March 7th, 2008
Wake the Sleeper -
BREAKING NEWS
BREAKING NEWS - Announce Release of New Studio Album
Album: “Wake The Sleeper”
Release Date: 2nd June 2008
Universal Music are delighted to announce the release of a new studio album from
British rock legends Uriah Heep in June 2008. “Wake The Sleeper”
will be Uriah Heep’s first studio album in almost ten years (the first since
1998’s “Sonic Origami”) and is set to herald an exciting new phase for the band.
The album see’s Uriah Heep back to their very best and is set to become a future
classic sure to please their dedicated worldwide fan base and fans of
progressive rock in general.
Recorded in 2007 the album was produced by Mike Paxman (Status Quo, Judie Tzuke).
In the words of Mick Box, “We are delighted to be reunited with a major label in
Universal music. “Wake The Sleeper” is an album we are incredibly proud of, and
one that we hope the fans will see as one of Uriah Heep’s best. We
can’t wait to get back out on the road toshowcase the new songs.” The live arena
has been vital to the longevity of Uriah Heep. So in addition to album
sales of over 30 million worldwide the band have toured in 52 countries
and established themselves as consummate live performers. The band has a
series of impressive firsts including being the first British rock band to
play Russia in December 1987.
This is the band's first album without their long-standing and original
drummer, Lee Kerslake who sadly had to leave the band due to ill health
in January 2007. Filling the drum stool for the very first time is the hugely
well respected Russell Gilbrook (Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Van
Morrison, John Farnham and Lonnie Donnegan). Current band line up is Mick
Box Guitar, Vocals; Trevor Bolder Bass, Vocals; Phil Lanzon
Keyboards, Vocals; Bernie Shaw - Lead Vocals and Russell Gilbrook Drums,
Vocals.
Full album tracklisting as follows:
1 Wake The Sleeper
2 Overload
3 Tears Of the World
4 Light Of A Thousand Stars
5 Heavens Rain
6 Book Of Lies
7 What Kind Of God
8 Ghost Of The Ocean
9 Angels Walk With You
10 Shadow
11 War Child
Uriah Heep's progressive heavy metal made the British band one of the most
popular hard rock groups of the early '70s. Formed by guitarist Mick
Box and vocalist David Byron in the late '60s, Uriah Heep released their debut
album “Very ‘eavy…Very ‘umble” in 1970. Since then the band have
released 20 studio albums and played to
millions of fans across the globe. Uriah Heep remain one of British rocks most
consistent and long standing acts with album sales of over 30
million worldwide. “Wake The Sleeper” will be Uriah Heep’s 21st studio album.
Wake The Sleeper will also be released on Vinyl as a 12” Limited Edition in a
stunning gatefold sleeve.
November 21st, 2007
Hello Everyone,
This is just a short announcement to let everyone know that on the upcoming
shows in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany & Switzerland we will be introducing
some of the new songs from the “Wake the Sleeper” CD by way of saying
THANK YOU ! to everyone of you that kept the faith.
We will be playing more songs in Germany and Switzerland when we headline than
in Finland, Sweden & Denmark due to the fact that we have a shorter set to play
when we are special guests with Alice Cooper.
As the tour progress’s we will hopefully be able to announce other exciting news
as it happens.
Onwards and upwards
Appy Days,
Mick
August 23, 2007
Hi everyone - here's the official message from Simon Porter regarding the
release of the new CD..."Wake The Sleeper" !
"Message from Uriah Heep manager, Simon Porter:
As a result of the purchase of Sanctuary Records by Universal Records, we
have reluctantly taken the decision to postpone the September release of the
forthcoming Uriah Heep album 'WAKE THE SLEEPER'.
The album is now most likely to be released in late January of next year and we
are currently discussing release options with Sanctuary / Universal.
We know that fans will be bitterly disappointed as indeed the band are by this
news, but it would be commercial suicide to release such an important album for
the band during a transitional takeover period between record labels. Quite
simply, it would be a case of the album being released just for the sake of it
without any cohesive promotion or marketing campaign in order to give the album
the best shot that it richly deserves.
Releasing later in the year would additionally mean that we would be fighting
for racking space on the shelves with all the major Christmas releases.
Quite apart from being the first new Heep studio album in a decade (as it will
be in 2008) we truly believe that 'Wake The Sleeper' is one of the band's
Top Three albums ever and hope that fans understand this decision. Believe me,
it will ultimately be worth the wait!
