Quarant’anni sono passati da quell’umile e pesante debutto.
Mick Box e i suoi Uriah Heep sono ancora on the road, a raccontare con ragionevole orgoglio storie di demoni e stregoni, lucciole ed angeli caduti, forti di una perseveranza che ha pochi eguali e dell’onore conquistato con le armi ed il sudore. Appesantiti ed invecchiati, certo, perché questa vita non fa sconti a nessuno. Ma quanta emozione c’è ancora dietro quei suoni. Vibrazioni che sopravvivono al corso delle stagioni, ai molteplici cambi di formazione, ai compagni persi lungo la strada, alle poche luci e molte ombre degli anni ottanta e… a Melissa Mills. Ora, sinceramente spero che la velenosa giornalista del Rolling Stone non abbia mantenuto quanto promesso, ma con altrettanta franchezza e idealmente in coro con gli Heepsters vorrei risponderle oggi: ma vaffanculo va!
Per nostra fortuna i "Beach Boys dell' heavy rock" ce l’hanno fatta, in barba ai tanti (troppi) detrattori. Il tempo ha in parte restituito loro gli innegabili meriti, mentre i nostri hanno continuato a regalarci negli anni preziose gemme come per esempio questo “Sea of Light”. Un disco che celebra i 25 anni di carriera nel migliore dei modi e ricorda i sapori di quei primi anni settanta, sin dalla splendida e celestiale copertina ad opera del ritrovato Roger Dean.
Mickey e soci riescono nell’arduo compito di forgiare un sound moderno ed aggressivo, che sarà la base anche per i successivi ed altrettanto validi lavori, ma che al contempo si mantiene fedele alle radici. Il tutto grazie ad una line-up ormai rodata (Box-Kerslake-Bolder-Lanzon-Shaw), che dimostra un affiatamento invidiabile, e che con tutta probabilità è destinata ad essere ricordata come la più duratura della band. Il mare di luce è l’elisir di lunga vita per gli Heep, il piacere di tornare a vibrare, una formula senza tempo che miscela aggressività e dolcezza, richiami del passato e seduzioni del presente.
Hard rock a 360°, che lambisce le coste dell’AOR e si lascia inebriare da aromi progressivi, ma non distoglie l’attenzione dalla propria rotta alla ricerca della melodia. Ci si accorge che in fondo poco è cambiato da quel lontano 1970: la passione e la costanza sono le medesime, e si sposano ad un ritrovato vigore che altri dinosauri dei seventies ora si possono scordare. E poi c’è il loro marchio di fabbrica, quelle armonizzazioni vocali inarrivabili che tanto hanno fatto storcere il naso all’epoca, tra delicati falsetti e acuti lancinanti, e che a tutt’oggi risultano ancora così potenti e riconoscibili.
Può essere o non essere il vostro genere, ma questi signori meritano il rispetto di tutti noi.
Lunga vita agli Heep.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Against the Odds (06:12)
(the way of life that must change)
In the court of kings I look around
My blood runs cold, I close my eyes
Out of my head a vision flows
I'll make the rules I need
For my survival, for my survival
I pull the strings, you take the glory
I load the gun, you shoot me down
I'm on the edge about to fall
Destructive power will make you
Lose your mind, use your mind
Trapped inside my nightmare
You are there
As I turn I feel your evil stare
We give our life, invest in time
To only fools who take controll
I spend another cold day in hell
Against the odds I fight
For my survival, for my survival
Your useless life gets crushed
Into the ground
The time has come
To turn it all around
05 Universal Wheels (05:39)
(natures retalliation)
All the fields are
Smoke and flame, fire in the sky
It's a state of emergency
Much more than meets the eye
Just hide away your tears
There are many more hidden fears
As the universal wheels
Go round n' round n' round
Rivers of pollution
Taking life from living things
Running out of oxygen
There is no way to win
We ignore the signs of nature
Got to learn to live beside her
As the universal wheels
Go round n' round n' round
Better take good care of
All the things you say and do
Round n' round n' round ...
Look out for the warning sign
Now it's up to you
There's a mighty eight point six
Waiting in the ground
When she opens up
This world will humble to the sound
There is only one real power
Creating life by the hour
See the universal wheels
See the universal wheels
See the universal wheels
Go round n' round n' round ...
08 Logical Progression (06:12)
(new perceptions)
You say her love has gone forever
And something has
Gone from your soul
It's left you so cold
Though you wish
You had the answer
The question is always untold
Always on hold
What's in the mirror
What do you see
It's a logical progression
When you think that
You lost all that time
It's all in your mind
What's in the mirror
What do you see
Lay down now and close your eyes
It's only just begun
'cause mind and body
Flow in perpetual motion
Set free all your memories
They're tearing you apart
'cause you know that
Love is the only direction
That reputation that you live by
Says something about what's inside
Nowhere to hide
There is no amount of heartache
That could ever
Wash over this burning
Forever learning
Look in the mirror
Will you do it all again
You got time on your side
You know you'll find
The truth within you
You got time on your side
As the seconds tick away
Love is waiting for you
You got time on your side
You say her love has gone forever
And the image has left you so cold
Still in your soul
There's no way
You're gonna turn back
You'll never wash over this burning
Forever learning
Look in the mirror
Will you do it all again
Lay down now and close your eyes
It's only just begun
'cause mind and body
Flow in perpetual motion
You got time on your side
As the seconds tick away
Love is waiting for you
10 Words in the Distance (04:46)
(love awareness)
Dancing with danger and
Tears in my eyes
Love ain't no stranger
So many goodbyes
Words in the distance
Are calling me
Just when I thought
I could make a a new start
Here comes another fire
Burning in my heart
Words in the distance
Are calling me
And to get to heaven
You gotta go through hell
I cut my heart on the wishing well
You know that I'm crazy
I'm just a fool
To say I love I love I love you
You know that I'm crazy, just a fool
To say I love I love I love you
My senses burning from
The heat of your skin
Deeper than deep
I feel you movin' in, oh
Words in the distance
Are calling me
You know that I'm crazy
I'm just a fool
To say I love I love I love you, well
You know that I'm crazy, just a fool
To say I love I love I love you
I love you
I hold this moment of magic
I hold it in my hand
A single moment of heaven
Don't you know that I'm crazy
I'm just a fool
To say I love I love I love you, yeah
You know that I'm crazy, just a fool
To say I love I love I love you
Don't you know I love you baby
Can't you feel it in my heart, yeah
And I don't know what to say, no
Well I've got a fire in my soul
I don't know which way to go
Or I don't know what to do, no
11 Fires of Hell (03:56)
(The futility of war)
Oh, I was born your only son
And I will think of you
Before this day is done
The fires of hell surround me now
So I must fight for freedom
Against their raging guns
In all my life I never said
How much I loved you
In all this time
I never really said I cared
This war is wrong and so
I write these words
Before I give my life to the somme
In all my life I never said
How much I loved you
In all this time
I never really knew you
The fires of hell surround me, oh
The guns of hell will
Take my breath away
From my life this day
The fires of hell surround me, oh
The words I say
Must never disappear
Keep them locked inside your heart
I can hear the piper's song
And it will play for me
Before this day is done
So I will hold my head up high
If I must give my life
To stop their raging guns
Oh, I was born your only son
And I thank God for that and
That that will be done
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