You could say that along with the likes of: Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep to start hard rock and possible even the rise of heavy metal! Their amazing 42 year world domination has led them to sell over 30 million albums worldwide. Now, with their 23rd studio album laid out on the table we can see that the test of time will never stop this band from releasing amazing albums. Eleven straight up, no nonsense, full on hard rock songs just shows how this glorious music should be played.

What will surprise you most about Into the Wild is just how many possible singles there are on this one record. Each and every track provides its own unique feel to the album. Everything from vocals to drums, guitar to keyboard is 100% perfect showing that Uriah Heep can still play their instruments properly. Tracks like: “Nail on the Head”, “I Can See You” and the very short but sweet “Into the Wild” really show Uriah Heep as its best, combing classic Uriah Heep ideas with even crunchier riffs and some really slick sounding electric organ. It’s your basic rock album which is all that is needed to be fucking awesome!

You don’t usually use the term groovy in hard rock. But the combination of guitar and organ in: “I’m Ready”, “Southern Star” and “Lost” really put a rock n roll turn to the Into the Wild. The guitar riffs are so snazzy and catchy they make you want to air guitar to every song and even though the organ sound may be a bit cheesy it puts a new perspective to your everyday hard rock, which I believe only Uriah Heep can pull off properly. Also If you like the good old riff played a bit different, listen to “T-Bird Angel” where a song you would expect to be played on guitar is blown out of the water in a uber-cool Organ version.

As good as the final track “Kiss of Freedom” is a good track to be on such an awesome album. I don’t think it should be the closing track. Uriah Heep have given the listener ten killer hard rock tracks which are a great addition to their back catalogue, unfortunately they do kind of kill album by slowing it down for the closing finale. If anything Uriah Heep should be ending one of the greatest albums of their career with another full out rock masterpiece.

I am privileged that Frontiers Records sent me a copy of one of the greatest hard rock albums I have ever indulged my ears on. So, if you want an album that best defines the spirit of rock to the letter T. Then Into the Wild is a must have in all of your collections!