Firefly is the tenth studio album by English rock band Uriah Heep.[3] It was released in February 1977 by Bronze Records in the UK and Warner Bros. Records in the US. It was their first album without lead vocalist and founding member David Byron, and the first of three albums with new singer John Lawton, formerly of Lucifer's Friend. Bassist Trevor Bolder made his Uriah Heep debut on this album. Barring a break of about 18 months in the early 1980s, he remained with the group until his death in 2013.
| Firefly | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 1977 | |||
| Recorded | October–November 1976 | |||
| Studio | Roundhouse (London) | |||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 37:40 | |||
| Label | Bronze | |||
| Producer | Gerry Bron | |||
| Uriah Heep chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Firefly | ||||
The first single from the album was "Wise Man".
The original vinyl album was a gatefold sleeve, with a cardboard lyric liner.
The album was remastered and reissued by Castle Communications in 1997 with four bonus tracks, and again in 2004 in an expanded deluxe edition.
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 3/10[5] |
A retrospective review by AllMusic said that the album "pursued a stripped-down sound harking back to the group's early-'70s successes," and concluded that "Firefly remains one of the most cohesive albums from Uriah Heep's mid- to late-'70s period".[4] Martin Popoff in his Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal defined the album as "a mixed bag of scroungy, comatose blues ballads, nerdy party rockers and scary prog rock abortions", proving the intensification of "the deconstruction of a once great collective".[5]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Ken Hensley, except where noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Hanging Tree" | Hensley, Jack Williams | 3:40 |
| 2. | "Been Away Too Long" | 5:03 | |
| 3. | "Who Needs Me" | Lee Kerslake | 3:39 |
| 4. | "Wise Man" | 4:40 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Do You Know" | 3:12 |
| 6. | "Rollin' On" | 6:21 |
| 7. | "Sympathy" | 4:44 |
| 8. | "Firefly" | 6:21 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9. | "Crime of Passion" (B-side of "Wise Man" single) | Hensley, Box, Kerslake | 3:37 |
| 10. | "Do You Know" (previously unreleased demo version recorded in 1976) | 3:16 | |
| 11. | "A Far Better Way" (previously unreleased version different from the rough mix released on the Time of Revelation box set in 1996) | Hensley, Box, Kerslake, Bolder, Lawton | 5:50 |
| 12. | "Wise Man" (TV backing track – previously unreleased mix originally used during an advertising campaign) | 4:48 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9. | "Crime of Passion" (B-side) | Hensley, Mick Box, Kerslake | |
| 10. | "A Far Better Way" (Demo Mix) | Hensley, Box, Kerslake, Bolder, Lawton | |
| 11. | "I Always Knew" | Hensley, Box, Kerslake, Bolder, Lawton | |
| 12. | "Dance Dance Dance" | Hensley, Box, Kerslake, Bolder, Lawton | |
| 13. | "Been Away Too Long" (Alternative Version) | ||
| 14. | "Do You Know" (Demo Mix) | ||
| 15. | "Who Needs Me" (Alternative Live Version) | Kerslake | |
| 16. | "Wise Man" (T.V. Backing Track) |
Personnel
editUriah Heep
- Mick Box – guitars
- Ken Hensley – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals, Lead Vocals on Firefly
- Lee "The Bear" Kerslake – drums, backing vocals
- Trevor Bolder – bass guitar
- John Lawton – lead vocals
Production
- Gerry Bron – producer
- Peter Gallen – engineer
- John Gallen – assistant engineer
- Gail Clarke – cover concept and coordination
- Martin White – cover painting
Charts
edit| Chart (1977) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[6] | 12 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[7] | 17 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[8] | 21 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9] | 17 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[10] | 6 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[11] | 35 |
| US Billboard 200[12] | 166 |
References
edit- ^ "Uriah Heep singles".
- ^ "Uriah Heep singles".
- ^ Neely, Tim (28 October 2005). "Uriah Heep U.S. Discography". Goldmine. Vol. 31, no. 22. p. 18.
- ^ a b Guarisco, Donald A. "Uriah Heep – Firefly review". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ 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. 303. ISBN 978-1894959025.
- ^ "Firefly – Uriah Heep". Danske Hitlister.dk. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Uriah Heep – Firefly" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Uriah Heep – Firefly" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Uriah Heep – Firefly". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Uriah Heep – Firefly". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
- ^ "Uriah Heep Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
External links
edit- The Official Uriah Heep Discography
- Firefly at Discogs (list of releases)