In the meantime, we can reveal the final track listing to be as follows:
Wake The Sleeper
Overload
Tears Of The World
Light of a Thousand Stars
Heaven’s Rain
Book Of Lies
What Kind of God
Ghost Of The Ocean
Angels Walk With You
Shadow
War Child
We all thank you for your continued support and look forward to reawakening the
sleeping giant in 2008!
Best regards
Simon Porter"
Appy Days,
Mick
July 5, 2007
Well I can finally report that we have finished the mixing of the new CD.
We found that a good way of doing this was to let Mike Paxman go in the
studio for a few days at a time and get most of the mix down with a guy
called Mark 'Tufty' Evans.
The CD was mixed in it's entirety at Tufty's studio in Wispington Studios,
Berkshire, UK. Tufty is someone Mike has known for a long time and he
specialises in just mixing. The template for the mixing became Mike and Tufty
getting it all together and then the band received CD's of the mixes in the post
and made their comments to Mike who then went back in and tweaked them to every
bodies satisfaction. Except for me and Bernie who could not wait and we drove
up there in my car every Friday to pick ours
up.
It was a long hard haul of a drive each time to get there on a busy Friday
afternoon but well worth it as the journey back we rocked out in the car
listening to the mixes which made the return journey so much sweeter and less
painful. It was a good way of working because we had the luxury of being
able to play the CD on a variety of Hi Fi and Low Fi systems and add comments.
The end result is that they all sound FANTASTIC.
The Mastering will be completed shortly with any luck. Mike has someone he
wants to work with on that and all of his decisions thus far have been spot on
so we are happy to go with it. As for the cover we are getting ever closer and I
am presently compiling all of the text and lyrics to send to Ioannis in
the USA.
'Appy days!
Mick"
6/14/2007
Congratulations to Matthias Grünwald for winning this auction !
Hello !
It's time for another Shirt Off My Back Auction at E-bay !
This is a T Shirt and a
signed ( by Heep ) Backstage Pass from our show with Deep Purple in Reykjavik
Iceland on the 27th May 2007.
The T Shirts were not on sale and made only for the crews working the show. For
those of you that were not there on this great night of rock music here is your
chance to get a memento of that evening and a chance to help my cancer charity
fund.
I did promise last year that all my items for the charity will not be big like
the guitar auction and that these auctions will come in all sizes. So if you
would like a souvenir from Iceland please place your bids for this worthy cause
and many thanks to those that do!
‘Appy days!
Mick
5/20/2007
Thank You !
Our "Shirt Off My Back" Auction this last week was a success thanks to you and
all who bid on the items.
Our items all in all sold for over
£350 !
As you know all proceeds will go to the charity and the more we can send them,
the better we like it so thanks for helping out again for this cause !
In other news, we are on the road again ! The Maisel Festival was fantastic !
You can see video of us with some short
movies shot by Peter Weber here, and an
additional promo video with us and Manfred Mann here.
We are off to Reykjavík
Iceland in a few days.
Please see our live dates section at the
Heep website.
The new album sounds great and we are really excited about the final mixes !
We've been asked by everyone for some samples for the websites... not quite
yet... all in due time !
I have been answering a great deal of your mail, and am working my way to the
top of the Heep so to speak ! Thanks for all your letters and questions and
things - Dave is sending them out for me so be on the look out for mail from
Mickboxnet at Yahoo.
That's all for now. Thank you all so much again for your interest and generosity
in my "Shirt Off My Back" auctions.
We will have another soon !
‘Appy Days!
Mick
4/26/2007
Heep Rolls On !
Hello,
Thanks for clicking on my site to keep in tune with what is going on.
There is much excitement in the Heep camp and the recording is going very well.
We want to make the album that both the fans and band can be proud of and so far
I think we are right on track.
It
is great being in the creative process again and back in the studio. Writing the
songs is one thing but recording them is quite a different animal but it is all
good thus far and the energy and excitement level is at a high point.
The first concert with Russell in Finland was a cool experience and a great
springboard for us to build upon. The feeling on stage was electric as it was
the first show and there was much celebrating afterwards with the Nazareth boys
who stayed for the whole show and loved it.
To commemorate this first show with Russell I have a signed poster by Uriah Heep
and Nazareth , one just signed by the band, my actual backstage pass signed by
the band on the back and a pair of Russell’s drum sticks. I would like to
auction these for my cancer charity fund and thanks for any of you who
participate.
