Since German based rockers Lucifers Friend reunited 4 years ago they’ve been very busy. what started out as a ‘best of’ compilation with a few new songs grew into a few live shows, a live album, more live shows, a new studio, and now their latest – “Black Moon” – the band’s 4th release in as many years. Founding members – Peter Hesslein [guitar, keyboards], Dieter Horns [bass], and John Lawton [vocals], along with [drummer] Stephan Eggert, and a handful of guests on this album.
First off – love the album artwork, paintings by Damian Bydinski. LF had a few classic album covers in the 70s, and I love this one, even including the original characters from the debut album [nearing 50 years]. My only beef is there’s no vinyl LP available for this album. Oh well…
Too Late To Hate was released in 2016. It was a decent album, but I think Black Moon is a step up. The title track is great opener; LF fans will easily dig this rocker; added trumpet solo and congas are a nice touch [this band usually mixed it up with brass, and different instruments on early albums]. The 2nd track here is “Passengers”, a more progressive rocker, love the lengthy intro; this one bounces along with Lawton’s vocals coming in and the song building back up. In their earliest days LF drew comparisons to the likes of Deep Purple & Uriah Heep, and certainly the first few songs will impress fans looking for those sounds. Black Moon keeps up a pretty good pace with “Rolling The Stone”, “Palace Of Fools” and “Call The Captain” – another favorite here, a bit of a pop-rocker, but a good tune and memorable chorus. There’s some decent more poppy tunes in “Behind The Smile” and “Glory Days”, these remind me a bit of the band’s “Sumo Grip” stuff. Featured ballad is “Little Man”, a bit of blues and soul – perfectly suited for Lawton’s voice, and a brief / cool guitar break from Hesslein.
Interesting thing about this band is they could never be categorized. Starting out as a very heavy band, then veering in to jazz, fusion, pop, prog,.. so aside from good songs and great vocals, don’t have any pre-conceived ideas of what to expect. [And here one could easily stick a good few tracks amongst their early LF favorites]. Yeah – I’d like this band to make a really heavy album [and turn up the guitar], but Lucifer’s Friend is not that band this time out, and those that like the band’s past albums will be quite happy with Black Moon.
February of 2018 marks the return of Uriah Heep to Canada, and the start of the band’s biggest North American tour in decades! The list includes 36 shows – starting in Ottawa, Ontario, and eventually on to the US from the east coast to west and back up to Vancouver [Bernie Shaw’s home province British Columbia], and ending in Calgary, Alberta on May 1.
For the latest dates, check out > http://www.uriah-heep.com .
You can also go to the site and let other fans know which shows you’ll be attending [I’ll be at London and Toronto, Ontario]
The band has just completed recording a new album – “Living The Dream”, which won’t be out for several months, and something Heep fans are eagerly awaiting and pre-ordering – https://www.pledgemusic.com/uriahheep
The recording for the new album went fairly quick!? How prepared were you guys [with new songs written] before recording? We were very prepared as we had a 2 week pre-production before hand, so most of the ideas were in place, and it was just a matter of a nip and tuck here and there once Jay Ruston our Producer was involved in the studio. We finished the recording process in under 3 weeks which was just amazing.
I can’t imagine there’s too much you can tell at this point [too early?] – but are there any details you can give regarding Living The Dream? It is a typical Heep album with all of our usual trademarks. The harmonies, organ sound, and the wah wah guitar etc.
Is everything written by yourself and Phil Lanzon? Everything basically, but one song Bernie had a hand in the lyrics and one that Davey wrote with Jeff Scott Soto.
How was working with Jay Ruston? He’s done a lot of cool albums! Who recommended him? Jay was fantastic to work with and he brought out the best in each of us in a very understated way. When we started hearing back the first track that we recorded we knew we had the right man. He became part of the Heep family vey quickly. We were fans of his from his work with THE WINERY DOGS, STONE SOUR, BLACK STAR RIDERS, PAUL GILBERT AND EUROPE to name but a few..
Living The Dream won’t be out until the fall [that’s a long wait for us ;-)] . Will any of the new songs work their way in to the live show before then? It is still in the process of being mixed. We do not usually put songs in our set until the release of the album. If we did then they would be all over the media sites and there would be no impact on the release.
You are coming to North America in a few weeks, and in particular [for me] Canada! This will be the first time Heep plays in Ontario since 1993. How did getting the band here finally come about? We now have management Ace Trump & Adam Parsons along with an agent Keith Naisbitt of APA Agency USA who believe in the band, and they made it happen. Previously we had been in a bit of no-mans land and we were not being driven to capacity in that market, which is a real shame.
Bernie must be excited? That’s a big understatement!
Will the set list be changed much from recent shows? will it still feature a number of Outsider tracks and any old surprises? We will perform a musical journey throughout our career starting with the first album and finishing with the last one ‘Outsider.’
It must get tough when an album – such as Into The Wild and Outsider have had their tour in the live show and you have to decide what stays and goes in the setlist!? It usually sorts itself out in the end . There is only so much we can play each night, so once we get to rehearsals and the energy and ideas flow, it usually comes together reasonably quickly.
