Heep, for some reason, seem to be generally brushed off to the side. Frankly I don't know why, because I find them highly original and quite unique in their mix of melodic metal and progressive rock. Maybe it is the occasional, weird Beach Boys sounding, multivoice harmonies, maybe it is Byron's somewhat peculiar vibrato... I don't know. What I do know is though, that everyone agrees that Demons And Wizards is their greatest album. I may concur on that statement, but their previous effort, the much lessor known, Look At Yourself, is a serious contender, if not quite as well produced and with less focus on fantasy prog and more focus on rock.
It does contain one of their most loved epics, July Morning, which is in many ways comparable to Deep Purple's Child In Time. I always found this track in the least favorite category as it sounds too generic or formulaic and consciously intended to have epic nature. I much prefer the other, more uptempo songs, like I Wanna Be Free (I adore the frantic end) and Tears In My Eyes
There is also the impressive and very progressive Shadow Of Grief... with huge changes in power and structure, a really incredible track, that takes a few spins to appreciate. What Should Be Done is soft ballad'y song with a great melody and great background voices and wuawua guitar. The title track is also a very proggy and frantic track, that hard hitting yet melodic. Generally the allround feel of the album is frantic. The slow parts never gets to settle before the hard edge shows up and vice versa. It kind of leaves you back, wanting to say... i need to listen to this again.
This album is very well rounded. It is probably the truest and least pretentious album by Heep and has a great rough edge that fits their style very well. Some of their other albums gets a bit too soft and poporiented. This is the real deal. Great intro to the band I would say.
