Uriah Heep's 'Living the Dream' - Album Review

Considering Uriah Heep are only a year away from their fiftieth anniversary, it may surprise the uninitiated to learn how active the band still are. With fans all over the world, the English hard rock pioneers rarely seem to be off the road. With touring cycles that take in corners of the world that many bands neglect, with a particular focus on Easter Europe which have always welcomed the band with open arms, Uriah Heep are truly a global force. In my opinion they are also one of the most important hard rock bands to have ever existed, and have done a lot over the years to help to create and forward rock music as we know it today. Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple often get all the credit, but Uriah Heep should always be included in any discussions surrounding the formulation of hard rock. Only guitarist Mick Box is left from these genre-defining days, but the Uriah Heep of today are just as vital and as powerful as the original line-ups of the 1970s. Both frontman Bernie Shaw and keyboardist Phil Lanzon have been in the band for over thirty years now, having joined together in 1986, and drummer Russell Gilbrook has given over a decade of service. Only bassist Davey Rimmer is a relatively new face, having joined the band in 2013, but with this particular line-up of the band now having been together for five years they have now grown into a really tight unit. The version of the band made their debut together in the studio back in 2014, and the results of this collaboration was 2014's Outsider (which I reviewed here). Outsider was the third album in what could have been seen as a bit of trilogy of new releases that saw Uriah Heep re-establish themselves as a creative force after a decade of not releasing anything new. 2008's Wake the Sleeper and 2011's Into the Wild were both excellent albums, but Outsider felt somewhat tame in comparison. It is still a fun album, with a few stand-out tracks, but on the whole it fails to live up to the excellence of the previous two efforts. We are now four more years further down the road and, last month, Uriah Heep unleashed their latest opus Living the Dream onto the world. It is amazing to think that it is the band's twenty fouth studio album - which just shows how prolific the band have been at various points throughout their career considering they had a ten year hiatus of releasing anything new between 1998 and 2008! Living the Dream is a hard-hitting album, and instantly makes more of an impact than Outsider. This time around the band elected to work with producer Jay Ruston, who is more known for working with heavier bands such as Anthrax and Stone Sour, who was probably responsible for this album having more weight behind it. Despite this slightly heavier feel at times, Living the Dream is classic Uriah Heep through and through - being packed full of wah-drenched guitar riffs, Lanzon's growling Hammond organ, and the soaring harmony vocals that the band have become known for during their near-fifty year career.

While Box and Lanzon form the band's main songwriting partnership these days, Living the Dream opens with the first Uriah Heep song to have been written by Rimmer. In collaboration with journeyman singer Jeff Scott Soto (Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force; Talisman; Axel Rudi Pell; W.E.T.; Sons of Apollo) who wrote the song's lyrics, Rimmer has created a future Uriah Heep classic and shows that he has gained a great understanding of the band's signature style despite his short tenure. Grazed by Heaven is the song, and it kicks off the album in fine fashion - summing up the hard-hitting nature of the disc. A massive organ riff from Lanzon drives the piece, while Shaw showcases why he is the band's longest-serving frontman. The man's voice has not aged a jot, and his powerful - yet melodic - delivery instantly draws in the listener. The modern Uriah Heep sound also owes a lot to drummer Gilbrook, who's style is much heavier than any of the band's previous drummers. This song would not hit quite as hard without him sitting behind the kit, and Gilbrook is one of the reasons I think Uriah Heep sound as fresh as they do in the 21st Century. Everything that is great about Uriah Heep can be found in this song, from the huge chorus filled with harmony vocals to a dynamic instrumental section that sees Box and Lanzon trading solos like the old hands they are. The album's title track follows on from the lead single, and slows things down to a more mid-paced grind which sees Shaw's vocals take on a slightly haunting quality during the sparse verses, before exploding into his usual expressive style during the majestic choruses. Box's simple guitar riffs here create a slightly sinister feel, and this is mirrored by the keyboards that create a dense, atmospheric backing. The choruses are more uplifting however, with more of the harmony vocals the band are known for getting woven around a playful melody. While not as immediate or hard-hitting as the album's opening, this is a song that creeps into your consciousness over time and makes a gradual impact. Take Away My Soul is another more in-your-face piece that opens with the jaunty chorus that is masterfully delivered by Shaw. While David Byron is the most well-known Uriah Heep frontman, I really think that Shaw is my favourite. His vocals are packed with a lot of feeling, and he can still hit some pretty impressive high notes despite having a slightly tougher edge to his delivery. It is this edge that really helps the band to have such a powerful sound, and his vocals mix perfectly with Lanzon's retro keyboard sounds for an all-encompassing sound. Speaking of Lanzon, he lays down an excellent organ solo in this song which really turns the clock back to the 1970s.

