URIAH HEEP – Live At Koko [Deluxe Edition] (2015)

*

Frontiers Music Srl will release in few days URIAH HEEP‘s newest live album, titled “Live At Koko, London 2014″. Four years ago the legendary Uriah Heep entered the studio to record Into The Wild and the band once again returned to the road for a worldwide tour. The group played in front of nearly 150,000 people in 58 different countries.
On March 4, 2014, Uriah Heep played in front of its ‘home’ audience in London and performed an amazing show which was recorded in HD for a release in double CD/DVD and, for the first time for the band, on Blu-ray.

Founder and guitarist Mick Box has kept Uriah Heep in the studio and on the road for over four and a half decades. Everyone gives Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple their respect for basically inventing the genre of Hard Rock.
Too often, though, one band is left off that list that deserves to be there with every note they made in those early days. That band is Uriah Heep.
The fact that the Heepsters are still on the road and still performing at this level and still adding strong, new material to their set is a testament to their talent and tenacity. This band has sold over forty million albums… that’s damn near a million a year since they began making albums.
They have a worldwide fan base that is rabid about all things Heep, and they can keep doing this as long as Mick Box pays the electricity bill to plug in his Les Paul.

This CD and DVD package was recorded at a special one-off show at London’s Koko last year, which I imagine was attended by many of Heep’s fanatics from the continent as well as the home crowd and even on the CD the atmosphere does seem to have a sense of occasion to it.
The other reason to welcome a live album is as a statement of where Heep are at this stage of their 45 plus year career. Trevor Bolder sadly passed away a few months prior to this recording but with a new younger rhythm section of Russell Gilbrook and Davey Rimmer in place, this recording suggests that Heep are moving forward with a vitality you might not expect from such a veteran band.
They certainly rock harder at this stage of their career than Deep Purple, who they were always likened to.

The band started the show with the opening tune “Against the Odds,” the first song of Sea Of Light album, a great opener with the battle between Mick Box’s guitar and Phil Lanzon’s organ introducing us to the trademark Heep sound. Following up was “Overload’’ from Wake the Sleeper and “Traveller in Time’’.
Other welcome tunes included “Sunrise,” possibly one of the best songs in Heep’s back catalog, if not one of the most powerful songs in the hard rock genre!
Then “Stealing,” another Heep classic tune from the album Sweet Freedom, and “Between Two Worlds,” which had the crowd on their feet and singing along early in the set.

Next up, we were presented with the two new Heep songs, “Can’t Take That Away” and “One Minute” from the band’s recent studio album Outsider.
The audience cheered on both songs, with as much enthusiasm and excitement as they did on classics such as “I’m Ready,” “Nail On the Head” and “Into The Wild.”
The rest of the set ended with some of the most loved and pure classic Uriah Heep tunes like “Gypsy,” “Look At Yourself,” and “July Morning” all which respect the originals yet come over both heavy yet enduringly fresh, and of course the band’s biggest epic of all “Lady in Black.”

After going off to thunderous applause, as you might have guessed, the band came back for their encores with three more songs. On the first encore to please the crowd, they took off with their new song “One Minute” (very catchy chorus that to my amazement most of the audience, sang along with Bernie.)
They followed up with “Free ‘n’ Easy,” a song which saw the band invite on the stage a group of female fans from the crowd, for some old school headbanging. And of course, they finished the night with “Easy Living,” one of the band’s highest charting singles.
Once again, giving the fans what they want; a great night of rock ‘n’ roll by any measure in Heep style.

Uriah Heep’s long career has been punctuated by regular live albums, so is another live album a relevant offering or just cash in?
The answer is an emphatic yes, there is a place for this album. The set on this night included plenty of classic material, but also mixed in many songs from their last three creatively and critically acclaimed studio efforts: Wake the Sleeper, Into the Wild and Outsider.
This album also features Russell Gilbrook on drums who is celebrating seven years with the band, in addition to the newest Heep member, bass player Dave Rimmer, who has replaced the dearly departed and fan favorite, Trevor Boulder.
One of the UK’s enduring hard rock pioneers should be cherished more than they are, and this mix of old and new songs delivered by old and new members show that they are as vibrant as ever.
Very Recommended.

CD 1:
01 – Against the Odds
02 – Overload
03 – Traveller in Time
04 – Sunrise
05 – Stealin’
06 – I’m Ready
07 – Between Two Worlds
08 – Can’t Take That Away
09 – One Minute
10 – Nail on the Head

CD 2:
01 – Into the Wild
02 – Gypsy
03 – Look at Yourself
04 – Box Wah Box
05 – July Morning
06 – Lady in Black
07 – Free’n’easy
08 – Easy Livin’

Mick Box – Guitars
Phil Lanzon – Keyboards
Bernie Shaw – Lead Vocals
Russell Gilbrook – Drums, Percussion
Davey Rimmer – Bass

PRE ORDER:
www.amazon.co.uk/Live-At-Koko-Uriah-Heep/dp/B00QB4MRPK
.