Extremely glad you did "Salisbury". I knew you would enjoy it. Triple Platinum is well deserved. It's both good and bad that your introduction to Uriah Heep was "Salisbury". Good, in that, you experienced their masterful musicianship and writing abilities. Bad, in that, it is a 'one-off' from the rest of their music. This was their first and only dip into symphonic rock. I was a senior in high school when Salisbury came out. But it wasn't until I was a freshman in college that I bought the album at the recommendation of a new friend. I loved the whole album, but my favorite was (and remains) the song, "Salisbury". The rest of the music from this band from Birmingham, England is 70's rock. They do it well and even had some songs hit the top ten on the charts. However, "Salisbury" will always remain my favorite. R.I.P. Ken Hensley, David Byron, Lee Kerslake. Now you MUST listen to a couple of song off their Uriah Heep Live January 1973 album in Birmingham, England to understand how good they were live. The first one is "Sunrise": ruclips.net/video/2NlqM8FPT1Y/видео.html , "July Morning": ruclips.net/video/JjBedmOupFY/видео.html and "Gypsy": ruclips.net/video/LZcCEGxDU1Q/видео.html Enjoy!
Nice surprise with Uriah Heep!! I’m glad you recovered after “Salisbury”! What an epic song, I’ve actually not heard it through in awhile. I have given Demons and Wizards a listen to recently. I just got tickets for Uriah Heep in May… I got 10th row! Sadly, Mick Box is the only remaining original member. RIP David, Gary, Ken and Lee.
Oh, I doubt I've fully recovered yet! I have hopes that they have many other highly creative songs. Looks like they have a huge catalog, another new welcome rabbit hole! You'll have a blast in May. Sad to hear that so many have passed, but the music lives on...Enjoy your show tonight!!
About thirty years ago, my late brother recorded me some German import tapes of Uriah Heep. I remember this one long tune that had these great suspense like sounds towards the end. Well, I lost those tapes and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't find that song again, until now. Thank you for giving it back to me after searching for all that time. ''Salisbury'' :)
Two great choices so different. The Heep simply fantastic band up to Return To Fantasy. Saw them live 5 times fro '71 to ' 76 Byron one of the greatest vocalists of his time .
Mr Byron up there with the very best ! Watch the early videos of live performances a certain Mr Mercury was I’m sure influenced by David. Sad loss so young 🎤🎶👌
My ALL time FAVORITE guitar solo. I can't imagine anything that would compliment Salisbury better than Mick Box's frantic wah-wah solo. I wore the album out years ago, and had to find a CD to replace it.
"The Wizard" has been on my playlist since the 70s! As a lover of fantasy literature, games, and other media, this one really connected with me. Thanks for turning me on to "Salisbury". I hadn't heard it before.
Do you think it's about Gandalf? i didn't check to see if the lyricist was into Tolkien. Glad that Salisbury was a first listen for you too and that you enjoyed it!
Ken Hensley played a significant role in the distinctiveness of classic Uriah Heep. He was often associated with Jon Lord because they both played the Hammond organ in a progressive hard rock band. However, Ken wasn't particularly interested in soloing and instead focused on his true strength, songwriting. He admired Lord and was inspired by him while conceiving the concept for "Salisbury," although the outcome diverged from Lord's orchestral compositions.
Holy Cow. First time hearing this! Reminds me a bit of Deep Purple with that organ going nuts. Deep Purple with horns! 😉. My respect for Heep has definitely increased after hearing this. Never knew they were prog. Always thought they were a blues rock band. I was under a rock regarding them obviously
Nice! Now you see why I was FLOORED by the end of the first song! Completely up my alley. I'm hearing that "Demons and Wizards" is their best or a great album, in case you want to delve into that one sometime....thanks for tuning in! 😊
Thought I knew Uriah Heep pretty well, but apparently not 😮. Never heard Salisbury before, while I’ve always considered The Wizard or Magicians’s Birthday their pinnacles. (The band’s name is taken from a despicable Dickens character in the novel David Copperfield. Always wondered why 🤔). UH probably never got the attention they deserved. Thx for choosing them, Brandon.
