Cheap High & Mighty (Music) (Uriah Heep) Price

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Customer Reviews of High & Mighty

A mixed bag
The final album with original vocalist David Byron (whose worsening alcoholism and increasingly erratic behavior would shortly lead to his firing), self-produced by the band during a row with long-time manager/producer Gerry Bron, "High and Mighty" is a mixed bag, which showed that while the band were still capable of producing first-rate material even during such turmoil, they needed a producer's objective opinion to tell them when things weren't working.

Positive points: side one of the original LP (tracks 1-4) is incredible; it stacks up well against anything they ever recorded; had the album continued in the same vein, it would have rivaled "Demons and Wizards" as their best, and it is well worth owning for these tracks alone. "One Way Or Another" is a propulsive rocker, surprisingly featuring lead vocals from John Wetton and Ken Hensley (filling in for Byron during a bout with the mumps), while "Weep In Silence", "Misty Eyes", and "Midnight", are archetypal "Classic Heep" songs, all of which would have been among the standout tracks on any of the previous albums.

Negative points: I hate to knock my favorite group, but the remaining tracks, side two of the original LP, are mostly an unfocused, experimental mess, illustrating exactly why bands normally rely on an outside producer to seperate the gold from the dross. "Can't Keep A Good Band Down" is a musical retread of the previous album's far superior "Prima Donna", minus the horns, and the lyrics, complaining about bad reviews in the mainstream music press, come off as whining. "Woman Of The World" and "Can't Stop Singing" are close to unlistenable; the latter being easily the worst thing they ever recorded in any lineup, the "Equator" album included. "Footprints In The Snow" and "Make A Little Love" aren't particularly objectionable; unfortunately, neither are they particularly memorable. "Confession", which closes the original LP, is a gentle and pretty piano ballad, but nothing we haven't heard before (and better) on "Rain" or "The Easy Road".

Overall, certainly not the finale to the Byron era that one could have wished for, but again, worth owning for the original side one.

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Poor by Heep standards but some good trax.
Only buy this if you are seriously hooked on Heep . I was and still am. The overall impression is of a lot of filler on this, and some odd arrangement ideas which one can only assume were an attempt to drag in new non-rock fans. Still, there are a few classics : 'One way or another' is a heavy rocking gem with amazing vocals by John Wetton (+ Hensley section). It is the only true heavy track on the album. Byron gets his turn on the excellent 'Weep in silence' with great Box guitar. There is the almost epic 'Midnight'(let down seriously by a funky small chorus section!}. 'Can't keep a good band down' is a fair rock/pop blast and 'Footprints in the snow' another good Wetton effort being an acoustic/blues mix. Other trax are just not up to scratch. Don't buy this if you want heavy or classic Heep but it does have some good moments.