01. When Evening Comes [0:04:38.66]
02. From Time To Time [0:03:39.01]
03. A King Without A Throne [0:03:53.55]
04. Rain [0:03:15.41]
05. Proud Words [0:03:18.62]
06. Fortune [0:05:20.72]
07. Black Hearted Lady [0:03:38.03]
08. Go Down [0:03:11.28]
09. Cold Autumn Sunday [0:05:29.03]
10. The Last Time [0:02:47.61]

Musicians:
Ken Hensley – guitar, keyboards, vocals
Dave Paul – bass
Lee Kerslake – drums

This is the solo debut of Uriah Heep's resident keyboardist and top songwriter, but it isn't the heavy metal epic one might expect. In fact, Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf uses electric guitar sparingly and instead goes for a moody soundscape built on acoustic guitar and piano. Songs like "Black Hearted Lady" and "The Last Time" even evoke a bit of a country and western feel, thanks to their use of mellow-sounding slide guitar. This subtle sonic style puts Hensley's songwriting in the spotlight and that is a good thing because each of the songs is well-crafted and tuneful: a subtle combination of acoustic guitar and synthesizer brings out the haunting, delicately crafted melody of "From Time To Time" and "Black Hearted Lady" effectively evokes its mood of heartbreak with a descending acoustic guitar riff. The album's subtlety also highlights the strength of Ken Hensley's vocals, which often sound close to his Uriah Heep bandmate David Byron. However, Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf doesn't fully abandon the rock and roll muscle that made Uriah Heep famous: "Fortune," is a mid-tempo rocker whose complex, dramatic arrangement gets the closest to sounding like Uriah Heep and "Cold Autumn Sunday," subtly deploys some heavy electric guitar and pounding drums to convey its mood of churning emotions (note: this track also became an FM radio favorite). The only song that feels like a filler is a remake of Hensley's Uriah Heep track "Rain," a pleasant but unnecessary addition that sounds too close to the original to make it worth including. Otherwise, Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf is a solid, likeable album that will definitely please Uriah Heep fans and may even win over other classic rock fans with its combination of strong songwriting and old-fashioned rock production values. ---Donald A. Guarisco, allmusic.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire uloz.to gett

back

1.The Wizard  (3:03) Hensley/Clarke
2.Illusion (5:05) Hensley
3.Circle Of Hands (6:22) Hensley
4.Rain  (3:44) Hensley
5.Weep In Silence (5:24) Hensley/Wetton
6.Feelings (4:41) Hensley
7.Sweet Freedom (6:43) Hensley
8.Lady In Black  (8:00) Hensley
9.Free Me  (4:11) Hensley
10.July Morning  (8:30) Hensley/Byron
11.Stealin' (8:21) Hensley
12.Easy Livin' (2:31) Hensley

Ken Hensley - lead and harmony vocals, electric, slide & acoustic guitars, organ,
piano, Minimoog and other synthesizers, tambourine, cowbell
Andrey Shatunovsky - drums
Alexey Ostashev - bass guitar
Vadim Nazarov - acoustic and electric piano
Igor Kozhin - electric guitar
Irina Rodilez, Oleg Kozura, Raisa Saed-Shakh, Andrey Kolchugin - backing vocals

URIAH HEEP had been one of my favourite bands since I was a kid and even before knowing what Prog is, so the day I bought "Demons & Wizards" got pretty sad, being that with Byron and Thain dead, there was no chance of getting more material from the golden era of this fantastic band.

Some weeks ago a friend came from London with KEN HENSLEY'S "The Wizards Diary" as a gift, I thanked her, lest the album in a drawer and we went to eat something and have a drink, after years of HEEP albums I didn't care about, forgot about it.

But a few days ago opened the drawer, read the song list and got interested, so took the CD to the car and went to work while playing it...............What a pleasant surprise!, fresh new versions of old HEEP classics....What else could I ask.

The first real surprise is in the vocals, Ken does an outstanding job (being he's not really a vocalist), if we add that he's impeccable with the keyboards and specially with the good old Hammond (in which he's the real wizard), the guy is one of the classic era musicians who hasn't lost the touch.

It's almost impossible to recreate the magical sound of the band during the best years, the addition of competent Russian musicians and Russia's Presidential Symphony Orchestra in several tracks makes a good substitute.

"The Wizards Diary" is a great album from start to end, but as usual there are some tracks that impressed me more. For example "Sweet Freedom" where he tortures the Hammond to the point of making it bleed magical sounds, and that's not all Mister Igor (Nice to meet you) Kozhin makes a fantastic guitar performance to complement the band.

Even when he's not Byron, the orchestral version of the famous epic "July Morning" is out of this world but the greatest surprise is "The Wizard" (One of my less favourite tracks) that sounds even better than it originally did.

