01	Look At Yourself						05:10
	02	I Wanna Be Free						04:01
	03	July Morning						10:33
	04	Tears In My Eyes						05:01
	05	Shadows Of Grief						08:39
	06	What Should Be Done						04:13
	07	Love Machine						03:40
	08	What's Within My Heart						05:23
	09	What Should Be Done						04:28
	10	Look At Yourself						03:20
	11	Instrumental and studio chat						01:11

Look At Yourself
September, 1971

Lineup:
Mick Box (G)
David Byron (LV)
Ken Hensley (K G LV on Look At Yourself)
Paul Newton (B)
Ian Clarke (D)
Special Guests - Manfred Mann (Moog on July Morning, Tears In My Eyes)
Loughty Amao (of Osibisa) (P on Look At Yourself)
Teddy Osei (of Osibisa) (P on Look At Yourself)
Mac Tontoh (of Osibisa) (P on Look At Yourself)

Overview - Heep finds their direction with this album and establishes themselves as a force in rock music. This is a classic album throughout but compared with the next album, is still not quite there. Grade: A+

1. Look At Yourself - One of the best heavy rock songs ever written. As far as Heep stompers go, this is my favorite. Full of classic Heep elements with tremendous drive. The added percussion from the band Osibisa fills out the sound as the song practically drives itself over a cliff. Grade: A+
note - There are multiple single edits. None of them are worth your time.

2. I Wanna Be Free - A good rocker with excellent guitar interplay between Mick and Ken as well as a great arrangement. Only problem is that this song is too slow. It feels like the reins are being held way too tight until the end when Paul and Ian finally pick up the pace while Dave and Ken trade vocals. Grade: A-

3. July Morning - What more can be said about this song? This is the quintessential Heep song. As does Shadows of Grief, this song covers an entire spectrum of color, emotion and sound in a way few bands ever have. Great moog solo by Manfred Mann. Grade: A+

4. Tears in My Eyes - Good rocker with powerful slide work from Ken. What sets this song (and band) apart from so many other heavy songs of the era is its willingness to drop from heavy metal to soft acoustical, then build it back up to traditional metal. Most would have just kept pounding relentlessly away. Grade: A+

5. Shadows Of Grief - Very heavy, psychedelic, and progressive rock. This is far beyond what any other band was doing in 1971, save possibly Deep Purple's Fireball. Not for those who prefer their music easy to digest. Grade: A+

6. What Should Be Done - Another great laid-back blues track. I prefer the feel of The Lansdowne Tapes version but it misses the great harmonies of the album version. Both versions are quite enjoyable. Grade: A

7. Love Machine - Another great rocker with lyrics that must've inspired virtually every Kiss song ever written. Too bad Kiss couldn't be this creative with their arrangements. Mick shines. Grade: A

What's Within My Heart - (Bonus track) How did this miss getting on the original album? A gorgeous acoustic ballad that beats hands down the similar acoustic stuff on Led Zeppelin III. Grade: A+

Why - (Bonus track on The Lansdowne Tapes) As much as I love this song, the chemistry of this lineup versus the classic lineup is obvious. Their performance is very good but it pales next to the Gary Thain-driven version on Demons And Wizards. That said, however, David's vocals on this version are better. Grade: A



Look At Yourself
Original Liner Notes
So much has happened since we recorded Salisbury that this feels like notes for a first album than for our third!

Our first American tour has to have a special mention chiefly because its enormous effect on the band as a whole. It was, in a way, the freshest of our many recent influences - a very vivid experience!

We have succeeded in establishing our musical direction now, and the proposition of recording was more clearly defined resulting in some very exciting sessions. many new influences were revealed and the message is there - above all it's the music that's important to us all!

Look At Yourself opens side one and is also our first world-wide single (fingers crossed!). Basically, it represents the band strongly and Teddy, Mac and Loughty of Osibisa added some excellent percussion to the extended final section.

