"Conquest" and I have one thing in common... we were both born in 1980, so that makes this the first Uriah Heep album to be released in my lifetime. I like it a lot, but I must admit that it took some time for me to really get into it. A friend of mine whom had it let me borrow it several times, and each time I listened to it I discovered something new about it to like that I'd somehow missed before. Not like Heep's classic "Demon's and Wizards", from 1974, which converted me to the Uriah Heep cause after only one listen (less than that... if memory serves me correctly, I heard only tracks 1-4 and 6 that very first time). So if you're new to Heep, keep in mind that this may not strike you as a brilliant piece of work for quite a while. But give it patience, and it will blossom into one of your very favourites (in the meantime, you can console yourself with the fact that that is one awesome picture on the cover!).

Two songs on this album really do it for me... I don't know if I'd go so far as to call them the "Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane" of Uriah Heep, but it's a pair of songs that really need to be listened together (for me, at least). Tracks 5 and 6, "Carry On" and "Won't Have to Wait Too Long". Honestly, two of the greatest songs ever written, both of them highly unusual but very memorable. In spite of the fact that they somehow just belong together, there's really nothing to connect them save for the fact that they're both decidedly odd and are next to each other on the same album. I'll sometimes pop in the CD just to hear those two... (the lyrics to "Won't Have to Wait Too Long" are quite funny, too... usually when I listen to music, I pay attention to the melody and vocals, but not necessarily the words being sung. One day while riding in the car I pulled out the sleeve just to look the lyrics over, and I really discovered the words for the first time. Now the song's twice as good as it was before). But I do go on. The rest of the album is highly enjoyable too... in particular the wonderfully dreary "Fools" (love the backing vocals), which I realize now is track four, right before "Carry On". So you've got a terrific three in a row, in addition to what comes before and after.

The bonus tracks are excellent... I was particularly excited to hear the John Sloman version of "Think it Over" (which he wrote with Trevor Bolder, by the way. As much as I liked Pete Goalby, the next lead singer Heep would have, and in spite of the fact that Sloman's presence was what drove keyboard player/founding member/lead songwriter Ken Hensley out of the fold, I honestly would have loved to hear more from him. Love that voice of his!). "Think it Over" remains my favourite song on Heep's next album after this one, "Abominog", where a version of it was done with Goalby. Admittedly, I like the Goalby version better, but the one you'll hear here is quite good too. "Love Stealer" is another bonus track definitely worth a listen (and the bonus tracks here will be your only chance to hear Heep with Greg Dechert on keyboards).

Anyway, in conclusion, this is one great album that is definitely worth your time and hard-earned dollars. Check it out, but just remember to be patient.

Doncha know I won't have to waeeeeeeeeeet.... dooloooooooonnnnggggwowwww.... Doncha know I won't have to waeeeeeeeeeet.... dooloooooooonnnngggg....

Ha ha!

Carry on Carry on,

MN

Some time ago I gave "Equator" a less than favourable review. I regret that now. In the year or so since I decided that it was the worst piece of work in the entire long and bloody history of my all-time favourite band, Uriah Heep, I've revisited it several times (each of these times a couple of months apart, the most recent of them being last week), and my mind has been changed. "Equator" is in fact a highly enjoyable album that's just been given a very bad image. I've always enjoyed the first and last tracks on the album, "Rockarama" and "Night of the Wolf", but it's my great pleasure to confirm that the songs that fill the space in between are not the [stuff] I thought they were. Even "Party Time" which I once called Uriah Heep's most awkward moment, has become a fun song that I like quite a bit (the backing vocals, which once really did it for me, are no less embarrassing than the backing vocals on "Woman of the World" from Heep's 1976 album, "High and Mighty", which I always thought were very cool, if a bit unusual.

In"Equator" gets four stars from me. It's no waste of time and is tremendous fun to listen to, but it's still not up to the standards Heep set earlier with 1974's "Demons and Wizards", 1977's "Firefly", or later with 1998's "Sonic Origami". If you're new to Heep, try those... if you've already been initiated, you won't lose with "Equator". Besides, if you're already initiated, "Equator" is likely the only one you don't already have in your collection anyway.

Carry on carry on,

MN