RARITIES FROM THE BRONZE AGE

A treasure trove for fans

This was the first of a number of albums to plunder the Uriah Heep archives in search of rough diamonds. As the title suggests, it covers the period when the band recorded on the Bronze label. This era lasted from their inception through to the �??Head First�?� album.

Up until this point, the average Uriah Heep fan had to assume they had heard all the Byron era songs by the band which had been recorded, with the possible exception of the odd single B side. This collection however indicated that there was a veritable wealth of material to be unearthed, leading to the superior "Landsdowne Tapes" release a couple of years later.

The tracks here are in fact a mixture of alternative recordings and edits, plus surplus album material. While David Byron dominates the vocals, there are also recordings featuring John Lawton, John Sloman, and Peter Goalby.

Getting the superfluous material out of the way first, "Look at yourself", "Gypsy" "Return to fantasy" and "Stealin" are all excellent songs, but the versions here are simply edits of the original songs.

"Simon the bullet freak" is a pulsating blues based song which featured on the US verison of "Salisbury" and also appeared as the B side of the "Look at yourself" single. It is the first of many gems here. "Why" (full title allegedly "Why fourteen minutes") is one of Heep's most progressive songs ever. Several takes of the song have now become available but this superbly loose version is absolutely essential not just for fans of the band, but for anyone who thinks they were little more than a heavy rock band.

A succession of wonderful David Byron vocal performances follows on tracks such as "Sunshine", "What can I do", "Shout it out", etc. None of these songs had previously appeared on a Uriah Heep album. In fairness, some of them may not be up to the standard of the classics which made it onto albums such as "Wonderworld", "Return to fantasy", "Magician's birthday" etc., but they are still akin to the Holy Grail for Heep affectionados.

The John Lawton tracks here, of which there are four, are more prosaic. While Lawton is a fine singer in his own right, he did not fit in well with the sound of Heep, largely because he sounded nothing like Byron. The tracks here reflect that. Those who appreciated the Lawton era albums will however find these songs to be of a similar standard.

The "Conquest" album featuring the vocals of John Sloman is generally considered to be the low point of the band's career, and the four tracks here on which he sings do nothing to alter that view. "Love stealer" is however historically interesting, as it was only the band's second cover version ever. Ken Hensley then left the band, leaving Mick Box as the only original member. The final three tracks here are from that post Hensley period, with Pete Goalby (whom Hensley had wanted to join the band when Sloman got the job) on vocals. Two of the tracks are from the rare "Abominog junior" EP, while the final track "Playing for time" is from the "Head first" sessions.

As will by now have become apparent, as this collection progresses, it moves rapidly from an indispensable status to (ardent) collectors only. Fortunately, the Byron era material included here has since appeared on expanded remasters of the original albums, and on other more complete Byron era compilations. Nevertheless, the historical significance of this album (in Uriah Heep terms) is unquestionable, and about 50% of the music worthy of any collection.

There are lots of URIAH HEEP compilations around, most of them are typical ''Best Of'' or ''Greatest Hits'' selections intended for casual listeners. This one, however, is a very special set of songs.

It was released in 1991, when only Castle Communications URIAH HEEP CDs, without bonus-tracks, were available. Thus when I bought this singles collection, I was more than happy, because I never heard before 16 of its 21 songs.

A-sides are great songs, but not interesting because they are only edited versions of albums' tracks. But B- sides were a Holy Grail for any HEEP fan then. The quality of Byron and Lawton eras material is extremely high, I'm still wondering why songs like ''Why'', ''What Can I Do'', ''Shout It Out'', ''The Time Will Come'', ''Crime Of Passion'', ''Masquerade'' and ''Cheater'' were not included in respective albums. They are really better than many albums' tracks. Sloman and Goalby periods were far from UH finest hour, but again, it was interesting to listen to previously unheard songs.

The booklet contains lots of photos, short band history written by Robert M. Corich, a person whose contribution in searching, restoring and publishing UH legasy is priceless, and brief track by track information.

Now this CD seems to be a deleted item, all tracks are available as bonus tracks on UH remasters. But for the time of its release date ''Rarities from the Bronze Age'' was a real box of treasures.