Abominog

By 1982, Uriah Heep were a band on the verge of obsolescence. Their classic line-up had disintegrated, their sound had grown stale, and even their die-hard fans were beginning to drift. But Abominog—their fourteenth studio album—arrived like a shot of adrenaline, ripping up the rulebook and reanimating a band many had already written off.

This was no half-hearted refresh. Gone were the organ-heavy dirges of the Hensley era. In their place: lean, polished, pop-metal anthems that owed more to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal than to the band’s progressive past. With a new line-up fronted by the fiery Peter Goalby and powered by returning drummer Lee Kerslake and Ozzy alumnus Bob Daisley, Abominog didn’t just modernise Uriah Heep—it gave them bite.

It helps that half the album is made up of well-chosen covers. “On the Rebound” (originally by Russ Ballard) is all slick defiance, while “That’s the Way That It Is” turns a Bliss Band deep cut into a radio-ready hit—Heep’s last real moment on the American airwaves. Even deeper pulls like Sue Saad’s “Prisoner” and John Cougar’s “Hot Night in a Cold Town” are retooled with precision, the band wrapping their reinvention in borrowed melodies without ever sounding second-hand.

Originals like “Too Scared to Run” and the re-recorded “Think It Over” show the band still had their own tricks too, blending AOR sheen with enough metallic heft to keep things grounded. This is melodic metal as rebranded survival tactic—and it works.

Forty years on, Abominog stands as one of the most surprisingly vital albums in Uriah Heep’s catalogue. It didn’t just delay the end. It proved they still had something to say.