CONQUEST

It is hard to think that this album is by a band called URIAH HEEP, being in 1980 very different in musical style to anything that they have recorded since 1970. Despite still having two original members in 1980 (Mick Box and Ken Hensley) and still with main songwriter Ken Hensley in the band, by 1980 the band sounded mainly as "another band", not as URIAH HEEP. The album as a whole is not so bad. But I can hear some influences in their "new" sound (a bit from the late seventies KANSAS, a bit from STYX, a bit maybe from the DOOBIE BROTHERS....). Lead singer John Sloman has a good voice...but maybe his singing style and voice were a bit out of place in URIAH HEEP. His vocals are more "light" and "thin" in comparison to David Byron`s and John Lawton`s vocals, and maybe are more related to the Pop Rock musical style. Then new drummer Chris Slade is a good drummer, but his drums playing is more Pop Rock oriented in style in comparison to Lee Kerslake`s, whose drums playing style was heavier. Ken Hensley was maybe trying to update the sound of his keyboards for the new decade, bringing new sounds, including a vocoder and new synthesisers. Mick Box`s guitar playing is very good and is maybe the most related sound to the "old " URIAH HEEP. The now late Trevor Bolder also shines in this album playing some very good bass guitar parts. The backing vocals sound a bit like "inspired" by the DOOBIE BROTHERS. The best songs in this album are "Feelings", "Fools", and particularly "Out on the Street"" and "It Ain`t Easy" are the best of all. But in general the musical style of this album is more Pop Rock oriented than Hard Rock or Heavy Metal, with even some Funky influenced arrangements in "Won't Have To Wait Too Long ". It is clear for me that by 1979-80 the band was trying to find a new musical style for the new decade of the eighties. Unfortunately, that search led them to distance themselves very much from their original musical style from the early seventies. For collectors and fans only.

Ken Hensley left the band in September 1980, and the band had a new keyboard player with the addition of Greg Dechert. With him, they recorded a final single ("Think It Over" / "My Joanna Needs Tuning"). They toured a bit before the band split in March 1981.By late 1981, Mick Box (the only remaining original member of the band) have formed a new line-up of the band with the return of Lee Kerslake on drums and other three new musicians. With some changes in the line-up, Box still leads URIAH HEEP in the present.