Nololob
Long Live Wock 'n' Woll
Here it is, ladies and gents - 6th studio album titled "Sweet Freedom"
Basic info:
Date of release - September 1973
Line up - David Byron – vocals; Ken Hensley – keyboards, guitars, Vocals; Mick Box – Guitar; Gary Thain – bass guitar; Lee Kerslake – drums, percussion, vocals
Track listing A side: 1. Dreamer 2. Stealin' 3. One Day 4. Sweet Freedom
Track listing B side: 1. If I Had The Time 2. Seven Stars 3. Circus 4. Pilgrim
Dreamer
Drum intro by Mr. Kerslake and Box joining after 4 bars with a guitar solo gives an idea of what album might sounds like. High pitch vocals by David at the very last seconds of the song. Opener of A side, which is guitar driven Heep (mostly).
Stealin'
Horse riding/boogie rock 'n' roller, starts with one note bass. Another fantastic guitar solo by Mick.
One Day
Not so heavy and not so soft. Probably one of those simple rock songs without guitar solo.
Sweet Freedom
Very soft vocals making you singing gently "sweet freedom" with the band.
If I Had The Time
Opener of B side, which is keyboard fronted Heep. Split into 3 vocal section, each one is stronger.
Seven Stars
Acoustically 3 chord driven song, rather happy song. David and (probably) Ken are singing an alphabet at the end.
Circus
Soft song, kind of "Come Away Melinda" feel from Veary 'Eavy Very 'Umble
Pilgrim
Heavy song with funky guitar on the first part of the song and doomy 'n' gloomy tempo on the second part. Another high pitch vocals from Mr. Byron. This song is credited as one of the main influences by Fenriz from Darkthrone. Ken Hensley used a bridge sample on his "Running Blind" album.
In my opinion this album is another Heep masterpiece, in fact the last best album with David Byron. Not as good as Magician's Birthday and Demons And Wizard as it has no fantasy feel and concept of the album. It does keep the heaviness of the previous albums though. I wouldn't recommend it as a first must have listen, but surely I would recommend it to you, if you dig some very important must-listen-to albums. My favourite song? It is hard to pick one, so I'm gonna go with "Seven Stars" and "Pilgim". Pilgrim is the heaviest track off this album.