December 1st, 2024 - A Steamy Wonderworld

 

Hello rockers, rollers, and hopheads!  The Meista here raising a pint and rocking the hell out to a pairing of a delicious and smooth Steamy Wonder Rye Steam Ale from the fine folks at Proper Brewing Company and "Wonderworld", the brilliant and often overlooked album by the mighty and legendary Uriah Heep!  Hell yeah!

Album Info:

• Artist: Uriah Heep
• Title: "Wonderworld"
• Recorded: January through March 1974 at Musicland in Munich, Germany
• Release date: June 1974 (7th studio album by Uriah Heep)
• Record company: Bronze Records / Warner Bros. Records
• Production: Gerry Bron
• Album cover art: Graham Hughes (design and photography)
• Personnel: Mick Box (lead and acoustic guitars), David Byron (lead vocals), Ken Hensley (keyboards, guitars, and backing vocals), Lee Kerslake (drums and percussion), and Gary Thain (bass)
• Additional musicians: Jose Gabriel (synthesizers) and Michael Gibbs (orchestration arrangements on "The Easy Road")
• Musical style: Hard rock, heavy metal, progressive rock with elements of heavy blues, folk rock, and jazz fusion
• Sound: Although not has bold as their earlier albums, it is still a very solid and powerful musical journey like only Uriah Heep can produce.  Songs like title track "Wonderworld", "Suicidal Man", "The Easy Road", and "Dreams" helped to continue that signature Uriah Heep sound while broadening their appeal to a wider audience.  Byron's vocals soar, Kerslake and Thain bring the thunder, Box tears it up with amazing riffs, and Hensley is simply brilliant, as always!
• Major themes: The album explores themes of love, freedom, introspection, life, happiness, grief, loss, etc.
• Note: Sadly, this was Gary Thain's last album with Uriah Heep due to his increasingly problematic drug addiction resulting in him not being able perform properly.  He was fired by the band in early 1975.  He died of a heroin overdose in December of 1975 at the age of 27.
• Tracks:

1. "Wonderworld"
2. "Suicidal Man"
3. "The Shadows And The Wind"
4. "So Tired"
   
5. "The Easy Road"
6. "Something Or Nothing"
7. "I Won't Mind"
8. "We Got We"
9. "Dreams"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Proper Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://www.properbrewingco.com/ 
• Brew: Steamy Wonder
• Style: Rye Steam Ale / California Common
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 5.0%
• Pour: The Steamy Wonder pours a fairly clear, copper-amber hue with a very thin and bubbly, off-white head that dissipates to the thin ring with subtle lacing.
• Nose: The nose is malty, grainy, and slightly peppery.  There are aromas of caramel/toffee, peppery rye bread, very light grassy hops, cracked wheat, and very light honey.
• Taste: The taste is malty, bready, earthy, and slightly sweet and peppery.  There are notes of crackery biscuit, bready malts, peppery rye, and soft caramel/toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Light to medium-bodied and moderately carbonated, the mouthfeel of the Steamy Wonder is very smooth with a clean, yet peppery finish.

Overall pairing: Those are wonderfully crushable flavors and aromas of Proper's Steamy Wonder work great with the overall rock and roll vibe that is Uriah Heep's lovely "Wonderworld" album!  I definitely recommend checking this album out and enjoying it with a tasty Steamy Wonder!  'Nuff said!

Cheers!!