BLOOD ON THE HIGHWAY

Probably the best Ken Hensley´s solo album since his debut in the 70´s. It is a concept work in which he tells us his story with his band Uriah Heep (if I´m not mistaken, a book about it is also coming). The result is a very strong, hard rocking album with some prog overtones, just like UH used to be. For this project Hensley recruited an excellent band (all spanish guys, most of them with a strong prog background) and an all star cast of guest vocalists: Jörn Lande (Ark, MIllenium, The Company Of Snakes, etc), Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, TRapeze), Eve Gallegher and even ex Uriah Heep vocalist John Lawton! More than anything is good to know Hensley lost any of his capacity of writing great music after all these years.

The result is one of a hell great rock album: inspired, full of energy, very well played and sung, clearly done by someone who put his heart and soul on this work (plus some great Hammond organ parts!). Hensley brings us his view of the rocky road to stardom and tries to give a complete view of the scene as he saw it, with all the good and bad moments. This is a very poignant work and I think will please all UH fans around the world (and even those who are not). With no fillers and with such players I think this CD is very close to a masterpiece. I won´t rate it five stars since there is little prog on it. Still it´s an excellent release: tracks like We´re On Our Way, You got It (The American Dream), Okay (The House Is Down) and the rerecording of The Last Dance (with a stunning Glenn Hughes interpretation) are some of the best stuff I heard since UH´s classic period. 4,5 stars.

Fans of classic Uriah Heep: rejoyce!