Uriah Heep Fallen Angel

Now, this really is a chunk to bite off and chew. This six-disc overview of the long, winding, and confounding career of Uriah Heep (confounding that Mick Box and Lee Kerslake have managed to keep it afloat for nearly 40 years), is the first box to take into consideration all the permutations this dinosaur juggernaut has been through…

This double-disc collection covers the glory years of Uriah Heep extensively, with all the main cuts by the David Byron/Mick Box/Ken Hensley/Gary Thain/Lee Kerslake version of the group as well as earlier and later material. Chances are that serious Heep fans will have everything here, so this serves as more of an introduction for the new convert. There's plenty here that's aged well from the Bronze label years, such as "July Morning," "Easy Livin'," "The Magician's Birthday," "Look at Yourself," "Stealin'," etc. In fact, about the only thing that's not here, inexplicably, from the early years is the Box slide workout on the classic "Tears in My Eyes." There is also plenty from the later decades of the '80s, '90s, and beyond, when Box took the group to a new and heavier place – somewhat recalling the UH of the Salisbury and Very 'Eavy…Very 'Umble eras. There are 34 tracks in all, with good sound and workmanlike liner notes. For the money, this is a good bang for the buck.

This double-disc collection covers the glory years of Uriah Heep extensively, with all the main cuts by the David Byron/Mick Box/Ken Hensley/Gary Thain/Lee Kerslake version of the group as well as earlier and later material. Chances are that serious Heep fans will have everything here, so this serves as more of an introduction for the new convert. There's plenty here that's aged well from the Bronze label years, such as "July Morning," "Easy Livin'," "The Magician's Birthday," "Look at Yourself," "Stealin'," etc. In fact, about the only thing that's not here, inexplicably, from the early years is the Box slide workout on the classic "Tears in My Eyes." There is also plenty from the later decades of the '80s, '90s, and beyond, when Box took the group to a new and heavier place – somewhat recalling the UH of the Salisbury and Very 'Eavy…Very 'Umble eras. There are 34 tracks in all, with good sound and workmanlike liner notes. For the money, this is a good bang for the buck.

This double-disc collection covers the glory years of Uriah Heep extensively, with all the main cuts by the David Byron/Mick Box/Ken Hensley/Gary Thain/Lee Kerslake version of the group as well as earlier and later material. Chances are that serious Heep fans will have everything here, so this serves as more of an introduction for the new convert. There's plenty here that's aged well from the Bronze label years, such as "July Morning," "Easy Livin'," "The Magician's Birthday," "Look at Yourself," "Stealin'," etc. In fact, about the only thing that's not here, inexplicably, from the early years is the Box slide workout on the classic "Tears in My Eyes." There is also plenty from the later decades of the '80s, '90s, and beyond, when Box took the group to a new and heavier place – somewhat recalling the UH of the Salisbury and Very 'Eavy…Very 'Umble eras. There are 34 tracks in all, with good sound and workmanlike liner notes. For the money, this is a good bang for the buck.

By 1973, Uriah Heep had progressed from an English heavy metal band to a worldwide success. They moved on to a new label (Warner Bros.) and began to explore new styles to flesh out their combination of prog complexity and heavy metal muscle. The band's desire to break new ground is established with the lead-off track, "Dreamer": while it riffs as hard as the band's past rockers, it adds a surprising element of funkiness into the band's sound…