Salisbury was a real treat and a surprising one at that. I had not heard this before, or I would have ranked them higher in my mind's ear. I mean they were pretty high already, being among prog giants, but this put them on the same level as the best. What a fine treat! What a find! And if you are a sucker for orchestras, and happen to like James Gang, there is a little-known work called "Ashes, the Rain, and I" which shows their softer side.
Awesome! Glad you could discover Salisbury's brilliance today as well with me. Hmm, never heard of James Gang, but I have heard The Eagles perform Funk #49....and just now I learn that Joe Walsh was in The James Gang! Now it makes sense...
Uriah Heep was one of my favorite groups in the 1970s. The song that cemented my appreciation for them was Lady in Black. They have a wonderful catalog of hits. Among those worth listening to are July Morning, Look at Yourself and Easy Livin'. I look forward to more of your reactions to some of my favorite 1970s tunes. Keep up the good work.
Love "The Wizard", I have heard it many times.💙🧙🎵🎶🎶🎶 First listen to "Salisbury". And you want to know why Brandon? Because I too have been under a rock. 🪨🤣🤣 Great songs. ♥🎼🎹🎸🥁🎤🎶🎶
Thanks for the great reaction. I'm a Heepster from the early 70s. Not a chance in hell that Styx influenced Uriah Heep's vocal arrangements. If anything, it's the other way around. You will read/see in various places that Ken, Mick and David were all influenced by Vanilla Fudge. Heep took VF's organ and vocal vibe to another level entirely. Heep's vocal arrangements are extensive and multi-layered, often with David and Ken multi-tracking all the various parts resulting in a choral effect. Here's an awesome example from Wonderworld, which really highlights what David and Ken could accomplish vocally. Cheers. ruclips.net/video/ezdcpyBwCpQ/видео.html
First band I ever saw live; ma n pa took me and my brother. I was 15, it was this lineup and they were great. We were all Heep freaks. I met the drummer, Lee, a few years later in a club and knew him immediately. We had a lovely chat about the band, the gig I saw etc. Ultra nice guy. I missed this the other night as I have been quite unwell but couldn't wait any longer to hear your reaction.
Well impressed ! A well known name but I've never bothered with them. On point vocals too. Well worth a dive. BTW, the UK city is pronounced 'Sorlsbury' Brandon.
Peter Gabriel's legendary "Solsbury Hill" is actually a spelling variation of the same name. There are also many places called Salisbury in former British possessions like Canada, Australia, and several U.S. states, and it was also the old name of the Zimbabwean capital city (now called Harare) when the country itself was called Rhodesia and was first a British colony, later a rogue white-minority-ruled apartheid state. All pronounced "Sols-bry". The original Salisbury in England has long been on my bucket list of places to visit because it has a beautiful medieval cathedral and is also the gateway to visit Stonehenge, which is just a few miles from there. I was able to visit the UK only once, and I was stuck in London (not that it's a bad place to be stuck in, it's a fantastic city!) due to both my tight schedule and a railway strike (it wasn't easy to use any other internal transportation there at that time, decades ago). I hope to be able to make up for it one day.
I live in Southampton and have been to Salisbury many times. Always wondered whether Gabriel's song was THAT Salisbury, the high spot known locally as Pepperbox Hill on the A36 to the east of the city. If you get there, there's an old lookout (I think) on the hill known as the 'Pepperbox.' Back then, Zimbabwe was Rhodesia.