In recent years you guys have struck up a friendship with Alice Cooper [who’s on tour here at the same time]. Yes, we have become good friends with Alice. In fact Bernie and I did a tour in Germany with Alice called the ‘Rock Meets Classic,’ tour. This was with a 40 piece orchestra from Prague in the Czech Republic. Bernie and I used to get up each night and play ’Schools Out,’ with Alice on his encore. Alice also told us that he used our song ‘Lady in Black,’ as his warm up song, so there was mutual admiration there. He is a great guy.
Can you tell me a bit about the connection to Alice and his support with One Minute? Alice Kindly played ‘One Minute,’ from our ‘Outsider,’ CD on his radio show.
Phil released an outstanding album recently. Will any tidbits of it feature in the shows? and will he be bringing some copies to sell over here? That is Phil’s project so no tidbits and he is planning to sell them at shows.
The band had a strong following in such cities as Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal… do you have any great memories or a few stories to share from any places in Canada? I remember way back when playing in Toronto with Rory Gallagher and being totally blown away by him. He was the first guitarist I saw play pinched harmonics, and he did a whole solo on them. He was something special and a super great player and singer. He is sadly missed.
Lastly, the band has their own label and has been re-issuing a few things from the past few decades [Raging Through The Silence, Totally Driven…] – will there be something new in 2018 from the vaults? I am sure there will be as things are constantly surfacing at a rate of knots.
It’s been since the fall of 1993 when I last saw Uriah Heep in Ontario, tho they played some shows in western Canada the following year, and 2 shows in British Columbia in 2001. At the time the band had yet to sign a new record deal, 1995’s brilliant Sea Of Light album was still a dream away, their last album – Different World suffered on a small label, and did not get a release over here [til mid 90s in the US, on Griffin Records] and the latest UH related release was The Lansdowne Tapes, and Ken Hensley’s From Time To Time. The first round of remastered CDs had not been conceived yet. Back then the band was part of the Total Recall Tour, with Nazareth, Blue Oyster Cult, and Wishbone Ash. They played a 45 minute set of material pre 1976, as well as 1 ‘new’ song – Words In The Distance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2st2KK5oAwQ
The band’s 6 shows in February of 2018 are long overdue. On their last tour of the US, I attended a show in Akron, Ohio [about 5 hrs drive], as did a number of other fans from Toronto and the Niagara areas. Someone asked singer Bernie Shaw [after the show] why the band hadn’t come north of the border, and he replied ‘they couldn’t get arrested in Canada!’. huh!… Bernie’s Canadian btw. Regardless the band is finally coming here.
*Updated North American Tour dates for 2018: http://www.uriah-heep.com/newa/livedates.php
So far 6 Canadian shows have been announced [hopefully more to come] February : 06 & 08 – Ottawa, Ontario – Brass Monkey 09 – Quebec City, Palais Montcalm 10 – Montreal, PQ – Corona Theatre 11 – London, Ontario – London Music Hall 12 – Toronto, Ontario – Phoenix Concert Theater [sold out]
and although not in Canada –
March 02 – Westland, Michigan – The Token Lounge [about an hour from Windsor, Ontario]
Heep’s Canadian Connections
*Singer Bernie Shaw is from British Columbia, and moved to the UK in the late 70s to pursue his musical career. He debuted on the first Grand Prix LP [along with Phil Lanzon], and went on to record with Praying Mantis [Stratus] . He joined Heep at the end of 1986, and has been there ever since. He also recorded a few tracks with Canadian guitarist Dale Collins, while on vacay in Canada in 1997, which was released as the “Picking Locks” EP [CD] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK-SCyFkzXU
*Prior to Shaw though, the band had another Canadian in the ranks. Keyboard player Gregg Dechert had been in a London, Ontario based band named Pulsar, along with a Welsh singer named John Sloman. When that band broke up and Sloman had to return to the UK, he joined Uriah Heep. Following an album and UK / European tour, Dechert was flown over to audition for and replace Ken Hensley. Dechert’s time in the band was long enough to record an album’s worth of material – which never got released, as well as play on the single “Think It Over”, and do a UK tour. His time in Heep would lead to being part of David Gilmour’s 1984 solo band, as well as a few other projects, and a brief stint in Bad Company. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf5Yw2_DHxY
He would also be apart of the Heepsteria tribute project years later, with the late Rob Seagrove, covering “July Morning”.
*When Ken Hensley left Heep, he formed Shotgun [who did 1 UK tour], and the guitarist was Canadian Derek O’Neil, from Ottawa – who had previously been in the band Fury [whom supported Heep on their 1977 UK tour]. He also was part of Blazer Blazer, who had a single in the UK – “Cecil Be Devine”. Iron Maiden would cover a song he co-wrote as part of the Marshall-Fury Band – “Juanita”. He later relocated to California, and sadly passed away in 2007. https://www.pressreader.com/canada/ottawa-citizen/20070521/281930243551706
Outsider Rock 