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Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969.

Twelve of the band's


albums have made it to the UK Albums Chart (Return to Fantasy reached No. 7 in
1975) while of the fifteen Billboard 200 Uriah Heep albums Demons and Wizards was
the most successful (#23, 1972). In the late 1970s the band had massive success in
Germany, where the "Lady in Black" single was a big hit. Along with Led Zeppelin,
Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, Uriah Heep had become one of the top rock bands in
the early 1970s.

Uriah Heep's audience declined by the 1980s, to the point where they became
essentially a cult band in the United Kingdom and United States. The band maintains
a significant following and performs at arena-sized venues in the Balkans, Germany,
Japan, the Netherlands, Russia and Scandinavia. They have sold over 40 million
albums worldwide with over 4 million sales in the U.S, where their best-known songs
include "Easy Livin'", "The Wizard", "Sweet Lorraine", and "Stealin'".

Contents

1 History
1.1 19671971
1.2 19721976
1.3 19771981
1.4 19821986
1.5 1987present
2 Musical style
3 Personnel
3.1 Members
3.2 Timeline
3.3 Lineups
4 Discography
5 References
6 External links

History
19671971
Mick Box in 1971

The band's origins go back to 1967 when 19-year-old guitarist Mick Box formed a
band in Brentwood called Hogwash, which began playing in local clubs and pubs. When
the band's singer left, drummer Roger Penlington suggested his cousin David Garrick
(who knew the band) as a replacement. Box and Garrick instantly formed a
songwriting partnership and, having higher musical aspirations than their
colleagues, decided to give up their day jobs and go professional. They set up a
new band called Spice; it was then that David Garrick changed his surname to Byron.
Drummer Alex Napier (born 1947 in Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland) joined, having
answered a music paper ad; bassist Paul Newton of the Gods completed the line-up.

From the very beginning, Spice avoided playing covers and, according to Box, always
strove "...to do something original." Managed initially by Newton's father, the
band climbed their way up to The Marquee level, then got signed by Gerry Bron (the
Hit Record Productions Ltd.'s boss) who saw the band at the Blues Loft club in High
Wycombe. "I thought they were a band I could develop and I took them on that
basis," remembered Bron later. He became the band's manager and signed them to
Vertigo Records, the newly formed Philips label. The four-piece found themselves
booked into the Lansdowne Studios in London, still under the name of Spice. Then
the name was changed to that of the well-known character from David Copperfield,
Uriah Heep (for, according to biographer Kirk Blows, "Dickens' name being
everywhere around Christmas '69 due to it being the hundredth anniversary of his
death"). According to Dave Ling's 2001 autobiography of the band, Wizards and
Demons, The Uriah Heep Story, though the "Uriah Heep" moniker was chosen in
December 1969, the band continued to play gigs as "Spice" until Ken Hensley joined
in February 1970. Uriah Heep then decided to widen the sound. "We'd actually
recorded half the first album when we decided that keyboards would be good for our
sound. I was a big Vanilla Fudge fan, with their Hammond organ and searing guitar
on top, and we had David's high vibrato vocals anyway so that's how we decided to
shape it," Box recalled. Gerry Bron brought in session player Colin Wood, followed
by Ken Hensley, a former colleague of Newton in the Gods, who was then playing
guitar in Toe Fat. "I saw a lot of potential in the group to do something very
different," remembered Hensley.