As you may now know we have Ioannis on board to do the artwork so everything is
networking very well. He has made some classic covers over the years and I hope
ours will end up being one of them. We are gradually putting live shows in place
but I guess with a September release that is when the live work will be picking
up when we can put a whole schedule and tour plan together to promote the CD.
So there are exciting times ahead and thanks to every one of you that joins us
for this next installment of the Uriah Heep musical journey through life.
‘Appy Days!
Mick
1/30/2007
Announcement from Mick
Uriah Heep regret to announce that, due to ongoing health problems, longstanding
drummer Lee Kerslake is to leave the band with immediate effect.
During 2006, when Uriah Heep toured in some twenty territories ranging from
Indonesia, India and Thailand through to Brazil, Peru, Russia and Bulgaria,
concluding with a six week Acoustic Tour through Europe, Lee found the rigors of
constant touring increasingly stressful and will now take the opportunity over
the next few months to embark on a stringent campaign in order to resolve his
health issues.
Comments Heep lead guitarist and founder member Mick Box ‘All the band are fully
behind Lee in his efforts to become fully match fit again. For me, it is
particularly devastating to lose not only someone who I have worked with for
some thirty five years, but also one of my closest and oldest friends who I love
like a brother. It is, however, in the best interests of both Lee and the band
that a change is made now.
This is an important time in the history of the band - We have just signed a new
worldwide recording contract with Sanctuary Records and are about to commence
recording our first new studio album in almost a decade and it is vital that
there is consistency between both the recording and the forthcoming eighteen
month long world tour to coincide with the album’s release in September’.
The band will now start actively auditioning potential drummers and we will keep
you informed as events unfold.
Mick Box
www.uriah-heep.com
www.mick-box.com
12/29/2006
Another Year Gone
Hello Folks,
Well 2006 is almost gone, I did mean to write a few words when we returned from
the tour, but after 6 weeks on the road I came back to a mountain of mail
(mostly bills) and an answer machine full to the top, Throw in a few party
invites and the odd family visit and the time soon flies by.
This year has been quite a good one for me on many levels, My personal life is
better than it has been for a long time, And on the work side, We have been to
some amazing places and met some fantastic people, To all who have helped,
Hindered and annoyed me, To everyone we shared a beer and a laugh with..... I
thank you .
I am currently talking to a few gear manufactrurers about some new toys for Mick
to use next year, And first thing in the New Year I get to work on our guitars
and Amps, knocking them all back into shape ready for whatever the world throws
at us.
Uriah Heep is a very special place for me and i am happy to be a small part of
it . and i cant wait for next year to come..
I wish you all a happy and peacefull 2007
Chris x
tip of the day..... ~Party On
12/10/2006
Hamburg
Well after a very long bus ride , Here we are in Hamburg for a day off.
The shows are going great and all the guitars and amps are holding up well
We had a visit from Dominik of Shadow electronics who supply our pick ups Who
enjoyed the gig and a few beers with us
We seem to have overcome our initial sound problems and Mick seems quite happy
with how the guitars sound.
The bus rides have been interesting, As those of you checking Dave's road
reports will know, What he didn't mention was the night Charlie and me had a
heated debate on record producers. Now she may well be a small girl but she has
a very strong grip... As i found out when she tried to strangle me... i had the
marks on my throat for days after, I keep my mouth shut now. safer that way
Take care folks
Chris x
Tip of the day..
NEVER tell Charlie that Bob Rock is cool
11/22/2006
somewhere out there
Well the Acoustic shows are up and running, And sounding very good indeed.
first off i want to thank our friends, Dominik at Shadow Electronics And Mark at
Westside distribution For supplying me with pickups and Amps for the tour, And
Jessica at seymore Duncan for the Mama Bear pre amp.
We are using the Furch Acoustics for the tour apart from when we play Wizard
when the Variaxe is used as i set up for the down tuning we need for the song,
Mick is playing very well overcoming the pain he has in in his left thumb and
the guitars sound great.
In a moment of madness i thought to myself " Hang on a mo' The king of wha with
no whakker pedal ??
Not on ! so i plugged one in line. Ever heard an Acoustic going through a
whakker ??? It's the poodles plums. And Mick uses it to great effect on a few
songs..
Time for more madness then. Ever heard an Acoustic going through a whakker AND a
Guv'nor distortion pedal ?? now that IS the muts nuts mate..
Seriously Mick uses the pedal in amazing ways and you really do have to hear it,
The set list is well paced building to a great climax, And the band are on super
form, I am having so much fun even with the long distance travel and lack of
sleep This has been a cool tour tour so far.
