Search - Uriah Heep :: Firefly

The most underrated album of the bands career.

A reader from NY | Roseboom, NY USA | 09/21/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Firefly is the first album of the short lived (unforunately) John Lawton era. This album is right up there with their classics of the early 70's. John Lawton is just below David Bryon as far as vocal talent and much better than any of his successors. He's more blusier than Byron,but doesn't have the range.



If you are looking for the heavy side of the band, this album is not it. The material on this album is closer to the laid back tracks that dominate "The Magician Birthday". This album features more keyvboard dominated songs than guitar oriented songs.



Breakdown review of the tracks.



1. The Hanging Tree - UH returns to the fantasy theme on their earlier albums with this one. Nice guitar echo effects at the songs introduction.



2. Been Gone Too Long - Start out slow and then speeds up, though not too loud. Fits Lawton perfectly.



3. Who Needs Me. - A Southern rock boogie style song. Songwritter Ken Hensley would leave Heep for Southern rockers a few year later. His interest in Southern fried rock seems to show early here.



4. Wise Man - The Wizard, part II. Nice piano ballad that continues the theme of the Wizard on Demon and Wizards.



5. Do You Know - The weakest track on the album. A throw away.



6. Rollin On - Could easily be mistaken for a Paul Rogers' Bad Company ballad. Good song though.



7. Sympathy - Nice mid temple rocker.



8. Firefly - One of the best epic UH has ever done. Song by organist/guitarist Ken Hensley. Nice soft keyboards and accoustic guitars. Has a Crosby, Still, & Nash feel to it.



9. Crimes of Passion - Another song with a Bad Company feel to it.



10 A Far Better Way - This is a bonus track that should have made it on the original album. A soft ballad that sounds like it's was song by Ken Hensley (Doesn't sound like Lawton's gritty voice). Could have been an Elton John song. This song is a little different than the 1997 remaster version. There are a little more guitars featured in the 2004 deluxe remaster.



Also featured in the 2004 remaster are two previously unleased songs. Unlike any of the above songs, these are not album ready and are rough around the edges. You can still here scratches on these.



They are.



I Always Knew - Heep tries to do a Stevie Wonder type song on this. Very soulful. Wouldn't have sounded bad once it was cleaned up.



Dance Dance Dance - Heep attempting to do Disco Disco Disco. Could have fit on the Fallen Angel album along side What you say.



There is also a live version of Who Needs Me that is much different than the album version.

"

Their best after their early days

Matthew Schwarz | Bridgewater, nj United States | 04/06/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Firefly introduces John Lawton, Heep's second singer, who has a great voice. Overall this album (and the others with Lawton) has more of a bluesy/soul kind of feel - it reminds me of the early Whitesnake and David Coverdale stuff of the same period. I'd like to point out here that, after the first 3 albums, Uriah Heep never really put out a constantly "heavy" album, (in fact, almost all the remasters I have have Mick Box saying "not one of our heavier efforts . . .!"), but this one is a little more hard-rocking than the others with Lawton. Overall, it's a great late-70's hard rock disc."