The energy does not let up during Knocking at My Door, which marries the band's heaviness and sense of melody perfectly. Gilbrook's drums really propel the piece forward, with his heavy snare hits really jumping out of the speakers, while Box lays down a muscular guitar rhythm that compliments well. That being said, this is not an all-out hard rock attack as at times the song shrinks down to something more low-key that showcases some really melodic bass playing from Rimmer. The chorus is a classic modern Uriah Heep moment, although the vocal harmonies are not as present as they are usually. They are used to create a different effect to usual, but still really fill the song out. Rocks in the Road is an eight minute-plus piece that, for me, is one of the album's highlights. Box and Lanzon team up to provide a melodic main riff which leads into a Hammond-drenched verse that sounds like something the band would have written in the 1970s. While Uriah Heep's modern sound is not that different to their classic sound, for some reason this just sounds more old-school than much of the album. That being said, the piece is still full of the band's modern heaviness with Gilbrook often laying into his twin bass drums to up the ante and really drive the piece forward. I think the reason this song reminds me more of the band's earlier days is the more progressive feeling that this song has. Early Uriah Heep certainly dabbled in progressive rock, and this is something that has largely been absent from their more recent work. This is a multi-phase piece however, with lots of distinct sections that all come together to form a more cohesive whole. The instrumental prowess here is on show in full force, with a lengthy instrumental section that is filled with wonderful Eastern-tinged organ playing from Lanzon, that is underpinned by some fabulous bass playing. This soon morphs into a guitar solo from Box that is filled with the wah-drenched licks that Uriah Heep fans have come to expect from him. I do not think the band have been this overtly-progressive since 1972's The Magician's Birthday, and it is great to see them spreading their wings a little more here. Fittingly, the album's most simple piece Waters Flowin' follows on from the album's most complex piece. Waters Flowin' is a more acoustically-driven piece that feels a little like a spiritual sequel to the band's classic track The Wizard. Box's clean guitars form a wall-of-sound of sparse sounds, while Lanzon opts for a piano over his trusty Hammond (although the Hammond does also make an appearance as the song builds up). The real highlight of the song however is the chorus, which is a feast of folky melodies that allows Shaw to show his gentler side a little more. It's All Been Said is also a little different from the norm. Despite an intro that sounds like classic Uriah Heep with rumbling organs and muscular guitars, the song soon drops away into a gentle verse with gorgeous piano melodies and Shaw's more fragile vocals. This is a song that really enjoys the balancing of light and shade, as at times the song explodes with classic rock bravado only for it to slide back into something altogether more gentle.

Goodbye to Innocence is a great upbeat rocker and sees a rare writing credit for Shaw. Since joining the band Shaw has only had a hand in writing a small handful of the band's songs, so it is great to see him contributing once again here. Gilbrook's drumming gives the song a shuffle feel throughout, and this slight boogie created by the beat ensures the song has a great old-school feel. The energy never lets up throughout, and Shaw and Lanzon continuously share melodies, with the latter often filling in the gaps left by the former. This is an extremely uncomplicated piece, and feels a lot like the rockers that used to fill the band's albums in the 1970s. The chorus is catchy without ever becoming a world beater, and Box gets to show off with a short guitar solo that cuts through the mix in that screaming classic rock style. Falling Under Your Spell is another faster piece, but this one is packed full of great melodies from Box. He seems to want to take every opportunity to show off here, and that means nearly every gap between the song's main riffs and vocal lines is filled with great guitar playing. This works really well, and the slightly folky melodies that Box has chosen suit the upbeat mood of the song. Often Uriah Heep are more known for their keyboard work, be that Lanzon's playing now or Ken Hensley's genre-defining style from the 1970s, and sometimes I feel Box's work gets a little forgotten. This song stops that from being the case however, as he really shines. There is a fairly lengthy solo here too for him to really sink his teeth into and his phrasing showcases why I believe he should be held in much higher regard by rock fans. The album's final track, Dreams of Yesteryear, is a little more stripped back and has the feel of a ballad without ever feeling lightweight. The song moves along at more of a mid-pace, with a big guitar intro and Lanzon's keyboards providing a really strong atmosphere throughout. The real standout performer of this song for me however is Shaw, who's vocals really set the tone. This is a more reflective piece, and here he reigns in some of his more overt classic rock toughness to showcase a gentler, more thoughtful style. Songs like this always work well to close out rock albums for me, as they feel like a bit of a wind down after the barrage of heaviness that has come before. This song does that perfectly, and allows the album to gradually fade out which feels appropriate. Overall, Living the Dream is another really strong entry in the Uriah Heep discography and feels like a big step up from the rather lacklustre Outsider. For a band that has been together nearly fifty years it is a massive achievement to still sound this fresh and vital. I hope that Uriah Heep will be around for many years to come, and that there are more great albums left in the tank.

The album was released on 14th September 2018 via Frontiers Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Grazed by Heaven.