Had to swallow empty or you "got a lot of friends" with the comparison LZ Stairway....; LZ a little later at the end of 1971. With the first 3 albums I had great hopes for this band. For me, Gypsy and the rock ballad July In The Morning are masterpieces, actually the entire live album 1973, where the first song lasts 14:04 and the second lasts 11:59. Not to be forgotten is the also prog Circle Of Hands and of course the rocker Look At Yourself/album version or live. The Wizard and Easy Livin' (short and painless) - and what others suggested to you - are rather short rocking pop songs. This meant that Uriah Heep remained successful with us in Central Europe and through touring. At first I also said “wow” to the singer; Live, things fluctuated a lot over time (lifestyle?!?) and there were frequent band changes.
I've always been a huge fan of URIAH HEEP, but 'Salisbury' (1971) is not, in my opinion, a very good album. Much too uneven; it suggests too much a lack of inspiration, of musical and orchestral creativity. The members of the group still seem to be searching for their style, their sound signature, their identity. To tell you the truth, I'm happy that you chose to listen to the title composition because, to be honest, it is the song that saves the album. And what a guitar solo from Mick Box! This composition is a real gem, a masterpiece. Absolutely agree: 💿💿💿. 'Demons and Wizards' (1972), 'Look at Yourself' (1971) and 'Abominog' (1982) are my three favorite albums from URIAH HEEP, a hyper-productive but very unfairly neglected band. From the first album, I particularly recommend listening to the compositions: "Circle Of Hands" and "The Spell". On the second, "July Morning" and "Shadows of Grief"... of course, if you like keyboards, synth, moog, etc. And as for the third, I often listen to it over and over again: “Sell Your Soul”. Thanks. [NB: I purchased, in 2023, their new album 'Chaos & Colour'. The style has changed a lot, a more modern, more formatted hardrock... but, surprisingly, the album is excellent. I recommend listening to two compositions: "One Nation, One Sun" and "Freedom To Be Free".]
Yea, I often read other people's interpretations after writing down my opinion of the lyrics. A few people saw a Gandalf or Jesus reference, and I can see how either could apply... but of course it's great that songs can have multiple interpretations..thanks
@@retroreactions.... Speaking of Jesus, well Ken Hensley became a Christian in 1993. The album, A Glimpse of Glory is dedicated to Jesus. The music he made as a Christian also touches the hearts of many non-Christians as well. I'm linking to a song from the album - Because of Who I Know - Hope you hear it and maybe like it too. And btw, I appreciate your reaction to the two songs, very good and thorough, that's exactly how it should be done. God bless! ruclips.net/video/0p3sl-hq_eM/видео.html
Two perfect songs to introduce me to this excellent band. What a range! Oh, and what one of them did to me............ Thanks for watching!! 🥰
Moody Blues vibes. For Sure.😉Good Ear.
Extremely glad you did "Salisbury". I knew you would enjoy it. Triple Platinum is well deserved. It's both good and bad that your introduction to Uriah Heep was "Salisbury". Good, in that, you experienced their masterful musicianship and writing abilities. Bad, in that, it is a 'one-off' from the rest of their music. This was their first and only dip into symphonic rock. I was a senior in high school when Salisbury came out. But it wasn't until I was a freshman in college that I bought the album at the recommendation of a new friend. I loved the whole album, but my favorite was (and remains) the song, "Salisbury". The rest of the music from this band from Birmingham, England is 70's rock. They do it well and even had some songs hit the top ten on the charts. However, "Salisbury" will always remain my favorite. R.I.P. Ken Hensley, David Byron, Lee Kerslake. Now you MUST listen to a couple of song off their Uriah Heep Live January 1973 album in Birmingham, England to understand how good they were live. The first one is "Sunrise": ruclips.net/video/2NlqM8FPT1Y/видео.html , "July Morning": ruclips.net/video/JjBedmOupFY/видео.html and "Gypsy": ruclips.net/video/LZcCEGxDU1Q/видео.html Enjoy!
Salisbury is my favorite Uriah Heep song ! I was a Heep Freak since I was 14. I’m 64 now!!
