Last update – 6 July 1997.

Replacing David Byron was never going to be easy for Uriah Heep. indeed it was Wetton's replacement which proved to be the easiest. Trevor Bolder who had made his name with David Bowie's Spiders from Mars in the early seventies was recruited, even before the frontman's post was filled. Many big names were mooted in the music press as Byron's successor but the relatively unknown (in the UK at least), John Lawton was finally confirmed as the new vocalist. De! Roll the bands Tour Manager and Lighting Engineer for many years had passed on a tape of John Lawton singing, to Lee and Mick. John had also been recommended by Roger Glover of Deep Purple with whom Lawton had worked the year before on the Butterfly Bail project. Lawton was formerly the vocalist for German band, Lucifers Friend. While the other members of Lucifers Friend supplemented their income playing with The James Last Orchestra, Lawton had kept his bank balance healthy by singing with The Les Humphries Singers. Tagged as a Eurovision Song Contest - singalong type group, some of the press had a field day in bringing to the fore this non-rock aspect of Lawton's career and predicted some pleasant singalong type numbers for future Uriah Heep releases.

However, Lawton was a powerful vocalist and was to prove himself a worthy addition to the band. Indeed the introduction of Bolder and Lawton in 1976 was to revive enthusiasm in Uriah Heep, the Byron years had ended with the band at a low ebb but this second phase of their history was, in many ways, to be just as successful. Stability reigned for a while with this line up which recorded three albums and was destined to almost last the decade out.

This new found stability was not without it's share of controversy, Uriah Heep had made it known that they would not be living on their past glories. Of course, the old favourites were still in the live set but their recorded work was to take a different direction. Firefly, released in February, 1977, was to some, more of a Heep album than their previous release. High And Mighty. Ken Hensley, when talking of Firefly said at the time, "It is measurably better and more significant than the fast album". Moderate critical acclaim was shown in some of the music press and the new Heep chose to play America first taking a support slot on the Kiss tour. When they returned to headline in the European territories, the doubters were able to see the new vigor and commitment in the revived Uriah Heep.

Lawton's voice proved that a more than adequate replacement for Byron had been found, although to some fans he could not match Byron's stage charisma. Despite alt the positive signs on the release of Firefly, it was the first Uriah Heep album that failed to chart in the UK for 5 years. The much publicised new direction was not that evident on the album, the sound was polished and some of the songs told stories with a hint of fantasy, a hallmark of Uriah Heep's great past. The melodic, heavy rock of Uriah Heep seemed to still be alive and keen with the band to keep the interest of the fans and the media, Uriah Heep returned to the studio to record an new album for release that same year.

Innocent Victim was described by the publicity campaign as, "a monster!", in many ways it was Uriah Heep enjoyed good reviews of the album but the change in direction was much more noticeable than on the previous release. A more sophisticated sound was evident but there was also a lightweight fee! to much of the material. Although the album again failed to make the UK charts, it became the band's biggest seller in Germany, and throughout the rest of Europe they enjoyed huge success. This was in part due to the re-release of Lady in Black which had won Uriah Heep the coveted "Golden Lion Award", and the massive hit they had with Free Me in mainland Europe and other countries outside Europe.

This was a definite change in the band's style and their success in the singles charts of many European countries, excluding the UK, was unprecedented. This undoubtedly won the band many new fans but these were the type of fans who's allegiance to a band was often very short lived, especially if the hit singles success was to disappear as quickly as it came.

In the meantime, many of the dedicated fans from Uriah Heep's glory years drifted away from the band, disillusioned with the new pop sound, they were never to return to the fold. Other fans stayed loyal hoping for a return to albums full of the power and passion that they knew was still within the capabilities of the band. This was displayed on innocent Victim in songs like Free n Easy which could have come from any of the early Uriah Heep releases, it captured their ability to rock perfectly, and Choices, although penned by Jack Williams, a friend of Hensley's, it encased traditional Uriah Heep values. Other than these few tracks, there was little for the old fan, devoted to the classic Uriah Heep sound to get excited about. The monster, as it was called had dealt the band a double hand.

Perhaps with this in mind, Heep could have felt torn between two camps. On the one hand, they may have wanted to stay true to their old values, although they clearly stated in radio interviews at the time that they were all 100% behind the new direction, but, they must have also felt the pull of the prospect of more hit singles along the lines of free Me. There was no doubt of the influence the Bronze Organisation had in this new direction.

The third album from the Lawton era. Fallen Angel was released in July, 1978 and seemed to be split between the old and new styles. Whilst Love Or Nothing and Come Back To Me were blatant, and reasonably successful, attempts at hit singles, there were indications that a hard rock band was hiding in there somewhere. Critical praise of the album failed to secure more than average sales and although they stiff enjoyed a respectable attendance at their concerts, Uriah Heep seemed destined never to go that one step higher in the UK. Behind the scenes Unrest was again increasing, the stability that had enabled the band to produce three albums from the same line up for only the second time in their career was coming to an end. Much of it centered around the role of Gerry Bron and his use of Hensley penned material for the majority of album tracks. They did however return to the studio to start work on a fourth album but before it could be completed the unrest had come to a head and resulted in John Lawton and Lee Kerslake departing the band leaving Uriah Heep onñå again having to find two new members.

(c) 1997