Woke this sleeper

So, Uriah Heep, that'll be some crusty old band from the seventies then. New album produced by Mike Paxman, the man that guided Judie Tzuke's career? Hardly a credible advert for a British prog band. But let's not judge a book by its cover. 'Wake the Sleeper' is the Heep's 21st studio album and for me, symbolically, is the key of the door to the prog-rock mansion.

Their first studio album for almost ten years, this is a true return to the form of 1982's 'Abominog'. The replacement of Lee 'The Bear' Kerslake by masterclass stick wielder Russell Gilbrook makes a pleasing enhancement to the Heep's bottom end sound, while Trevor Bolder (he of The Spiders From Mars) takes over on bass.

This is exceptionally good music played by exceptionally good musicians, exemplified by the Bolder-penned 'Angels Walk With You' with it's incredible mid-riff crisis between the guitar of Box and the keyboards of Lanzon. Even now I have the chorus of 'Overload' zipping around in my head. There isn’t a duff track on this album and I highly recommend it to everyone.