A little extra time and effort is needed to keep the Acoustics in check and
playing well but they are holding up well.
Tonight is an off night so i have a very comfy hotel bed and a nice meal to look
forward to...Oh the luxuary of it all.
And tomorrow we have our first German gig in Cologne,
Tip of the Day
Yellow snow...Bad
Take care
Chris x
8/21/2006
SCHNEEBERG
We flew into Leipzig then after a very long bus ride we arrived at this small
eastern German town. We checked into the hotel which was very nice but more like
a retirement home. very strange indeed to find we where the youngest ones
there..
After dinner we had a few drinks and where all pretty "Relaxed" when Mick asked
me what my room was like. I said very nice but only had a single bed in there.
No problem i could swap with the promoter who was not due in till the day after,
we went to reception got the key then Mick, Trevor, Charley and I went off to
find the room, We opened the door and all staggered in only to find clothes and
shoes lying around and an unmade bed.. it took a few seconds for us to realise
that someone was using the room...RUN AWAY !!!! Luckily the person was not in
bed at the time, imagine being woken by four lubricated strangers barging into
your bed room. could have been interesting..
Show day and off to the gig a semi covered out door thing, the backline was
supplied by our friend Rolf of Access All Areas so the guitars sounded great, I
had also spent a little time stage left. sorting out Trevors nagging Bass
problems so the stage sound was really good
Mick made a new fan as a lady stood at the front dancing and waving throughout
the show with a big smile on her face showing us all her tooth.. :-)
I think he was paying her a bit too much attention as he played a bum note of
Biblical proportions during "Between two worlds".. That was about the same time
i swapped from guitar tech to wine waiter.
All in all a good show a few drinks then back to the hotel for a night cap or
twelve..
Tip of the day
Beer, Whiskey and Rum dont mix.. go figure !
Later
Chris x
8/6/2006
Serbia
Yet another festival date, This time in Serbia, And when i got to the gig i soon
realised that it was not going to be pretty...
I got four Marshall cabinets which looked like they had spent the last six
months in Beirut.. What a mess really beaten and bashed. Then came the amps, Two
JCM 800s . not the SLP i had ordered And these turned out to be totally dead. No
tone and no volume, As hard as i tried i could not get a sound from these
wrecks.
Now heres when it gets fun.. The only other amp to be found was a VOX
Valvetronix Combo.. So Serbia was treated to a first as Mick plugged into a
solid state modelling combo, I must say we where both suprised although not the
sound we where used to the VOX did very well indeed, I ran an extension speaker
from it just to get a little more "oomph" and we played the show.
Just goes to show what a pro Mick is.... Wonder if he can do it with a Fender
Champ ????
Chris x
7/17/2006
Finland
Well it's been a busy time for us with some great shows under our belts
And the show in Vassa was a blast, The backline company gave me a whole bunch of
amps to choose from, So i picked out a pretty innocent looking JCM 800, The guy
told me it was stock.. That puppy was screaming !!! it was the loudest most
overdriven Marshall i have ever come across... And for the first time ever Mick
asked me to TURN IT DOWN !! Maybe we got Lordi's gear by mistake Who where Sooo
cool by the way
All the people at the gig where first rate, Helpfull and friendly I really
enjoyed this gig.
And the Irish bar by the hotel just added to the fun theres no headache like a
Guinness headache and we where all pretty sluggish next morning.
Thanks to all involved for a great weekend
Chris
6/17/2006
Do You Wah Update
Hi All !
I thought I'd use Mick's little space to fill you in on the Do You Wah contest
...
We had about 25 people sign up to be among the running of those picked by the
band to be heard by the whole heep lovin' world.
I sent a list of all the people who filled in the forms to Mick Box and Chris
Kodjamanis for review. They will pass it by the band, and I'll get a list of
those chosen.
Then, I'll contact them, and let them know that THEY WILL WAH ! I think it will
be a great contest, and you the community will vote by poll...cool eh?
Mick promises a special heep-prize for the winner.
Well, that's it for me, I'm back to hiding... see you soon !
Dave White
6/4/2006
HARLEY HEAVEN
MARSHALL HELL..
The Vinstra super Rally, 10,000 or so bikers from all over Europe and beyond
gather in a field in northern Norway to party..
Now as i said in my interview Mick only likes certain kinds of Marshall amps,
But some rental firms just can't grasp this and think that any Marshall will
do...
