaw, make a display of good taste and imagination. And the arrangements! for the love of God, how wonderful!
AGAINST THE ODDS, TIME OF REVELATION, UNIVERSAL WHEELS, MISTRESS OF ALL TIME, WORDS IN THE DISTANCE, SPIRIT OF FREEDOM, LOGICAL PROGRESSION, SWEET SUGAR and mainly that prodigy of celestilal beauty called LOVE IN SILENCE make a handful of the finest rock songs that can be heard.
Heep did it again and called SEA OF LIGHT. I just say thanks for so much magic

Not a bad effort by this long running British heavy rock unit, but I definitely liked their newest offering 'Wake The Sleeper' ('08) a bit better. Tracks here that should satisfy most old school Heep followers are "Against The Odds", the heavy hitting "Fear Of Falling", "Spirit Of Freedom", "Words In A Distance" and "Dream On". Vocalist / front man Bernie Shaw doesn't hurt Uriah Heep's longevity - as a few have mentioned before that Shaw has obviously been somewhat influenced by the likes of Steve Perry and the late Boston crooner Bard Delp. I sort of tend to agree with that. Personally, I thought that 'Sea Of Light' was a bit too commercial but maybe that's just me. Give it a listen.

Abandoning the attempt to claw its way back onto the album chart by cranking out generic AOR schlock, Uriah Heep returned to its roots of progressive/goth metal for a dozen tracks of incredible music, as guitarist Mick Box and keyboardist Phil Lanzon co-wrote seven songs, bassist Trevor Bolder penned four and Lanzon wrote one.

Bolder sings lead on Fear of Falling, but the 1995 album is a chance for vocalist Bernie Shaw to shine, especially on all-out rockers Sweet Sugar and Time of Revelation. Against the Odds is the perfect merging of the 1970s vision with the 1990s version of UH, while Spirit of Freedom and Logical Progression are propelled by lyrical power. Roger Dean's album art makes this a perfect package.

Cast adrift by many fans - and critics - as simply a "classic rock" touring band, UH delivered a standout album that is in the top tier of its vast discography.

This is the first Uriah Heep original music that I have bought since Abominog came out 20+ years ago. What fantastic music that they have recorded. While this was released in 1999, I just purchased it recently. The harmony is better than the golden years of 1970-1976. Looking forward to their next CD which is currently being recorded.