Uriah Heep have released a nice package of their May 28, 1989 20th anniversary show, previously only available on VHS until now. The double CD, single DVD Raging Through The Silence features original guitarist Mick Box, drummer Lee Kerslake, keryboardist Phil Lanzon, singer Bernie Shaw and longtime bassist Trevor Bolder who died in 2013, running through a blistering set at the London Astoria.
While the video lacks much in the way of digital enhancements, the music is as potent as ever, “Bad Bad Man” gores right into a thick “Cry Freedom” to open the show, smacking you in the face right from the start. Not that the mighty Heep was ever known for subtly, but the layers that do exist here are certainly stained with Phil Lanzon’s synth lines under Box’s heavy guitar assault and Shaw’s high pitched wailing, especially on tunes like “Blood Red Roses.”
As expected “Easy Livin,” is here with Bolder leading the song with a steady bottom end. The bridge is a little weak vocally, but it’s an expected highlight to be sure. The fun Kerslake has with the audience during his heavy drum solo at the beginning of “Look At Yourself,” is matched by Shaw hitting higher-than-high notes and Bolder even taking a solo. This represents the band at its loudest, best and climbing the heap of rock dreams.
If anything, this set, with a much-improved sound, certainly brings one closer to what happened way back when in London town. Any chance we get to hear something from this long ago from a great band during one of its heaviest and most adept incarnations is welcomed. Raging Through The Silence certainly captures the time period as vividly and accurately as you can expect. Since then, Uriah Heep has only gotten better with age.
~ Ralph Greco. Jr.