Their 1970 debut album, Very 'Eavy Very 'Umble (released as Uriah Heep in the
United States), introduced Hensley's heavy organ and guitar-driven sound, with
David Byron's theatrical, dynamic vocals soaring above thunderous sonic
backgrounds, although acoustic and jazz elements also featured in the mix. The
album's title references the signature phrase of the Dickens character Uriah Heep
("very 'umble"). Hensley had little to contribute to the debut: Box and Byron wrote
most of the material, including "Gypsy", in many ways (according to Blows) "...a
marriage of contrasts" that, in time, became their trademark. In a 1989 interview,
Mick Box recalled, "The funny thing was we wrote it at the Hanwell Community
Centre, and Deep Purple were rehearsing in the room next door to us. You can
imagine the kind of racket we were both making between us." Three quarters into the
recording of the album, Alex Napier was replaced by Nigel Olsson, recommended to
Byron by Elton John. The debut was not popular with rock critics (especially in the
USA where Rolling Stone reviewer Melissa Mills infamously promised to commit
suicide "if this band makes it") but in retrospect the attitude towards it changed.
"Those unfamiliar with Uriah Heep may want to try out Demons and Wizards or a
compilation first, but anyone with a serious interest in Uriah Heep or the roots of
heavy metal will find plenty to like on ...Very 'eavy ...Very 'umble," advised
critic Donald A. Guarisco. In the course of the album's making the writing
relationship between Box, Byron and Hensley was beginning to develop. "It was very
quick, because we were all into the same things. It was like it was meant to be,
there was that kind of chemistry," Mick Box recalled.

When Nigel Olsson returned to Elton Johns group, Keith Baker took his place. The
band's second album, Salisbury (February 1971), was more squarely in the
progressive rock genre, with its 16-minute title track featuring a 24-piece
orchestra. One of the album's tracks, Lady in Black, described as, "...a stylishly
arranged tune that builds from a folk-styled acoustic tune into a throbbing rocker
full of ghostly harmonies and crunching guitar riffs," became a hit in Germany upon
its re-release in 1977 (earning the band the Radio Luxemburg Lion award). Produced
by Gerry Bron, the second album went a long way to (according to AllMusic) perfect
Uriah Heep's "blend of heavy metal power and prog rock complexity" and was also
significant for Ken Hensley's instant rise to the position of main songwriter. Soon
after Salisbury's release Keith Baker left the band and was replaced by Iain Clark
(from another Vertigo band Cressida). With him the band made their first US tour in
the spring of 1971, supporting Three Dog Night and Steppenwolf.

By this time, Gerry Bron's deal with Philips/Vertigo was over, so he set up his own
label, Bronze Records. The third album was recorded in the summer months of 1971,
during the band's three visits to Lansdowne. "It was the point in time when the
band really found a solid musical direction," said Bron later. The third album,
Look at Yourself, released in October 1971, marked the solidification of disparate
ideas that had been a prominent feature of Salisbury and presented the unified
sound and direction. Among the stand-outs were the title track, "Tears In My Eyes"
and "July Morning", an epic many Heep fans regard as equal to Led Zeppelin's
"Stairway to Heaven" and Deep Purple's "Child in Time". "I think that 'July
Morning' is one of the best examples of the way the band was developing at that
point in time. It introduced a lot of dynamics, a lot of light and shade into our
sound," Ken Hensley said. The album peaked at No. 39 in the UK.
19721976
Lee Kerslake, David Byron, Gary Thain, Mick Box and Ken Hensley in 1973

By the end of 1971 it became clear, according to Hensley, that he, Byron and Box
had become the tightly knit nucleus of the band. Feeling marginalised and having
recently been badly shaken up when he was involved in an accident in Germany in one
of the band's cars, first Newton left, in November of '71, and was briefly replaced
by Mark Clarke. Newton recalled in a 2000 interview on Uriah Heep's website his
departure: "Well, as you know, my father managed the band in the early days, with
the Gods and Spice. He bought a lot of the gear and so on. When we became Uriah
Heep and Ken joined the band and Ken is the first to admit it he had very
definite ideas about what he wanted to do in a band. I suppose in some ways it was
like the band was a vehicle which Ken needed and used to put his own ideas
together. And there's nothing wrong with that as such. I mean, let's face it, the
fact that what we did was successful was great for me too. But after a while you're
bound to get some in-fighting in a situation like that. There were other problems
too, because Gerry Bron was now the manager and my father was trying to get back
some money from him - get some of his money back on the equipment and so on. There
was a lot of unhappiness on all sorts of levels and everybody was unhappy in a lot
of ways. I actually wanted to leave the band for quite a while before I actually
left but I didn't. Anyway, with the heavy work schedules and the pressures and so
on, I ended up collapsing on stage one night and the other members of the band
decided I should go. It was funny because I didn't want to go and there was a lot
of animosity but at the same time it was a tremendous relief".