I Wanna Be Free follows heavily into one of our favourite tracks July Morning. It is one of our most recent compositions and is developing into a strong 'live' number. David's vocal is particularly strong here and Manfred appears for the first time with his Moog, adding some really nice colours to the final sequence - closing side one.

Side two opens with another recent song Tears In My Eyes which has more Moog, guitar, voices and, well everything.

Shadows Of Grief was written in March and was the subject of one of our most 'frantic' sessions. It's impossible to explain 'frantic' exactly but it's probably evident!

We were looking for a contrast because, you know, the 'heavy' thing gets, well heavy sometimes. What Should Be Done was written in a studio break and recorded before it was three hours old - just because it felt good that way and seemed to be what we needed.

Love Machine winds up the album as it so often winds up our act - it just rocks!

So we have borrowed a little from the heavy basis we originally enjoyed and have continued to add the natural musical progressions that develop within us, in the hope that, for as long as possible, we will be able to bring you some of the happiness and satisfaction we get from playing together.

Ken Hensley July 1971





Look At Yourself
Reissue Liner Notes
The third album to be recorded by Uriah Heep was Look At Yourself. Recorded at Lansdowne studios in London's Holland park, it was the final album to use 8-track as a recording process. With the last album Salisbury released in February of 1971, Uriah Heep were about to embark on their first American tour. This trip, however, had started with a band member change in the drumming position. Ian Clarke (ex Cressida) was recruited as a replacement to Keith Baker.

That first US tour, the first of many, threw the band straight into the deep end, playing 20,000 seat arenas with Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night. Although as Mick Box said, "Playing with Three Dog Night was all wrong musically...", it was to prove an invaluable experience for the band. Once the US tour was complete, work was started back at the band's second home, Lansdowne studios, on Look At Yourself.

Gerry Bron had completed his Philips/Vertigo deal and was free to start up his own label, in fact the first two releases on the newly formed BRONZE Record Co., were Uriah Heep's two albums to date, Very 'Eavy Very 'Umble and Salisbury.

Recording was performed for Look At Yourself during the summer months of 1971. Most connoisseurs of the band would agree with Gerry Bron that "Look At Yourself was the point in time when the band really found a solid musical direction."

Look At Yourself had definitely given the band an album that displayed a unified sound and direction. The epic July Morning was easily in the class of Deep Purple's Child In Time and Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven. The UK record buying public also acknowledged this unification by purchasing enough of the vinyl slivers to take it to number 39, making Look At Yourself Uriah Heep's first chart album. The album quickly went silver in the USA as well.

Uriah Heep were on a roll with success in Germany, other parts of Europe, North America and even Britain. Things were obviously going to get better as long as the band could contain the turmoil that was beginning to show internally.

The band, never the favoured bunch by the critics, could not be ignored for much longer. A growing army of fans, packed audiences and improving record sales were to make sure of that. This was the band the press loved to hate and little did they know at this time it was something they would have to endure throughout their career.

With the completion of Look At Yourself, career changes for some members of the band were imminent. First to go was Paul Newton, the bass player, followed by Ian Clarke, the drummer. Newton was replaced by Mark Clarke (yes another Clarke!). mark Clarke was previously of Colosseum and label-mate band Tempest. Mark Clarke's tenure was also short lived however, and three months after his joining the band he departed, being replaced by Gary Thain, a New Zealander who had previously played with the Keef Hartley Band. mark Clarke was to reappear in the Heep arena a few years later when he contributed to Ken Hensley's second solo effort, Eager To Please.

Ian Clarke (no, not Mark!) who had held the drumming position on Look At Yourself was replaced by Lee Kerslake. Kerslake had previously played in The Gods with both Ken Hensley and Paul Newton.

With Kerslake and Thain in the fold the band were to hit the big time as Uriah Heep Mk. 6, (this band were fast becoming used to the musical chair phenomena of the rock and roll business).