Nice surprise with Uriah Heep!! I’m glad you recovered after “Salisbury”! What an epic song, I’ve actually not heard it through in awhile. I have given Demons and Wizards a listen to recently. I just got tickets for Uriah Heep in May… I got 10th row! Sadly, Mick Box is the only remaining original member. RIP David, Gary, Ken and Lee.
Oh, I doubt I've fully recovered yet! I have hopes that they have many other highly creative songs. Looks like they have a huge catalog, another new welcome rabbit hole! You'll have a blast in May. Sad to hear that so many have passed, but the music lives on...Enjoy your show tonight!!
Absolutely love URIAH HEEP.
Still going strong, 54 Years on.
Keep Rocking.
RONNIE SCOTLAND
I can see why! I think I love them after just 2 songs as well 😀 Thanks for watching Ronnie..
@retroreactions....
Demons and Wizards, is Their masterpiece Album.
Great Channel 👍
Love Your reactions.
Keep Rocking.
Ronnie SCOTLAND
Still going strong? Mick Box is the only one left in the band.
About thirty years ago, my late brother recorded me some German import tapes of Uriah Heep. I remember this one long tune that had these great suspense like sounds towards the end. Well, I lost those tapes and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't find that song again, until now. Thank you for giving it back to me after searching for all that time. ''Salisbury'' :)
This is their second album, and put out something liked this is worth a gold medalion
Two great choices so different. The Heep simply fantastic band up to Return To Fantasy. Saw them live 5 times fro '71 to ' 76 Byron one of the greatest vocalists of his time .
Agree! Can't wait to discover more. 5 times... impressive! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Mr Byron up there with the very best ! Watch the early videos of live performances a certain Mr Mercury was I’m sure influenced by David. Sad loss so young 🎤🎶👌
My ALL time FAVORITE guitar solo. I can't imagine anything that would compliment Salisbury better than Mick Box's frantic wah-wah solo. I wore the album out years ago, and had to find a CD to replace it.
I couldn’t help getting Kansas vibes, no doubt that Uriah was one of their influences.
"The Wizard" has been on my playlist since the 70s! As a lover of fantasy literature, games, and other media, this one really connected with me. Thanks for turning me on to "Salisbury". I hadn't heard it before.
Do you think it's about Gandalf? i didn't check to see if the lyricist was into Tolkien. Glad that Salisbury was a first listen for you too and that you enjoyed it!
The song " Look at Yourself " is a banger with depth. Can't go wrong with the HEEP.🫡
Ken Hensley played a significant role in the distinctiveness of classic Uriah Heep. He was often associated with Jon Lord because they both played the Hammond organ in a progressive hard rock band. However, Ken wasn't particularly interested in soloing and instead focused on his true strength, songwriting. He admired Lord and was inspired by him while conceiving the concept for "Salisbury," although the outcome diverged from Lord's orchestral compositions.
Thanks for the info. I love the array of instruments Ken played. He's already a band favorite of mine!
Holy Cow. First time hearing this! Reminds me a bit of Deep Purple with that organ going nuts. Deep Purple with horns! 😉. My respect for Heep has definitely increased after hearing this.
Never knew they were prog. Always thought they were a blues rock band. I was under a rock regarding them obviously
Nice! Now you see why I was FLOORED by the end of the first song! Completely up my alley. I'm hearing that "Demons and Wizards" is their best or a great album, in case you want to delve into that one sometime....thanks for tuning in! 😊
Look at yourself, is a great album
Thought I knew Uriah Heep pretty well, but apparently not 😮. Never heard Salisbury before, while I’ve always considered The Wizard or Magicians’s Birthday their pinnacles. (The band’s name is taken from a despicable Dickens character in the novel David Copperfield. Always wondered why 🤔). UH probably never got the attention they deserved. Thx for choosing them, Brandon.
Salisbury was a real treat and a surprising one at that. I had not heard this before, or I would have ranked them higher in my mind's ear. I mean they were pretty high already, being among prog giants, but this put them on the same level as the best. What a fine treat! What a find! And if you are a sucker for orchestras, and happen to like James Gang, there is a little-known work called "Ashes, the Rain, and I" which shows their softer side.