During that same November, Iain Clark was replaced by Lee Kerslake, once of the
Gods. New Zealander Gary Thain, a then member of Keef Hartley Band, joined Uriah
Heep as a permanent member in February 1972 halfway through another American tour,
replacing Mark Clarke who was exhausted and nearing a mental breakdown. "Gary just
had a style about him, it was incredible because every bass player in the world
that I've ever known has always loved his style, with those melodic bass lines,"
Box later said. Thus the "classic" Uriah Heep formed and, according to biographer
K. Blows, "Everything just clicked into place."

The result of this newly found chemistry was the Demons and Wizards album, which
reached No. 20 in the UK and No. 23 in the USA in June 1972. While the title of it
and Roger Dean's sleeve both suggested that the band was romantically working
medieval myth into their songsand surely songs like "Rainbow Demon" and "The
Wizard" (co-written by Mark Clarke, during his short stay) did have thematic links
with fantasy worlda more straightforward, hard-rocking approach was also apparent.
To discard any possible insinuations concerning any kind of concept behind it,
Hensley's note on the sleeve declared the album was "...just a collection of our
songs that we had a good time recording." Both critics and the band's aficionados
hold the album in high regard, which, according to AllMusic, "...solidified Uriah
Heep's reputation as a master of gothic-inflected heavy metal." Ken Hensley
remembered:

"The band was really focused at that time. We all wanted the same thing, were
all willing to make the same sacrifices to achieve it and we were all very
committed. It was the first album to feature that line-up and there was a magic in
that combination of people that created so much energy and enthusiasm."

Two singles were released from the album: "The Wizard" and "Easy Livin' ", the
second (a defiant rocker, according to Blows, "...tailor-made for Byron's extrovert
showmanship") peaked at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100. Six months later, in
November 1972, Uriah Heep's fifth studio album The Magician's Birthday (#28 UK, No.
31 USA) came out, with "Sweet Lorraine" released as an American single and the
title track (a multi-part fantasy epic featuring HensleyByron vocal duel and Box's
extensive guitar solo in the middle) being the album's highlight. "Uriah Heep used
to have an image, now they have personality," wrote Melody Maker in 1973. A lot
stemmed from the flamboyant Byron. "David was the communication point, the focal
point of the whole group's stage presentation. He had so much charisma, so much
ability," admitted Hensley many years later. But Hensley too developed into a
sophisticated instrumentalist and stage persona, whose writing and keyboard flair
ignited the rest of the band.
Lee Kerslake in 1973

A lavishly packaged (an eight-page booklet plus) double album Uriah Heep Live
followed, recorded at the Birmingham Town Hall in January 1973. Having completed
another Japanese tour, the band (due to tax problems) went to record to Chateau
d'Herouville in France. It was there that the solid, but rather mainstream-
sounding, Sweet Freedom (#18 UK, No. 33 USA) was created with "Stealin'" released
as a single. Having gained worldwide recognition, the band quit the fantasy world
in lyrics and made an obvious stab at versatility by adding funk ("Dreamer") and an
acoustic number along the lines of contemporary singer/songwriters ("Circus")
elements to the palette. Ken Hensley meanwhile had been gradually recording his
own, mellower material; his solo debut Proud Words on a Dusty Shelf was released
the same year.

