Wake the Sleeper, the first new album from classic rock dinosaurs Uriah Heep, is a solid but unspectacular and ultimately unnecessary record from a band desperately trying to prove they can still rawwwwwk! This new effort by Deep Pur-…um, it sounds a lot like a Deep Purple record due to the excessive use of a Hammond organ and the Ian-Gillan-with-a-touch-of-David Byron vocals of Bernie Shaw, the longest-tenured singer and sixth overall (but only the fifth to appear on record). The first track, “Wake the Sleeper” is a noisy song that features a bunch of sound crammed into a small space blasting into your ear. The organ, the noodling guitar, the kinetic drumming accompanied by some ominous background vocals all seem to be competing for the spotlight, as opposed to individual instruments complementing each other. The other songs are decent; the problem is in the mix. The record suffers from ‘too much in too small of a space’ syndrome with the mid range so crammed your ear has no room to breathe. Producer Mike Paxman did not harness the band into a cohesive unit – instead it sounds like a bunch of competing parts. On the bright side, new drummer Russell Gilbrook carves out his own identity in taking over for longtime drummer Lee Kerslake. They are excellent musicians and a fine unit, it just doesn’t translate through the material and production. The Sleeper should go back to its slumber until a better producer can be located. (Universal)
