REVIEW: URIAH HEEP – Into the Wild

 

URIAH HEEP – Into the Wild (2011)

Frontiers Records

This is the new album from this truly great English hard rock band, and their 23rd studio release, arriving three years after their previous effort. Once again, URIAH HEEP sound like a band in a really good mood! Mick Box, Bernie Shaw and company are in great shape, and they have managed to deliver a really strong album that proves there is still plenty of life left in this legendary group.

It is difficult for me to choose which tracks are the best because Into the Wild is a very consistent album from beginning to end. However, “I Can See You,” “Money Talk,” “Believe,” “Lost” and “I Am Ready” are perhaps a little superior to the rest and are the songs that stand out for me.

In conclusion, this is one of the best comebacks from a mainstream rock band that I have heard in the last few years, alongside releases from bands such as OVERKILL, SCORPIONS and, perhaps, ELOY. What makes this even more impressive is that URIAH HEEP have never received quite the recognition they deserve.

Even though URIAH HEEP are a well-known name, I personally believe they remain rather underrated in the rock world, especially when compared with other, arguably inferior, groups that have enjoyed much greater commercial recognition, such as AEROSMITH.

So, fans of classic rock should definitely give this album a chance — and preferably buy it! And if, somehow, you are one of the few people who do not know URIAH HEEP, despite their more than four decades of history, then you should first explore classics such as Look at Yourself and Demons and Wizards. Those albums are, of course, superior to Into the Wild, but they will also show you exactly why this band has remained such an important part of hard rock history.

Ioannis Kaskamanidis