• Voto:
All'uscita di "Very Eavy, Very Umble", primo lavoro degli Uriah Heep, un critico ebbe a dire che, se il gruppo avesse avuto successo, si sarebbe suicidato. L'aneddoto è noto, ma mette ben in evidenza la superficialità ed il sarcasmo con cui gli Heep sono stati trattati da una certa critica musicale.
L'album inizia con "Gypsy", storico brano della formazione, caratterizzato da una parte iniziale in cui tutti gli strumenti eseguono lo stesso riff entrando gradualmente in scena, da una seconda parte in cui emerge la splendida voce di David Byron, e da una parte centrale in cui l'hammond di Ken Hensley si lancia in uno splendido assolo sostenuto dal riff granitico e ripetitivo di Mick Box: splendido anche il modo in cui il pezzo sembra terminare per riprendere fino all’apoteosi sonora finale. Il secondo brano, "Walkin’ in Your Shadow", è un pezzo dalle sonorità più meditate, costruito attorno ad un riff di chiara derivazione blues e ben arrangiato con l’intervento di tutti gli strumenti: in bella evidenza i cori, di rara eleganza, con Byron a svettare su tutti. La terza canzone, "Come Away Melinda", dal testo un po’ stucchevole (una bambina scopre la foto della madre che non sa essere morta, chiedendo al padre chi è la donna che così le somiglia), è una ballad dalla melodia particolarmente malinconica, essenziale nel suo accompagnamento acustico. Il lato A del vecchio vinile si chiude con l’eccellente jam "Lucy Blues", in cui gli Heep, guidati dall’hammond di Hensley, si lanciano in improvvisazioni che proiettano l’ascoltatore nei fumosi club degli Stati Uniti del sud (à la "In Through the Outdoor" degli Zeppelin… ).
I toni rilassati dell’ultimo brano sono interrotti dalla splendida "Dreammare", scritta dal bassista Paul Newton, pezzo di particolare impatto in cui cori, riff esplosivi di chitarra e gorgheggi di Byron si fondono a meraviglia: degno contraltare della "Gypsy" incisa sul lato A. Segue poi l’ ottima "Real Turned My On", un rock duro con dei riff killer e l’incedere sincopato. Gli ultimi due brani, "I'll Keep on Trying e Wake Up", risentono, invece, di chiare influenze del nascente prog rock, con un uso delle tastiere maggiormente decorativo, temi più articolati e complessi, senza perdere comunque in melodia, caratteristica essenziale del gruppo, emersa con nitore negli album successivi.
Si tratta pertanto di un album godibilissimo per tutti gli amanti del rock duro, a torto definito come poco originale e scarsamente ispirato dal menzionato critico, aspirante suicida: non sia sacrilego dire che non sfigura affatto accanto ai capolavori usciti nello stesso anno, come "In Rock" dei Deep Purple, "Paranoid" dei Black Sabbath o "III" degli Zeppelin, risultando anzi caratterizzato da un suono più pulito che nei predetti lavori, e maggiormente appetibile anche da un pubblico scarsamente attento al genere.
Il voto è una necessaria conseguenza delle precedenti valutazioni.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Gypsy (06:39)
I was only seventeen,
I fell in love with a gypsy queen.
She told me - hold on!
Her father was the leading man,
said "You're not welcome on our land."
and then as a foe, he told me to go.
He took me to a little shack
and put a whip across my back
then told her - leave me.
I was out for quite a time,
came back with her on my mind.
Sweet little girl - she means all the world.
Though I want my gypsy queen,
will she still be torn between
her father and mother?
One day I will go to him
strong enough to fight and win.
The kind of a man that he'll understand
03 Come Away Melinda (03:51)
Daddy, daddy, come and look, see what I have found
A little ways away from here, while digging in the ground
Come away Melinda, come in and close the door
It's nothing, just a picture book, they had before the war
Daddy, daddy come and see, daddy, come and look
Where there's four orfive little Melinda girls
Inside my picture book
Come away Melinda, come in and close the door
There were lots of little girls like you
Before they had the war
Oh daddy, daddy come and see, daddy hurry do!