Awesome! Glad you could discover Salisbury's brilliance today as well with me. Hmm, never heard of James Gang, but I have heard The Eagles perform Funk #49....and just now I learn that Joe Walsh was in The James Gang! Now it makes sense...
Uriah Heep was one of my favorite groups in the 1970s. The song that cemented my appreciation for them was Lady in Black. They have a wonderful catalog of hits. Among those worth listening to are July Morning, Look at Yourself and Easy Livin'. I look forward to more of your reactions to some of my favorite 1970s tunes. Keep up the good work.
Nice, I can easily see why you love them! They will definitely be back on the channel. Thanks for the 4 suggestions, I've added them to my list 🙂
Salisbury still gives me goosebumps since the day it was first released.
Masterpiece
"Gypsy", "Magician's Birthday" and "Paradise/The Spell" are my suggestions for your next listen.
Yes, crank up that organ!!! Everything else is up to snuff too, but, that's what UH does
Shame that I waited almost 50 years to hear this 16 minute masterpiece! Can't wait for more my friend...
Love "The Wizard", I have heard it many times.💙🧙🎵🎶🎶🎶 First listen to "Salisbury". And you want to know why Brandon? Because I too have been under a rock. 🪨🤣🤣 Great songs. ♥🎼🎹🎸🥁🎤🎶🎶
But we had tons of amazing 80s and 90s tunes playing under that rock!! 😁
hee hee....very good point. Love that🥰
New channel coming in 2025: "Under A Rock Reactions"!!
That's brilliant!! ha ha 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
As if I have any time for that LMAO....I know you'd subscribe though! 💙
Damn! That first song was a tidal wave of sound. It was almost too much, but clearly the band is talented enough to make magic happen!
Demons and wizards is my favorite Uriah Heep album. Sweet Freedom is up near the top of my list.
Heep! 😍You cannot go wrong with Demons and Wizards or The Magician's Birthday. No tracks are less than superb.
Mark Clarke wrote the song Gary thain on the bass
I wish I had learned more about this band earlier!
Same! Excited to hear much more from them. Happy Saturday 😊
Btw, Salisbury is pronounced 'Sauls-bry'.
Dang, I've been saying it wrong my whole life! Thanks for being first today 🥇
Thanks for the great reaction. I'm a Heepster from the early 70s. Not a chance in hell that Styx influenced Uriah Heep's vocal arrangements. If anything, it's the other way around. You will read/see in various places that Ken, Mick and David were all influenced by Vanilla Fudge. Heep took VF's organ and vocal vibe to another level entirely. Heep's vocal arrangements are extensive and multi-layered, often with David and Ken multi-tracking all the various parts resulting in a choral effect. Here's an awesome example from Wonderworld, which really highlights what David and Ken could accomplish vocally. Cheers. ruclips.net/video/ezdcpyBwCpQ/видео.html
First band I ever saw live; ma n pa took me and my brother. I was 15, it was this lineup and they were great. We were all Heep freaks. I met the drummer, Lee, a few years later in a club and knew him immediately. We had a lovely chat about the band, the gig I saw etc. Ultra nice guy.
I missed this the other night as I have been quite unwell but couldn't wait any longer to hear your reaction.
Lost in the sauce... I always thought they were in top 5 British prog. They leave DP in the dust IMHO. The next song is gorgeous and different.
Check out Uriah Heep live from the same line up🤓
Well impressed ! A well known name but I've never bothered with them. On point vocals too. Well worth a dive. BTW, the UK city is pronounced 'Sorlsbury' Brandon.
Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the correction, can't believe I've been saying it wrong all along!
Old mixed languages and dialects over here as I'm sure you know. Regularly not pronounced as the words look.
