Uriah Heep - Sweet Freedom
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Uriah HeepEdition: Music CD
Format: Extra tracks, Import
CD Release Date: 2004-04-12
Music Label: Sanctuary UK
Soundtracks:
- Dreamer - Uriah Heep, Thain, Gary
- Stealin'
- One Day
- Sweet Freedom
- If I Had the Time
- Seven Stars
- Circus - Uriah Heep, Thain, Gary
- Pilgrim
- Sunshine - Uriah Heep, Thain, Gary
- Seven Stars
- Pilgrim
- If I Had the Time
- Sweet Freedom
- Stealin'
Free Music Notes for Sweet Freedom
Free Music Review: Awesome Album By Uriah Heep
Hit: 5 Stars
After the success of their first live album, the group wasted little time and immediately began preparing and recording new material at the Ch?teau d'Herouville in France. The resulting album "Sweet Freedom" came out in late 1973 and it's the fourth release to feature what now is regarded as the classic line-up of this group with David Byron on vocals, Mick Box on guitar, Ken Hensley on keyboards, Gary Thain on bass, and Lee Kerslake on drums. Throughout the recording, there's a fine mix of hard rock, progressive rock, and an acoustic song. I really liked Mick Box's thick fuzz distorted tone that he uses!
The song that gets to start the album is the Box/Thain penned "Dreamer". Great scratchy rhythm guitar, prominent bass lines, a thick hammond organ sound, and the distinctive vocals of Byron makes this track instantly memorable. Note the cool lead guitar bits that Box throws in between the verses. After it's fade out, we go into "Stealin'" that happens to be the most popular song on the album and only one to get radio airplay. It's a rather southern rock sounding song with repentant lyrics written by keyboard player Hensley who dominates here with his organ playing. Still you get a short solo by Box as well.
For a nice change of style comes the Hensley/Thain written "One Day". I like the anthemic feel of the melodies featured in the verses along with short, catchy, melodic lead guitar bits while in the middle, Byron uses vocal overdubs to great effect and finally it comes to an explosive ending...boom! Excellent!
Next is the Hensley written title track "Sweet Freedom" and is one of the best songs on the album! It goes in a prog-rock direction. The guitars, keyboards and vocals harmonize perfectly plus you get very cool bass lines from Thain. Afterwards comes the other progressive rock song included and that is "If I Had The Time" where Hensley uses a moog synth instead of the usual hammond sound resulting in a moody and atmospheric piece. The most memorable part is in the middle when it changes to a haunting section. Towards the end, Box plays a repeating theme on slide guitar.
Now it's on to the poppy sounding "Seven Stars". Box plays his usual thick fuzz distorted electric guitar and an acoustic overdub as well. I really like that part at the end where Byron sings the alphabet forward and then backwards too! But now it's time to go into "Circus". This is an awesome haunting acoustic pop masterpice! It was written by the Box/Thain partnership with help from Kerslake too. Great catchy melodies are showcased and this is one of Byron's best vocal performences here. I also liked the percussion too. It's the shortest song on the album lasting about two minutes and forty seconds. I wish it was longer!
The album closes with the prog rock multi-part epic "Pilgrim" where the songwriting credit is shared by Byron and Hensley. Stunning operatic voclas in the intro and even better sections follow. Then Box comes along to play an incredible, agressive solo drenched in wah wah before the final section, where Byron steals the show with his singing over a melody that's repeated until the fade out that sadly puts an end to the album!
However there's still the bonus tracks to come and the first is the excellent b-side "Sunshine". This is truly a hard rock gem. Stellar voclas by Byron are included in this Box/Thain composition and as the liner notes say, this song could be useful for one of the more modern metal bands to cover. The demo version of "If I Had The Time" is also interesting because it features a different band. Hensley plays piano and acoustic guitar but on the lead guitar is Paul Kossoff and playing drums is Simon Kirke both from the group Free! They add a nice touch to this demo.
Admittedly the two live tracks are not that great, but mostly because of poor sound and the extended version of "Pilgrim" is disappointing too becase it's just a copy and paste job done to the recording featured on the album. In order to have a longer running time, certain parts of the song were repeated! The extended "Seven Stars" is a little better, it runs until the band stops playing instead of the fade out even though is the same recording featured on the original album. These are only minor complains though!
So if you like hard rock and prog rock, then serve yourself. Add this underrated album to your collection! Make sure you get the 2004 remastered version as it includes a thick booklet and bonus tracks! Uriah Heep: A poor man's Deep Purple? No Way!
Thanks for taking the time to read!
Later...
Sweet Freedom Poster
Another Rock Best Seller Given an Overdue Facelift. Including Deluxe Packaging, Bonus Tracks and an Expansive Booklet with Rare Memorabilia and Photos. Bonus Tracks Are "Sunshine", "Seven Stars (Extended Version)", "Pilgrim (Extended Version", "if I Had Time (Demo Alternate Live Version)" and "Stealin' (Alternate Live Version)".Classic Rock Music CDs
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