If there's something I always loved of Easy Livin' is the vocal work, and believe me, this version has almost nothing to envy from the original, even the chorus (One of the strongest features of URIAH HEEP) are very solid, and the organ in the back is the cherry on the top of the pie. ,/

On this case I won't review all the tracks as I usually do because they are well known, but even the ones I don't mention are pretty good, I can honestly say there's not a weak moment.

This is an album ideal for old Heepers like me, who want to recreate magical moments of the youth but at the same time listen music that sounds fresh; and also for new generations who will have the chance to listen material that doesn't sound like "retro Prog" (A term vastly used but which I dislike).

Would love to give a perfect rating to "The Wizards Diary", but despite the different an fresh sound, URIAH HEEP songs can only be perfect when played by URIAH HEEP, so four stars is OK for me. --- Ivan_Melgar_M, progarchives.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex 4shared mediafire cloudmailru ge.tt

back

01 – Set Me Free (From Yesterday)
02 – The Curse
03 – Fire I Cry Alone
04 – Katrine
05 – Faster					play
06 – Slippin’ Away (The Lover’s Curse)
07 – The End Of Never
08 – Beyond The Starz
09 – (At) The Last Minute
10 – Somewhere (In Paradise)		play
11 – Fill Your Head (With Rock)
12 – Circle Of Hands (Live With The Norwegian Radio Orchestra)

Musicians:
- Ken Hensley - vocals, keyboards, guitars
- Ken Ingwersen - lead guitar, backing vocals
- Eirikur Hauksson - guitar, vocals
- Sid Ringsby - bass, backing vocals
- Willy Bendiksen - drums

2011 album from the former Uriah Heep keyboardist. Recorded in Riga, Latvia in three weeks with Live Fire, Faster offers everything you would expect from a classic Ken Hensley record... and more. Opening up with the mystical and mesmerizing melodic rock of 'Set Me Free (From Yesterday)', Hensley & Live Fire deliver goods as well as setting the tone for an album that is nothing short of strong songwriting, hooks and pure playfulness. Faster shows that Hensley's head and soul are still full of Rock, and hopefully will be for quite some more albums and shows to come. Earmusic. ---amazon.com

Kevin Hensley is what I would call hard rock royalty; his work with Uriah Heep and Blackfoot has left a lasting impact on the music world. On this new release, Faster, Hensley returns with his band to crank out 12 really good, hard rock tunes. True to his roots this album has a huge 70’s rock and roll vibe and includes a heavy dose of keyboards (something Hensley has been known for) as well as some terrific fret shredding.

This is classic hard rock with a glossy, more modern production and I feel any of these tunes could be found on a Uriah Heep disc. I'm hard pressed to find a tune that I do not like on this CD; quite honestly I like this disc start to finish. At the end of the day Faster is a solid effort that will be a welcome addition to any hard rock fan’s collection, and serves as a good introduction to Ken Hensley’s immense body of work. ---Bruce Moore, puregrainaudio.com

Fanom rocka postać Ken’a Hensley’a nieodmiennie kojarzy się z Uriah Heep. Był współzałożycielem tego zespołu, a także autorem lub współautorem wielu klasycznych utworów, takich jak między innymi "Easy Livin", "Stealin", "July Morning", "Look at Yourself" czy "Lady in Black" (w dwu ostatnich jako główny wokalista). Monumentalne brzmienie jego organów Hammonda stało się znakiem firmowym zespołu. W roku 1980 Hensley opuścił szeregi Uriah Heep na znak protestu przeciw drodze artystycznej, obranej przez kolegów z zespołu.

Jego losy, po opuszczeniu grupy, układały się różnie. Próbował zaistnieć z własną kapelą Ken Hensley Band, współpracował m.in. z Blackfoot i W.A.S.P., nagrywał z byłymi członkami Uriah Heep John’em Lawton’em i John’em Wetton’em, udzielał się gościnnie na płytach innych wykonawców (m.in. Therion, Ayron). Nie były to jakieś oszałamiające osiągnięcia, ale cały czas pozostawał twórczo aktywny. Przełomem w jego solowej karierze okazał się wydany w 2007 album "Blood On The Highway". Rok 2011 przyniósł kolejne dzieło sygnowane nazwiskiem Ken’a. Płyta "Faster", zarejestrowana z towarzyszeniem jego zespołu koncertowego Live Fire, zawiera 11 kompozycji Hensley’a. Live Fire został sformowany w 2003 pod nazwą The Viking All-Stars Band (w 2005 zmienił szyld).

Pomimo tego, że Hensley to mistrz gry na Hammondach, instrument ten nie jest zbyt intensywnie wyeksponowany. Co prawda, słychać go w każdym utworze, ale został mocno schowany z tyłu i mamy okazję usłyszeć tylko jedną solówkę. Wygląda na to, że Hensley chce odciąć się od etykiety 'hammondowca', bo i na poprzedniej płycie, tak przeze mnie tu chwalonej, z instrumentem tym było równie oszczędnie. ---Robert Trusiak www.magazyngitarzysta.pl

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire uloz.to gett

back