High and Mighty (album)

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High and Mighty
HighAndMighty.jpg
Studio album by
Uriah Heep
ReleasedMay 1976 [1]
RecordedDecember 1975 – March 1976
Studio Roundhouse (London)
Genre Hard rock
Length39:20
Label Bronze
Producer Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep chronology
Return to Fantasy
(1975)		High and Mighty
(1976)		 Firefly
(1977)
Singles from High and Mighty
  1. "One Way or Another"
    Released: 18 June 1976 [2]
  2. "Make A Little Love"
    Released: October 1976 (Norway) [3]

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.

Contents

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

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 4/10 [5]

The album was not well received, as stylistically it veered from their earlier progressive rock vein into more mainstream territory, and lacked the group's signature lengthy compositions and fantastical 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

All tracks are written by Ken Hensley, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(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
Side two
No.TitleWriter(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, Wetton3:56
8."Can't Stop Singing" 3:15
9."Make a Little Love" 3:24
10."Confession" 2:14
1997 Remastered Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Name of the Game" (previously unreleased version)4:59
12."Sundown" (alternate version)3:20
Total length:47:39
2004 Deluxe Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(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, Wetton7:46
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

Uriah Heep
Production

Charts

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

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"One Way or Another" is a song by English rock band Uriah Heep. It was released on their ninth studio album High and Mighty in May 1976, and became the only single from the album and the last single with the band's former vocalist, David Byron. The song was written by Ken Hensley and featured lead vocals from John Wetton and Ken Hensley. It was recorded from December 1975 to March 1976 in Roundhouse Recording Studios in London. The single did not chart, and it is the only song on the album that was not sung by David Byron.

References

  1. ↑ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 859. ISBN   9780862415419.
  2. ↑ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 48.
  3. ↑ "Uriah Heep singles".
  4. 1 2 Guarisco, Donald A. "Uriah Heep - High and Mighty review". AllMusic . All Media Network . Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  5. 1 2 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.
  6. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  7. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Uriah Heep – High and Mighty" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Uriah Heep – High and Mighty" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Uriah Heep – High and Mighty". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Uriah Heep – High and Mighty". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Uriah Heep Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
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