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Salisbury (album)

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Salisbury
Studio album by
Released3 January 1971
RecordedOctober–November 1970
StudioLansdowne Studios, London
Genre
Length38:19
Label
ProducerGerry Bron
Uriah Heep chronology
...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble
(1970)
Salisbury
(1971)
Look at Yourself
(1971)
Alternative cover
US issue
Singles from Salisbury
  1. "Lady in Black"
    Released: 1971
  2. "High Priestess" / "Time to Live"
    Released: 1971
  3. "Salisbury"
    Released: 1971 (US only)

Salisbury is the second studio album by British rock band Uriah Heep, released in January 1971 by Vertigo Records. It was produced by Gerry Bron.

Unlike their first album, songwriting credits for fully half of the record were attributed to Ken Hensley alone, as opposed to the debut's collaborative partnership of frontman David Byron and guitarist Mick Box. Soon after the release, drummer Keith Baker left the band,[1] replaced by Ian Clark (from another Vertigo band, Cressida). With Clark, the band embarked on their first US tour, supporting Three Dog Night and Steppenwolf.[2]

Musical style

Salisbury is skewed toward the progressive rock genre, with its 16-minute title track featuring a 24-piece orchestra[3] and was also significant for Hensley's instant rise to a position as main composer of the group's music.

Cover art

The front cover of the album depicted a British Chieftain tank, which connects to the title, as Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, is a military training area. The original LP release was a gatefold sleeve, with a black-and-white image of the underside of a Chieftain tank on the inside with the turret facing the rear, over which were printed Hensley's comments on each track. Later reissues would be in a single sleeve. The American release on Mercury Records featured a different cover image (a man tearing out of his own skin), as did the original Canadian pressings. Subsequent Canadian pressings used the UK artwork.

Release

The album was reissued by Bronze Records later in 1971 after the band signed to that label for their third album.[2] Salisbury was remastered and reissued by Castle Communications in 1996 with two bonus tracks, and again in 2003 in an expanded deluxe edition. In 2016, Sanctuary Records released a two-disc deluxe edition.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal5/10[4]
Record Collector[5]

According to AllMusic reviewer, the album perfected Uriah Heep's "blend of heavy metal power and prog rock complexity" and " is too unfocused for the casual listener but offers enough solid songs for the Uriah Heep completist."[3] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff described the album as "a dark downer" and "a failed experiment", imputing the cause of the slip to the "prog rock nightmare" of the title track and to "the hatchet production job".[4] William Pinfold of Record Collector, reviewing the 2016 expanded re-issue, considered Salisbury "a collection notable for tightness, precision and a confident breadth of talent", and praised the band for the album's variety.[5]

One of the album's tracks, "Lady in Black", described as "a stylishly arranged tune that builds from a folk-styled acoustic tune into a throbbing rocker full of ghostly harmonies and crunching guitar riffs",[3] became a hit in Germany upon its re-release in 1977 (earning the band the Radio Luxemburg Lion award).

Track listings

UK Release

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bird of Prey"Mick Box, David Byron, Ken Hensley, Paul Newton4:13
2."The Park"Hensley5:41
3."Time to Live"Box, Byron, Hensley4:01
4."Lady in Black"Hensley4:44
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."High Priestess"Hensley3:42
6."Salisbury"Box, Byron, Hensley16:20

US Release

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."High Priestess"Hensley3:39
2."The Park"Hensley5:38
3."Time to Live"Box, Byron, Hensley4:02
4."Lady in Black"Hensley4:43
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Simon the Bullet Freak"Hensley3:25
6."Salisbury"Box, Byron, Hensley16:12
1996 remastered CD edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bird of Prey"Box, Byron, Hensley, Newton4:13
2."The Park"Hensley5:41
3."Time to Live"Box, Byron, Hensley4:01
4."Lady in Black"Hensley4:44
5."High Priestess"Hensley3:42
6."Salisbury"Box, Byron, Hensley16:20
7."Simon the Bullet Freak"Hensley3:27
8."High Priestess" (single edit)Hensley3:13
2003 expanded deluxe CD edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bird of Prey"Box, Byron, Hensley, Newton4:13
2."The Park"Hensley5:41
3."Time to Live"Box, Byron, Hensley4:01
4."Lady in Black"Hensley4:44
5."High Priestess"Hensley3:42
6."Salisbury"Box, Byron, Hensley16:20
7."Simon the Bullet Freak"Hensley3:27
8."Here Am I"Hensley7:51
9."Lady in Black" (single edit)Hensley3:34
10."High Priestess" (single edit)Hensley3:39
11."Salisbury" (single edit)Box, Byron, Hensley4:23
12."The Park" (alternate version)Hensley5:19
13."Time to Live" (alternate version)Box, Byron, Hensley4:13
2016 expanded deluxe edition disc 2: An Alternate Salisbury (all tracks previously unreleased)
No.TitleLength
1."High Priestess"3:50
2."Time to Live"4:31
3."The Park"6:00
4."Simon the Bullet Freak"3:48
5."Bird of Prey"4:45
6."Here Am I"8:35
7."Lady in Black"5:18
8."Salisbury"16:26
9."Salisbury" (live)17:34

Personnel

Uriah Heep
Additional personnel
  • John Fiddy – brass and woodwind arrangement on "Salisbury"
Production
  • Gerry Bron – producer
  • Peter Gallen – engineer, mixing
  • Tom Coyne – mastering

Charts

References

  1. ^ Blows, Kirk. "Uriah Heep The Story: February 1970 – October 1970". Uriah Heep Official Website. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  2. ^ a b Blows, Kirk. "Uriah Heep The Story: October 1970 – November 1971". Uriah Heep Official Website. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d Guarisco, Donald A. "Uriah Heep – Salisbury review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  4. ^ a b Popoff, Martin (October 2003). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 301. ISBN 978-1894959025.
  5. ^ a b Pinfold, William (December 2016). "Uriah Heep - Salisbury". Record Collector. No. 461. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1961: U > Uriah Heep". Sisältää hitin / Timo Pennanen. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Go-Set Australian charts – 10 July 1971". Poparchives.com.au. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  8. ^ "Gli album più venduti del 1971" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia.it. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  9. ^ "Album – Uriah Heep, Salisbury". Charts.de (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Uriah Heep Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  11. ^ AA.VV. (25 April 2006). Album Chart-Book Complete Edition 1970~2005. Tokyo, Japan: Oricon. ISBN 978-487-1-31077-2.
  12. ^ "Single – Uriah Heep, Lady in Black". Charts.de (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Uriah Heep – Lady in Black". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 11 November 2018.