Release Date Apr 24th, 2026
Format Clamshell Box (4CD)
Genre Hard Rock, Progressive Rock
Country United Kingdom
Uriah Heep stood right on the frontline of early heavy metal alongside Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. The guys started out under the name Spice, eventually switching to a Dickensian moniker when Ken Hensley jumped on board. By June 1970, their huge debut "Very 'Eavy Very 'Umble" officially put them on the map. The core team of David Byron on vocals, Mick Box shredding on guitar, and Hensley handling keyboards essentially built the foundation of 1970s hard rock. In 2025, they finally launched a farewell tour to celebrate fifty-five loud years of music.
This four-disc collection dives straight into a wild transitional era for the band between 1975 and 1977. Uriah Heep pumped out music at a ridiculous pace back then. Disc one brings us "Return To Fantasy" from 1975. The classic lineup stayed mostly intact here, with Box, Byron, Hensley, and Lee Kerslake bringing the noise, joined by John Wetton holding down the bass. The tracks brought back those huge fantasy lyrics that originally built their diehard global fanbase, mixing anthems like "Return To Fantasy" with straightforward rockers like "Prima Donna".
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Things shifted drastically a year later with their ninth studio full-length, "High And Mighty". The guys handled the production entirely on their own, steering the ship away from pure progressive hard rock and heading straight toward a much more accessible, radio-friendly sound. Tracks like "One Way Or Another" signaled a drastic change in sound. This session mirrored the previous album's lineup, making it a crucial historical document since it marks the absolute final appearance of legendary vocalist David Byron before he exited the ranks.
The year 1977 saw Uriah Heep drop two entire albums, totally shaking up the roster. First came "Firefly", introducing former Lucifer's Friend frontman John Lawton to the vocal mic and bringing in Spider From Mars veteran Trevor Bolder on bass guitar. The resulting music takes a completely different path from their earlier metal origins. Months later, they unleashed "Innocent Victim" with the identical lineup. Gerry Bron stepped in alongside Hensley for production duties, delivering completely unexpected commercial singles like "Free Me" to the masses.
This clamshell box packs an absolute mountain of bonus material across all four discs. Fans get previously unreleased extended mixes, raw B-sides, alternate live cuts, and early studio demos showing the raw genesis of the songs. The inclusion of full unedited tracks and television backing numbers makes the entire package a total treasure trove for serious metalheads. Getting to hear these guys navigate huge lineup changes while constantly dropping heavy music rules entirely.
Score: 8.0
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