WRONG !!!!
This time they gave us the 30th Anniversary 6100 model, And we just could not
get the sound we needed from it.
So whats a tech to do ???
Well besides the main hall where we where to play there was several other stages
around the site,
A quick search mission later and i had found a better amp on another stage.Which
i "Borrowed"
The sight of a short fat guy running through a field full of bikers with a
Marshall amp on his shoulder must have seemed a little strange to some, But
there you go !
So we finally got a sound we could work with, And i got to spend the rest of the
day taking a nice long ride on a friends Harley..
Sorry to the amazing Gill Edwards and his band, But i needed that amp more than
you guys did..
And thanks to Saske for the loan of his Harley.
5/26/2006
Sea sick
THE BOAT FROM HELL
Actually the Rock Boat is a cool place, Lots of people drinking and having fun,
And lots of live music.
The stage was very small but we managed to set up our gear
and at ten o'clock Heep took the stage and started to rock, Unfortunetly so did
the boat !!!
And boy did she rock !!!!
High point of the evening for me was watching Mick swaying from side to side
balancing on one leg trying to use his whakker pedal
Low point ?? Spending the rest of the evening with my head jammed firmly down
the toilet in my cabin..
Mick gave me some tablets but i guess me and boats just dont mix..
I'm told i look rather nice in green though.
Chris xx
5/21/2006
Still in Norway
And the adventure continues.......
The show in Sandnes should have been a good one.
the Sweet. Suzi quatro and then us.
After a very quick change over and no sound check we hit the stage.
And as a capacity crowd cheered the opening chords of So tired blasted out.. Out
of tune that is ....
I quickly handed Mick a new guitar.. Still out of tune. I retuned the first
guitar and swapped again
Still out of tune.
as mick and i exchanged bewildered glances at each other we could not figure
out what was happening
so for several more songs we swapped guitars and slowly lost our minds
Then midway through the set we saw the light as the problem was solved.. enter
Mr Phil Lanzon and his amazingly out of tune ORGAN...
It was not us after all . so after several guitars lots of head scratching and a
nervous breakdown we finished the gig.
Thanks to the local motorcycle group Sandnes MC for for giving me beer and a T
Shirt.
Thanks to Phil for giving me a heart attack
'Appy Days Indeed
Chris xx
5/20/2006
From Norway
How It All Went Wrong......
After a very long day and too much travel we arived in Odda, A very small but
pretty town..
After checking into the hotel i thought it would be a good idea to re- string
Mick's guitars in my room to save time at the gig..
I have a special flight case that holds all three of Mick's travelling guitars,
As i opened the case i was greeted by the site of the guitars inside .. battered
and Broke !!!!! After the panic and fear had worn off i changed my pants and sat
down to figure out how this had happened...
the guitars will only fit one way in the case and they are well supported and
safe.....
Well. Mick took the guitars home with him after the last gig and took them out
of the case to take photos of them, he then put them back in the case
THE WRONG WAY ROUND !!!! So no protection and lots of damage
I have now banned mick from touching any of his gear exept for show time And
even then its an even chance that he will break something..
this was just the first gig... stay tuned it can only get worse...
more mayhem as it happens
chris xx
5/1/2006
"Shirt Off My Back" Auction
Hello Again !
Well...something I have wanted to do for a long time is coming to fruition !
The 1st "Shirt Off My Back" auction will have it's proceeds donated to http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/
, which is the Cancer Research UK organization that I have decided to benefit.
Everyone knows someone who has been affected by this dreaded problem, and by
doing what we can, I hope that we will be able to help others now and in the
future.
This is the 1st of many auctions I wish to hold, and we will be getting more
sophisticated as we move along, but for now, we chose an easy route.
'APPY DAYS !
Mick
4/29/2006
Website Winners !!!
Hello !!
Dave Owen is on the road at the moment and we really were excitied to get the
winners listed for the website party !!
My son Romeo took the honors and picked our winners for me! He pointed at the
names at random from the computer screen and THAT's pretty random to me !
Congratulations to all who won!
I will be in touch with the winners by e-mail mid 1st week of May.
Also, we will be letting loose the 1st of many "The Shirt Off My Back" auctions
to benefit Cancer Research and Charity at http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/ .
Stay tuned for this to go up over the weekend as well. We want to have a lot of
fun with this, and to help this great cause where we can.
As always, thank you for your support !
More soon...
'Appy Days !
Mick
