Back in 1979 it was the first time I saw Uriah Heep in concert at Jazz Bilzen. I’ve always remembered that concert as it was so energetic and thrusting. Ken Hensley’s keyboards were so dominantly present that the lesley organ sound remains stamped in my memory. I have stayed a Heep fan ever since, bought different albums by them but when Hensley left the band, I sort of lost track of the band. Up until the year 200o when they were scheduled to appear at Boerenrock. After 21 years I saw the glory from the past on stage and to be honest, it wasn’t a bad show but in no way it could match up to my memory from the past. The main reason being that Mick Box is very much in the foreground while it used to be the keyboards that ruled. Because of this one had the feeling it was more like a hard rock band instead of a symphonic band and I regretted that. Nevertheless, because of this performance I paid more attention to Heep and when “Acoustically Driven” was released, I purchased it right away. And yes, on this almost completely acoustical CD they manage to reach the glory level once again. Vocalist Bernie Shaw can sing without having to try to get on top of the guitar violence. The atmosphere of the album brings out reveries, the evaporated times come to a standstill and the memories come back to the surface. The album has been put in a fantastic cover by Roger Dean, just like in the past. On this album the band gets assistance from the Uriah Heep Classic Rock Ensemble, which is made up out of strings, flute players, an extra percussionist and a guitar player. They play a remarkable prominent role on this CD. Also guest flutist Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull plays along on two songs (Circus and Blind Eye). This must have been some party at the Mermaid Theatre in London on December 9, 2000. The recording quality is excellent, in short a feast for your ears. “The Easy Road”, “Come Back To Me” and “Wonderworld” are performed so well that I was almost in goose-flesh all over. All of this means that “Acoustically Driven” was the top album of 2001 for me. With albums like this Uriah Heep may continue for a long, long time. I am already looking forward to their next album. Heep Heep Uriah. Reviewed by: Jany Translated by : Monique Spruyt |
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