While there's someone in a pretty dress
She's all grown up like you, won't you tell me why
Come away Melinda, come in and close the door
That someone is your mummy, you had before the war
Daddy, daddy tell me if you can
Why can't things be the way they were, before the war began
Come away Melinda, come in and close the door
The answer lies in yesterday, before they had the war
04 Lucy Blues (05:12)
Well, the very first time
I saw you darling
Not one single word
Would come to my lips
Yes, the very first time
I saw you darling
Not one single word
Would come to my lips
You see, I was so afraid
You wouldn't love me
I wanna tell you right now
I was frightened right down
To my fingertips
So baby, when you went away
That unlucky day last september
I was like a little lost boy
In the wilderness
Baby baby baby ...
When you went away
I was like a little lost boy
In the wilderness
And I've just been sitting here
Thinking of everybody
I've ever known
Well, you know
I still love you the best
Yeah, the best
05 Dreammare (04:42)
Grinning demons, smiling sideways
Laughing in my face
Here within my troubled sleep
There's such a lonely place
Running fast but never moving
I can't get away
Strange but realistic objects
Making me that way
Then it's gone as fast as it came
Evil dream
Changing like the sun turn to rain
It would seem
La la la la la …
Dining with the gods of beauty
On a distant shore
Tasting fruits of untold sweetness
Never seen before
Dancing stars with crystal voices
Beckon with their eyes
Unicorn of many colours
Rides to paradise
Then it's gone as fast as it came
Peaceful scene
Changing like the sun turns to rain
It would seem
La la la la la …
Sleepless nights that last a lifetime
Crucify my head
Dreams of peace and then disaster
Wish that I were dead
Looking for the end of darkness
Seeking out the day
For escape with speed of thunder
Bearing me away
Then it's gone as fast as it came
Peaceful scene
Changing like the sun turns to rain
It would seem
La la la la la …
Come into my dream
07 I'll Keep on Trying (05:29)
You came to me with all of your lies
and I was taken in so well.
Took me quite a time to see the disguise,
you made it very hard to tell.
Now here you are again but you're beggin' in vain
cause I really don't want to know.
You came to me with a little bit of charm,
you had me down on my knees.
I didn't really think there was any harm,
but all you ever did was tease.
You took all the love that I ever had to give
and there was nothing left to show.
Well I remember everything,
everything around me.
The long dark winter till the breath of spring
came close enough to drown me.
So I'm gonna keep on trying - till I feel like dying
and I lay down and pass away.
But that wont happen till tomorrow - and by then I can borrow
another day. So I'm gonna keep on trying.
You came to me with a little bit of charm
and you had me down on my knees.
I didn't really think there was any harm,
but all you ever did was tease.
You took all the love that I ever had to give
and there was nothing left to show.
08 Wake Up (set your sights) (06:30)
Wake up! Set your sights! For never shall we fail.
Stand up for your rights and justice will prevail.
You're listening through endless nights
and decision is your goal.
So wake up! Set your sights! For the time is right for your role.
Yeah - for your role.
Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Set your sights!
Never, never, never shall we fail.
Stand up, stand up, stand up for your rights.
Justice, justice, justice will prevail.
There in the morning, flying over the hills.
While men are yawning they are crushed by our wheels.
Never have I witnessed people in fear.
Not like today, not in many a year.
Go kill another, there are more close behind.
No screams of mother, are you out of your mind?
Though they are shattered they just don't seem to yield.
Bodies are scattered in all parts of the field.
Oh No! Did I tell you what would happen if you tried?
"Oh God, stop this killing!" said a young man before he died.
Wake up! Set your sights! For never shall we fail.
Stand up for your rights and justice will prevail.
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Altre recensioni
Di BugMeNot
"Se questo gruppo sfonderà, io mi suiciderò" – una profezia smentita.
Il ticchettio del cucchiaino di Mick Box che entra nella registrazione è un dettaglio unico e affascinante.
Di Angelowar6
Questo disco ha un suo fascino, quel suono anni 70 grezzo, imperfetto, ma dannatamente rock.
La menzione d'onore va alla voce di David Byron, cantante a tratti operistico e comunque grande performer.