Wonderworld (June 1974), recorded in Munich's Musicland Studios in January,


disappointed fans and band members alike. "Recording abroad disrupted the band's
normal method of operation and that had a big negative effect on the group. Our
communication was falling apart, we were arguing over stuff like royalties and we
were getting involved in matters beyond music," Hensley said. Box remembered weeks
spent in the studio as "dramatic" for all the wrong reasons. "David was drunk for
most of the time, Kenny was having an emotional time of it and I was constantly
trying to help them so it was difficult for me too. There was also a little bit of
friction because (artistic) Kenny didn't like all the attention that (flamboyant)
David was getting." Gary Thain was in even more serious trouble. According to
Blows, "A strenuous touring schedule, compounded by the bassist's heavy drug
dependency (inherent even before joining Heep) was taking its toll, though matters
came to a head while on tour during September," when the bassist received a serious
electric shock on stage in Dallas during a gig at Southern Methodist Universitys
Moody Coliseum on 15 September 1974. The rest of the US tour was then canceled and
their UK dates rescheduled to October. Soon after going out of hospital, Thain, in
Sounds, openly accused manager Gerry Bron of having turned Uriah Heep into a mere
"financial thing" and was fired two months after the group's final gig of 1974 at
New Theatre in Oxford, New Zealand on December 14. A year later, on 8 December
1975, Gary Thain was found dead in his Norwood Green home, having overdosed on
heroin.

John Wetton (ex-Family and King Crimson) joined the band in March 1975 and with him
Return to Fantasy (June 1975) was recorded; representing a revitalised Uriah Heep,
it soared up to No. 7 in the UK. "It was a relief to have someone solid and
reliable, and he had a load of ideas too," Box remembered. The following "Year-long
world tour" (according to a headline in NME), was marred by a new accident. Mick
Box fell off stage in Louisville, Kentucky on 2 August 1975, breaking the radial
bone in his right arm (but he persevered through both the set and the tour,
receiving three injections a night). On 26 March 1976 at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in
St. Paul, Minnesota, John Wetton had an accident of his own when he (like his
predecessor, Thain) received an electric shock on stage. In November 1975 The Best
of Uriah Heep compilation was released, preceded by two solo albums: Byron's debut
Take No Prisoners and Hensley's second, Eager to Please.
Uriah Heep in 1976

High and Mighty followed in June 1976. It was considered lightweight; even Box
stated: "less of the 'eavy and more of the 'umble." The matter of production here
became the point of major contention. With Bron committed to non-musical projects
(including his air-taxi service) the band decided to produce the album themselves.
The manager later insisted the result was Heep's worst album, while Hensley accused
the manager of deliberately ignoring the band's interests. The album, though, was
launched in the most lavish manner (with journalists and business people being
flown off to the top of a Swiss mountain for a reception). However, it was not
matched with the quality of live concerts, which were increasingly chaotic due to
Byron's inconsistency on stage. "He'd always got drunk after the show but it had
never got to the point where it would jeopardize the show itself. The performance
had always been first and foremost with David. It was when the show started to come
second that the problems began," Hensley remembered. "The distance between David
and the rest had grown to unworkable proportions," according to Blows. "It's a
tragedy to say it but David was one of those classic people who could not face up
to the fact that things were wrong and he looked for solace in a bottle," commented
Bron. In July 1976, after the final show of a Spanish tour, Byron was sacked. Soon
bassist John Wetton announced he was quitting. Obviously he was not comfortable in
the band, nor were his colleagues with him. Hensley later explained, "When he
joined, we thought that we could replace a great bass player (Thain) with another
great bass player, but we ignored the personality factor, which is crucial. It was
like grafting on a new piece of skin but it just didn't workthe body rejected it."
19771981
Ken Hensley in 1977

Uriah Heep recruited bassist Trevor Bolder (ex-David Bowie, Mick Ronson) and, after
having auditioned David Coverdale (Deep Purple, Whitesnake), Ian Hunter and Gary
Holton (Heavy Metal Kids), brought in John Lawton, formerly of Lucifer's Friend and
the Les Humphries Singers, with whom they turned away from fantasy-oriented lyrics
and multi-part compositions back towards a more straightforward hard rock sound
typical of the era. Box later said, "Image-wise he wasn't quite what we were
looking for, but his pipes were perfect and so we went for the music end of it."
Hensley agreed: "He had a voice that I thought would give a new dimension."