It was this version of the band that recorded the album that was to take Uriah Heep to the top of the charts. That album was album numer 4, Demons and Wizards.

The bonus track What's Within My Heart was an out-take from the Look At Yourself sessions and was first released in 1993 on - The Lansdowne Tapes. The song was occasionally played live as part of an acoustic set the band performed early on in their career. This preceeded MTV's unplugged sessions by only 20 years or so!

The bonus track of Look At Yourself is an edited version of the title track and was to become the band's first UK single. It was also backed by Simon The Bullet Freak.

c 1991, 1995 Robert M. Corich




Look At Yourself
Artist Comments
Ken Hensley 1990 | Mick Box 1995 | Ken Hensley 1995
KEN HENSLEY
1990

I think that July Morning is one of the best examples of the way the band was developing at that point in time. It introduced a lot of dynamics, a lot of light and shade into our sound.

The relationship musically and personally between myself, Mick and David developed so quickly, it was spontaneous. And the three of us were increasingly becoming the nucleus of the band, looking to fill the other two places.




MICK BOX October 1995
ON TOUR IN AUSTRIA

This album saw Uriah Heep decide we wanted to be an out-and-out rock band with our own identity and developing trademarks, especially in the vocal, harmony, Hammond organ and my wah-wah guitar sound. The cover was an idea of mine coming back to London in a van, after a UK tour. The cover proved to be very successful, remaining a favourite among fans today. The stand out track on the album, for me, was July Morning which encompassed everything about Uriah heep then and now. It is a beautifully crafted song, with great dynamics, soft Hammond organ parts, powerful riffs and a tremendous vocal from David that still gives me goose bumps every time I hear it.

Over the years we have come to appreciate just how much our music has touched people around the world and quite often we have had couples coming backstage after the show and thanking us with a bottle of champagne, as they had used the tune as their wedding march when they got married. We had a few of our label-mate guests on this album, with Manfred Mann playing the mini-moog solo on July Morning and Osibisa joining us on the end of Look At Yourself. They all did a great job and I will always remember the sweat pouring off of Osibisa at the end of the track as it sped up very fast. By the end their eyes were nearly popping out.

This was and still is a great rock album, and was a joy to make. I really hope you enjoy this re-mastered version, along with the bonus tracks. Keep on rocking!




KEN HENSLEY 1995

By the time we recorded this, the whirlwhind had really begun and it was this album that helped us break the American market. Again we explored a lot on Look At Yourself and I was learning to 'write on the road.' July Morning still gets played a lot on radio and went on to become one of the highlights of our live shows, along with the title track. Listening to it now is not easy because of some of the original production aspects of the record but, considering the time, it does have a lot of energy on it! I actually still have an original American 8-track of Look At Yourself!!!









Uriah Heep - "Look at Yourself" (1971) All the pieces came together on the third album that also was Heep's breakthrough. It features what many people consider to be their best song ever: the eleven-minute "July Morning". Right from the start with Hensley's heavenly organ-theme, to the soft and atmospheric vocal-parts and then to the fading riff at the end with excellent moog-playing by Manfred Mann, this track is simply one of the best songs ever recorded during the 70's. It perfectly captures the mood and sound of the decade. But the rest of the album is absolutely awesome too. The title-track and "Love Machine" are driving heavy rock at its very best. "Shadows of Grief" is a powerful and muscular heavy-progressive track with complex instrumental-parts. One of the vocal-sections even does a kind of a "Child in Time" trick! "Tears in My Eyes" is basically a quite simple rocker with lots of slide-guitar, but it features a beautiful mid-part with word-less vocals and acoustic guitar. This was their first attempt at fusing heavy riffs with acoustic parts, and this was to be perfected on the next album. "I Wanna Be Free" is a very typical melodic Heep-stomper, while "What Should Be Done" is a soulful ballad. NO one can call himself a 70's-freak without having this album in his collection.