Peter Gabriel's legendary "Solsbury Hill" is actually a spelling variation of the same name. There are also many places called Salisbury in former British possessions like Canada, Australia, and several U.S. states, and it was also the old name of the Zimbabwean capital city (now called Harare) when the country itself was called Rhodesia and was first a British colony, later a rogue white-minority-ruled apartheid state. All pronounced "Sols-bry".
The original Salisbury in England has long been on my bucket list of places to visit because it has a beautiful medieval cathedral and is also the gateway to visit Stonehenge, which is just a few miles from there. I was able to visit the UK only once, and I was stuck in London (not that it's a bad place to be stuck in, it's a fantastic city!) due to both my tight schedule and a railway strike (it wasn't easy to use any other internal transportation there at that time, decades ago). I hope to be able to make up for it one day.
I live in Southampton and have been to Salisbury many times. Always wondered whether Gabriel's song was THAT Salisbury, the high spot known locally as Pepperbox Hill on the A36 to the east of the city. If you get there, there's an old lookout (I think) on the hill known as the 'Pepperbox.' Back then, Zimbabwe was Rhodesia.
Nice! I really hope you make it there someday too...I used to travel a lot, but so many places I still wanna see!
Had to swallow empty or you "got a lot of friends" with the comparison LZ Stairway....; LZ a little later at the end of 1971.
With the first 3 albums I had great hopes for this band. For me, Gypsy and the rock ballad July In The Morning are masterpieces, actually the entire live album 1973, where the first song lasts 14:04 and the second lasts 11:59. Not to be forgotten is the also prog Circle Of Hands and of course the rocker Look At Yourself/album version or live.
The Wizard and Easy Livin' (short and painless) - and what others suggested to you - are rather short rocking pop songs. This meant that Uriah Heep remained successful with us in Central Europe and through touring. At first I also said “wow” to the singer; Live, things fluctuated a lot over time (lifestyle?!?) and there were frequent band changes.
I've always been a huge fan of URIAH HEEP, but 'Salisbury' (1971) is not, in my opinion, a very good album. Much too uneven; it suggests too much a lack of inspiration, of musical and orchestral creativity. The members of the group still seem to be searching for their style, their sound signature, their identity. To tell you the truth, I'm happy that you chose to listen to the title composition because, to be honest, it is the song that saves the album. And what a guitar solo from Mick Box! This composition is a real gem, a masterpiece. Absolutely agree: 💿💿💿.
'Demons and Wizards' (1972), 'Look at Yourself' (1971) and 'Abominog' (1982) are my three favorite albums from URIAH HEEP, a hyper-productive but very unfairly neglected band. From the first album, I particularly recommend listening to the compositions: "Circle Of Hands" and "The Spell". On the second, "July Morning" and "Shadows of Grief"... of course, if you like keyboards, synth, moog, etc. And as for the third, I often listen to it over and over again: “Sell Your Soul”. Thanks.
[NB: I purchased, in 2023, their new album 'Chaos & Colour'. The style has changed a lot, a more modern, more formatted hardrock... but, surprisingly, the album is excellent. I recommend listening to two compositions: "One Nation, One Sun" and "Freedom To Be Free".]
29:05 "...represent Jesus."? Oh man, you really lost me there.
Yea, I often read other people's interpretations after writing down my opinion of the lyrics. A few people saw a Gandalf or Jesus reference, and I can see how either could apply... but of course it's great that songs can have multiple interpretations..thanks
@@retroreactions.... Speaking of Jesus, well Ken Hensley became a Christian in 1993. The album, A Glimpse of Glory is dedicated to Jesus. The music he made as a Christian also touches the hearts of many non-Christians as well. I'm linking to a song from the album - Because of Who I Know - Hope you hear it and maybe like it too.
And btw, I appreciate your reaction to the two songs, very good and thorough, that's exactly how it should be done.
God bless! ruclips.net/video/0p3sl-hq_eM/видео.html
Hello. Thanks for the suggestion. I appreciate you watching and the compliment 🙂 Peace and blessings to you!!