KIRJASTA "KORKEALTA JA KOVAA"
Kuvat Reijo Porkka, teksti Tommi Liuhala

English translation:
URIAH HEEP
In search of the promised land
Finland has always been the promised land of heavy rock. In that sense Lordi winning the Eurovision Song Contest was right on the mark.
As a matter of fact Finland was the first country alongside England and Japan where heavy rock did very well already in the early days.
We were waken up in the end the 60's to the sound of Deep Purple. Led Zeppelin was a hero here already by the 
first album and also Black Sabbath. Also Uriah Heep belongeg to this lot from the beginning of their career.
Why didn't Uriah Heep become such an incon like the others from this era? Partly because there was no guitar hero like Ritchie 
Blackmore or Jimmy page in the band and no vocalist of the same standard as Robert Plant or Ian Gillan. Perhaps the music 
was too melodic and light-weight to please the most critical fans and their hits were too poppy - and therefore so popular.
On the other hand Uriah Heep with its music based on choirs and vocal harmonies paved way to 
necomers like Queen and that's why they have earned their place int heavy rock history.
With their first visit in Ruisrock Heep did what they were expected. Vocalist David Byron interpreted the songs familiar from their albums 
with routine. Mick Box pulled the necessary sounds from his guitar. Ken Hensley's Hammond roared with the richness suited to the music. 
No enthusiastic response from the audience though. That was to come later. The band has played over here tens of times since then.
Instead at the afterparty the guys were in a much more spirited mood. David Byron turned out to be a real talking machine who was 
looking for some company in the hotel bar until small hours. Ken Hensley was his total opposite - intovert and peaceful thinker, at 
least on that occasion. It was his strong musical vision that the music of Uriah Heep was based on during the first ten years.



Pictures from Ruisrock 1972