Chaos and Colour is the mighty Uriah Heep’s twenty-fifth studio album. And it’s right up there with the best of the previous twenty-four showing what a pedigree they still have to be knocking out music as stunning as we have here after half a century in the business.
All the classic Heep trademarks are here in abundance. Mix Box peels off beefy, flowing and stabbing riffs and solos at will. Phil Lanzon’s monster keyboard swells and swirls are all over it trading licks and solos alternating with Mick’s guitar work bigging it up marvellously.
Russell Gilbrook’s whirling Dervish drumming thuds like nothing else. Dave Rimmer throws in complex bass line and Bernie Shaw’s vocals have depth, power, range and when called for a touching soulful edge to them.
Chaos and colour is hard, heavy and with the progressive edge Heep have always been known for. It packs a proper punch throughout yet at the same time the class and variance in the song writing is relentlessly impressive with cuts such as the epic eight minutes or so of One Nation, One Sun switching from gentle piano to thunderous heaviness, big harmony vocals before switching back and forth between styles all leading up to a slow-burning gradually building spectacular finale.
We’re at the races straight out of the traps with Save Me Tonight. Hard, heavy and frantic with Box and Lanzon trading those licks and a belted out Shaw vocal. All very urgent over three and a half. Breathless stuff.
Silver Sunlight has more Box/Lanzon interplay with the song making me think of Sea of Light from the 1990s. Hail the Sunshine rocks it hard again as does Hurricane which features more of the guitar and swirling keys trading off. Have a listen:
After the big rockers it’s time to slow it down a bit and get proggy on One Nation, One Sun. A sweeping, brooding epic as previously mentioned above. It’s spectacular in scope and delivery before back to the classic Heep hardness on Golden Light with the riffage, guitar and keys, monster rhythm section and Shaw belting out the vocals.
You’ll Never Be Alone gets back in to brooding proggy style and a nice slow-burned before it explodes going this way, that way and back again. Made me think of the Magician’s Birthday indeed.
Freedom to Be Free is a stunning eight minutes of hard-edged heavy prog with everyone pitching in. Big Box riffs, alternating guitar and keyboard solos, Dave Rimmer gets to show his chops with a couple of fluid mini-bass solos whilst Gilbook holds it all together and Shaw demonstrates his full range.
The end track of Closer to Your Dreams similar to the opener – three and a half minutes of hard rock in typical Heep style. Has a touch of Easy Livin’ about it.
Make no mistake – Chaos and Colour is class from first note to last. Simply superb.
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