High and Mighty is the ninth studio album by English rock band Uriah Heep, released in May 1976 by Bronze Records in the UK and Warner Bros. Records in the US. High and Mighty was the last Uriah Heep album to feature bassist John Wetton, and vocalist and founding member David Byron who was fired later that year due to his troubles with alcohol and differences with band priorities.
| High and Mighty | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 1976[1] | |||
| Recorded | December 1975 – March 1976 | |||
| Studio | Roundhouse (London) | |||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 39:20 | |||
| Label | Bronze | |||
| Producer | Uriah Heep | |||
| Uriah Heep chronology | ||||
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| Singles from High and Mighty | ||||
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John Wetton and Ken Hensley shared vocal duties on the single "One Way or Another".
The original vinyl release was a single sleeve, with the lyrics reproduced on the inner liner.
The album was remastered and reissued by Castle Communications in 1997 with two bonus tracks, and again in 2004 in an expanded deluxe edition.
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 4/10[5] |
The album was not well received, as stylistically it veered from their earlier fusion of progressive rock and heavy rock into more mainstream territory, lacking the group's signature lengthy compositions and fantastical, mythically orientated lyrical subject matter. "Several of the songs find the band flirting with pop elements in a way that doesn't complement their hard rocking style", said Donald A. Guarisco in his retrospective AllMusic review. He added that High and Mighty "shows flashes of the group's old firepower, but is ultimately sunk by a combination of unfocused experimentation and uneven songwriting".[4] Martin Popoff called the album "effeminate, illogical, overblown, grasping for straws", citing only the song "One Way or Another" as "promising" and the rest a squandering of "the band's flickering talents".[5]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Ken Hensley, except where noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "One Way or Another" | 4:37 | |
| 2. | "Weep in Silence" | Hensley, John Wetton | 5:09 |
| 3. | "Misty Eyes" | 4:15 | |
| 4. | "Midnight" | 5:40 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Can't Keep a Good Band Down" | 3:40 | |
| 6. | "Woman of the World" | 3:10 | |
| 7. | "Footprints in the Snow" | Hensley, Wetton | 3:56 |
| 8. | "Can't Stop Singing" | 3:15 | |
| 9. | "Make a Little Love" | 3:24 | |
| 10. | "Confession" | 2:14 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Name of the Game" (previously unreleased version) | 4:59 |
| 12. | "Sundown" (alternate version) | 3:20 |
| Total length: | 47:39 | |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Name of the Game" (previously unreleased version) | 4:59 | |
| 12. | "Sundown" (alternate version) | 3:20 | |
| 13. | "Weep in Silence" (previously unreleased extended version) | Hensley, Wetton | 7:46 |
| 14. | "Name of the Game" (demo) | 3:21 | |
| 15. | "Does Anything Matter" (demo "Woman of the World" early version) | 3:20 | |
| 16. | "I Close My Eyes" (demo) | 4:18 | |
| 17. | "Take Care" (demo "Footprints in the Snow" early version) | 2:57 | |
| 18. | "Can't Keep a Good Band Down" (edited version) | 3:09 | |
| Total length: | 72:30 | ||
Personnel
edit- Uriah Heep
- David Byron – lead vocals (except "One Way or Another")
- Mick Box – lead guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar
- Ken Hensley – organ, acoustic and electric piano, Moog synthesizer, tubular bells, acoustic, electric 12-string and slide guitars, pedal steel guitar, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "One Way or Another"
- Lee Kerslake – drums, percussion, backing vocals
- John Wetton – bass guitar, Mellotron, electric piano, backing vocals, lead vocals on "One Way or Another"
- Production
- Ashley Howe – engineer
- Peter Gallen – engineer on tracks 1 and 7
- John Gallen – assistant engineer
- Alan Corbeth – mastering at RCA Studios, London
- Mike Brown and Robert Corich – remastering (1997 and 2004 reissues)
Charts
edit| Chart (1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[6] | 66 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[7] | 14 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[8] | 27 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9] | 48 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[10] | 4 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[11] | 21 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[12] | 55 |
| US Billboard 200[13] | 161 |
References
edit- ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 859. ISBN 9780862415419.
- ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 48.
- ^ "Uriah Heep singles".
- ^ a b Guarisco, Donald A. "Uriah Heep - High and Mighty review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
- ^ a b Popoff, Martin (October 2003). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 303. ISBN 978-1894959025.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Uriah Heep – High and Mighty" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
- ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Uriah Heep – High and Mighty" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Uriah Heep – High and Mighty". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Uriah Heep – High and Mighty". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
- ^ "Uriah Heep Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2023.