Review Summary: The powerful start of Uriah Heep’s incredible late era
Coming off a decade-long studio exile since 1998’s Sonic Origami, 2008’s Wake The Sleeper marks the start of Uriah Heep’s true second wind. The nineties saw the group inching back to their ‘eavy and ‘umble roots with 1995’s Sea of Light being a particular highlight, but it’s hard to remember the last time their approach had this much power and urgent momentum behind it. The opening title track is an immediate display of this action with its mostly instrumental structure allows for a flurry of double-bass drums, wah-heavy guitars, and fanfare keyboards. Once the wailing vocals kick in, it really does feel like something you’d hear in a dream right before your alarm goes off.
From there, the musicianship never lets go of that relentless energy. While this album saw drummer Russell Gilbrook replacing Lee Kerslake upon his retirement, his playing fits right in by injecting a more aggressive presence while still hanging onto the grooves. Keyboardist Phil Lanzon and vocalist Bernie Shaw had been in the group for long enough at this point to understand the assignment, the former providing plenty of vibrant textures and the latter channeling Lawton’s commanding presence while allowing for an array of backing vocals. Guitarist Mick Box and bassist Trevor Bolder being the remaining seventies holdouts helps give the project that legitimacy but it’s arguably more commendable that they can still live up to everybody else’s energy and then some.
The songwriting also echoes the reinvigorated spirit, dispensing a bunch of catchy hooks that make its fifty-minute overtime runtime surprisingly snappy. Tracks like the speedy shuffle on “Tears Of The World” and the more level “Light Of A Thousand Stars” have a certain enthusiasm that channels the whimsical side of their earliest outings. While things may be a little too frantic for their more otherworldly musings to shine through, there’s still room for atmospheric tracks to shine on tracks like “What Kind Of God.”
Overall, Wake The Sleeper impresses both as an incredible late-era effort and a surprise entry among the strongest Uriah Heep offerings. The pedigree of the musicians involved across differing eras of the band’s history makes for an interesting balance of experience and fresh chemistry, leading the group to feel closer to the spryness of something like Black Country Communion or Spiritual Beggars than their similarly aged peers in a group like Deep Purple. The group raised the bar for how strong a boomer band could still be while going toe to toe with the best of their acolytes. And with subsequent albums continuing down this path, it’s fair to say they knew what worked for them.