Firefly was released in February 1977, displaying "renewed effervescence and energy
in unveiling what was clearly a new beginning for Heep" (per. K. Blows), "a new
vigour and confidence" (according to a Record Mirror review) and also the new
singers abilities: the latter (according to AllMusic), although lacking the multi-
octave range of David Byron, "boasted an impressive and emotionally rich hard rock
voice that instantly jelled with the Uriah Heep sound." The band then toured the
USA supporting Kiss. Paul Stanley later recalled, "They were incredibly
professional, and so consistent that their worst nights were excellent and their
best were tremendous."

Innocent Victim, released in November 1977, "had a slight edge on Firefly"


according to Box, but still in retrospect this "...blend of sharp, short rockers
and pop-friendly ballads" looked like "an attempt to court the American AOR
market." The single "Free Me" (whose "acoustic style and accent on harmonies
brought the group dangerously close to Eagles territory," according to AllMusic)
became an international hit (making it to No. 1 in New Zealand). In Germany the
album sold over a million copies and became Uriah Heep's most successful, which
coincided with the success of the re-released "Lady in Black." For some time during
this period, there were three Uriah Heep singles sitting together in the German Top
20, these being "Wise Man" (from Firefly), "Lady in Black" and "Free Me".

In the end of 1978, Fallen Angel came out, having completed a hat-trick of studio
albums to feature a consistent lineup (only the second time in their career that
they had done so). "Too poppy" for Mick Boxs liking (but still, "too eccentric to
fit the bill of an AOR record," according to Allmusic), it was well received at the
time (Sounds gave it 4 stars) but failed to chart. Meanwhile, the relative
stability of the Lawton period belied the behind the scenes unrest having to do
with Ken Hensley's earning much more than his colleagues. "Everything he wrote, he
had to use And if you insist in using everything you end up with substandard
albums," disgruntled Box opined. The major rift, though, developed between Hensley
and Lawton. As K. Blows writes, "the combination of constant friction between the
two (resulting in the nearest thing to violence the group had seen) and the
constant presence of Lawton's wife on the road finally led to the vocalist getting
the chop, shortly after playing the Bilzen Festival in Belgium in August 1979."

Ex-Lone Star John Sloman was brought in, a younger singer who played keyboards and
guitar and was, in the words of Box, "...an all rounder." But almost instantly, Lee
Kerslake departed, after a row with Bron, whom the drummer accused of favouritism
towards Hensley's material. Several tracks of the next album had to be re-recorded
with a new drummer, Chris Slade (of the Manfred Mann's Earth Band). Conquest LP was
released in February 1980 and received 5 stars from Record Mirror, but, according
to Box, "was a difficult album to record" and represented "a confused Heep," even
"a mess" (in the words of Trevor Bolder). The band went on the 10th Anniversary
Tour with Girlschool as support and attracted respectable crowds. Hensley was very
unhappy, primarily with Sloman, and he explained why:

The band had chosen John and I had opposed that decision. He was a good
musician and he looked great but I thought he had little going for him vocally. The
way that he interpreted songs were totally different to the way I had written them.
I could understand wanting to move on but this was like the difference between
Black Sabbath and Gino Vannelli. We weren't addressing our basic problems, in that
we weren't re-establishing our musical direction and John definitely wasn't helping
us to do that.

