Uriah Heep - Live at Koko     
Frontiers Records
www.uriah-heep.com

Rating: B

Release Date: 
02/20/15 Eu
02/24/15 USA

Mick Box has kept Uriah Heep in the studio and on the road for over four and a half decades.  Amazing.  Everyone gives Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple their respect for basically inventing the genre of Hard Rock. Too often, though, one band is left off that list that deserves to be there with every note they made in those early days.  That band is Uriah Heep.  The fact that the Heepsters are still on the road and still performing at this level and still adding strong, new material to their set is a testament to their talent and tenacity.  This band has sold over forty million albums… that’s damn near a million a year since they began making albums!  They have a worldwide fan base that is rabid about all things Heep, and they can keep doing this as long as Mick Box pays the electricity bill to plug in his Les Paul. 

When you have replacement players in the band getting ready to celebrate thirty years as members, then you’re doing something right!  Vocalist Bernie Shaw, who has done the impossible in effortlessly replacing original singer David Byron, and keyboardist Phil Lanzon, who has done a fine job replacing Ken Hensley, are quite happy in their roles and plan to stick around a while longer.  As the Live at Koko proves, Heep are a band still on a musical mission! 

The set on this night included plenty of classic material, but also mixed in many songs from their last three creatively and critically acclaimed studio efforts: Wake the Sleeper, Into the Wild and Outsider.  This album also features Russell Gilbrook on drums, who is celebrating seven years with the band, in addition to the newest Heep member, Dave Rimmer, who has replaced the dearly departed and fan favorite, Trevor Boulder. 

The two live CDs rock, and the video included shows Mick Box in all his glory.  The founding member may have white hair and be wrinkling around the edges, but that smile—and that guitar playing... wow!  The Master of the Wah-Wah pedal can still bring it home!  The good songs are received very well by the Heep faithful, but let’s face it, songs like “Stealin’,” “Traveller in Time,” “Look at Yourself,” “July Morning,” “Lady in Black” and “Easy Livin’” are going to steal the show.  And they do. 

Box realized the legacy he has created and is happy to share another live example of why they continue to do it, and do it so well.  “Recording a live DVD in London at Koko's was just fantastic. Our fans travelled from all over the world to be there, and be part of this magic night,” says Mick Box. “This added so much to the atmosphere, and thankfully it was captured on camera. We debuted two songs from our new CD, 'Outsider,' that night, and the reaction was just incredible, proving that we have the best fans in the world.”

Indeed!  Long Live Uriah Heep!

URIAH HEEP
Mick Box, Philip Lanzon, Bernie Shaw, Russell Gilbrook, Dave Rimmer