A meeting at the managers office concerning the songwriting dissent was the last
straw and, in September 1980, Hensley quit. Gregg Dechert, a Canadian who had
worked with Sloman in Pulsar, came in and the band went on a 23-date tour of the
UK. After that Sloman left, citing musical differences for a reason. He would later
go on to work with UFO, Gary Moore and Robert Palmer. Hensley's acrimonious
departure left the group in a state of collapse. Box and Bolder visited David Byron
with attractive propositions. "We couldn't believe it when he said he didn't want
to know," the guitarist remembered. Bolder, who by that time, "...had had enough of
Gerry Bron and the management," decided to join Wishbone Ash. When Dechert left,
Uriah Heep were down to just Mick Box with the name and contract. The Melody Maker
headline "Heap of Heep" reflected the press's attitude towards the band's possible
future.
19821986

Box remembered, "I locked myself in my flat for two days and drank myself senseless
in complete self-pity. But I somehow managed to pull myself together and consider
my options." First he rang Lee Kerslake (who in the meanwhile had co-founded
Blizzard of Ozz with Ozzy Osbourne) and the drummer brought along with him bassist
Bob Daisley. Then John Sinclair came in whom Box knew from the times he was a
member of Heavy Metal Kids and who currently played with a Los Angeles band called
Lion. The bands new vocalist became Peter Goalby of Trapeze fame. The latter had
once auditioned for Uriah Heep and failed, ironically Hensley being the only band
member who had supported him as a choice. "With us all contributing to the writing
we forged our new direction," Box recalled.

Produced by Ashley Howe, the Abominog album (according to Blows) was,


"importantin the way it pulled Heep out of the Seventies and thrust them into the
Eighties with determination muscle," even if sounded a bit too American. Released
in March 1982 (and preceded in February by the Abominog Junior EP), it won favour
with the critics. Sounds gave it a five star review, the newly established rock
Kerrang! declared it "the most mature and perhaps best album of their career" and
in retrospect it is still seen as "one of the most consistent and engaging albums
in the group's lengthy catalog." The album did relatively well in the American
charts (#56) after its US release in September 1982 and the band successfully
performed at the Castle Donington Monsters of Rock event a few weeks prior to this,
on August 21.

Head First (May 1983), produced again by Ashley Howe (who, according to Goalby,
became "like the sixth member of the band"), followed much in the same vein,
pursuing (according to AllMusic) "...a similar combination of heavy metal firepower
and AOR sleekness." Not long before its release Daisley left the band to return to
Ozzy Osbourne and Trevor Bolder re-joined Uriah Heep. Both albums, Abominog and
Head First, updated the band's sound and generated a brief, newfound interest in
Uriah Heep among younger heavy metal fans.

Uriah Heep toured the US supporting Rush, Judas Priest and Def Leppard, whose
vocalist Joe Elliot remembered: "They were the best band that we've ever toured
with either as a headline or support, because there was no ego, no pretentious kind
of stuff. They were good in as much that we learnt a lot from them." By this time
Gerry Bron was Uriah Heep manager no longer (they were looked after by Neil Warnock
in Europe and Blue Oyster Cult's management team in the US) and then, finally,
Bronze Records collapsed under the weight of debts, which, according to Box,
"...cost Heep a lot of money." Massive Asian and South American tours followed
before the band returned to the studio with producer Tony Platt and a new deal with
CBS's Portrait label secured by new manager Harry Maloney. Meanwhile, David Byron
died of a heart attack and liver disease on 28 February 1985 at the age of 38.

Equator (March 1985) sold poorly, due to the fact that "CBS just did a terrible job
getting it into the shops," as Box saw it. On the other hand, what Kirk Blows
described as "a solid piece of product that had the potential to do extremely well"
was regarded less favourably by later reviewers. Jason Anderson, for one, argues
that with this "lackluster" album, high only "in high-schmaltz rating," the band
squandered the chance that Portrait gave it.

Totally exhausted and having serious voice problems, Goalby left in November 1985
after an Australian tour. "I loved and believed in Uriah Heep but it kicked the
shit out of me in the end," were his parting words. Then John Sinclair quit
deciding to join Ozzy Osbourne and keyboardist Phil Lanzon (Grand Prix, Sad Caf)
came in to fit in immediately into the Box-envisaged scheme of things.

American singer Steff Fontaine, formerly of Christian metal band Joshua, joined in
July 1986 but he was criticised for being totally "unprofessional" (he missed, for
some reason, a San Francisco gig) and was sacked in September 1986 after just one
American tour. Fontaine's position was offered then to ex-Grand Prix, Praying
Mantis and Stratus vocalist Bernie Shaw, and that in retrospect was a winning move.
Shaw "felt honoured at being invited to join such a legendary band" while for Box
"it was like everything falling into place."
1987present
Bernie Shaw

The lineup remained unchanged from 1986 until 2007, being veteran Mick Box at the
helm, Trevor Bolder on bass, Lee Kerslake on drums, vocalist Bernie Shaw and Phil
Lanzon on keyboards. Their principal tour circuit has been in Germany, the
Netherlands, Scandinavia, Japan and Russia. In December 1987 they were one of the
first ever Western bands to play in Soviet Russia (UB40 were the first in 1986),
under Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of glasnost (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Elton John
had already played shows there in the late 70s during the pre-Gorbachev era). At
Moscow's Olympic Stadium the band played ten consecutive nights to a total of
180,000 people (following a reception that Bernie Shaw remembered as being
"something like Beatlemania"), which was represented in the international press as
not just an achievement for Uriah Heep but a major breakthrough for Western music
in general. The concerts were recorded and issued as the Live in Moscow album,
which included three new tracks. Ironically, it was this behind the Iron Curtain
excursion that did well to re-establish Heep's name back at home. After a series of
sell-out dates in Czechoslovakia, East Berlin and Bulgaria the band returned to
Britain for the Reading Festival in August 1988, and toured the UK with The Dogs
D'Amour.

Raging Silence, produced by Richard Dodd and released in May 1989, was followed by
a return to the Soviet Union, concerts in Poland, East Berlin, six dates in Brazil
and another British tour. "The last two years have been the most enjoyable of all
my time in Heep," Trevor Bolder was quoted to say at the time. The band played in
the Central TV studios in Nottingham on 29 November 1989 (the film was shown as
part of the Independent TV series Bedrock and a few years later it was repeated in
the Cue Music series) and celebrated its 20th Anniversary with a series of
compilations and re-issues.

Produced by Trevor Bolder and released early in 1991, Different World got a mixed
reception from the press (put down in Kerrang!, hailed in Metal Hammer) and sold
poorly. "Yet another technically sound but artistically bland recording from Uriah
Heep" (according to AllMusic) failed to chart and marked the end of the band's
contract with Legacy Records. Touring incessantly, the band issued some
compilations of which Rarities from the Bronze Age and The Lansdowne Tapes
(featuring previously unreleased material from the early 1970s) are considered most
noteworthy. Still the first half of the 1990s is regarded even by the Heep fans as
"the wilderness years."

In late March/early April 1995, the band's former singer, John Lawton, briefly
rejoined Uriah Heep for two weeks to tour South Africa and Austria with Deep
Purple, filling in for Bernie Shaw, who was suffering from voice problems at the
time.

The Sea of Light album (released in April 1995) produced by the band along with
Kalle Trapp was well received and in retrospect is seen as the band's return to
form, the key to success being (according to critic Donald A. Guarisco) the way it
"forsook the ill-judged pop metal stylings of albums like Equator for a return to
the gothic-tinged old-school metal style that highlighted classic Uriah Heep albums
like Look at Yourself.

Produced by Pip Williams, Sonic Origami, originally issued in Europe and Japan in
the fall of 1998, then, a year later, in the U.S., had "a grand, epic tone
throughout" that, according to rock critic Steve Huey, "doesn't always match Uriah
Heep's journeyman-sounding prog-tinged hard rock," still being "a solid entry in
its chosen genre. The release was followed by a successful European tour, which
continued through 1999.

The band released The Legend Continues DVD and then toured the UK. A reunion gig
with Ken Hensley & John Lawton took place in London on 7 December 2001 in the
course of the Magicians Birthday Party, which since then became a tradition, even
though Hensley never actually joined again.

Earlier in 2001, during the summer, the group embarked on its first US tour in
seven years and returned the following year to headline both nights of Classic Rock
Productions Classic Rock Festival at The Patriots Theater at the Trenton War
Memorial in Trenton, New Jersey on 5 and 6 October 2002, alongside Mostly Autumn,
Asia, Karnataka, Focus and Nektar. Uriah Heep played an electric show the first
night and an all acoustic show the second.

For most of the years that followed Uriah Heep have returned to Britain for a tour
or just their annual showcase concert, the Magicians Birthday Party, which in 2003
was held at the now demolished London Astoria. All the while Mick Box acted as a
manager for the band until, on 5 April 2005, they retained Simon Porter as their
manager.
Mick Box and Bernie Shaw performing live in London

In early 2007, drummer Lee Kerslake had to leave the group due to ill health. In
March of that year the band recruited Russell Gilbrook as their new drummer and
immediately started recording a new studio album entitled Wake the Sleeper, where
they used double drums in the songs Wake the Sleeper and War Child. Originally
slated for a summer 2007 release, Universal Music finally released Wake the Sleeper
on 2 June 2008.

In October 2009 Uriah Heep released their 40th Anniversary Celebration album,
containing new studio recordings of twelve of their best known tracks, plus two
brand new songs. "This collection underlines again that Uriah Heep are deserving
great respect for their past achievements but far more importantly it makes it
crystal clear that this is a band with a bright future as well as a glorious
history," wrote Chris Kee in his 9/10 review in Powerplay magazines February 2010
issue.

A United States tour for June/July 2010 was delayed due to immigration problems;
the first two dates had to be rescheduled. This resulted in an appearance at B.B.
King's in New York City as being the first date of the tour. Then Uriah Heep
performed live on the Progressive Rock stage at the inaugural High Voltage Festival
in London's Victoria Park on 25 July 2010. They played their 1972 album Demons and
Wizards in its entirety, being joined by ex-Whitesnake man Micky Moody on slide
guitar.

Uriah Heep released their 23rd studio album Into the Wild on 15 April 2011 in
Europe (3 May in North America) via Frontiers Records.

Bassist Trevor Bolder died on 21 May 2013 after suffering from pancreatic cancer.
He was 62 years old. British bassist John Jowitt (Ark, IQ, Arena) came in
temporarily, followed by Davey Rimmer.

In May 2013, when the band toured The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy and
Switzerland, they were again joined by their late 70s era singer John Lawton who
was covering for Bernie Shaw, who required time off for a routine medical
procedure. Then both Bernie and John fronted the group for their show in San
Javier, Spain on July 12.

Uriah Heep entered the studio in January 2014 to begin recording their 24th studio
album Outsider, which was released in June 2014. The album featured new bass
player Davey Rimmer who had been a substitute for Trevor Bolder the previous year.

In March 2015 they went on the "Down Unda Tour" visiting Sydney, Melbourne, Perth,
Adelaide, Brisbane and Auckland. On 25 September, they announced the release of
their 25th studio album Totally Driven, a collection of re-recordings of classic
Heep songs made in 2001, which was released on 12 November. On 15 October that
year, the group played alongside Ken Hensley and Lee Kerslake at a special two-hour
concert at Crocus City Hall in Moscow.

Swedish singer Stefan Berggren, from Berggren Kerslake Band (BKB), subbed for
Bernie Shaw on lead vocals at the Rosenheim Festival in Germany on 14 July 2016 and
again later that same year for a New Years Eve festival in Sibiu, Romania when
Shaw had a family commitment.

2016 also saw the group play a few Japanese dates and the Legends Rock Cruise. They
began recording their next album, as well.
Musical style
Uriah Heep's music has predominantly been described by critics and journalists as
heavy metal. The band's style has also been labelled as progressive metal, and the
band as being influenced by the styles heavy metal, progressive rock and blues.
Uriah Heep's distinctive features have always included a massive keyboard sound,
strong vocal harmonies and (in the early years) David Byron's quasi-operatic
vocals.

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