MICK BOX
Sept. 1995 (on tour in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil)

This being our second album we still showed that we were willing to experiment by using a 22-piece brass and woodwind section on the title track, which was nearly 17 minutes long. I remember when we were recording the brass section adn my lengthy wah-wah guitar solo came in I saw all these trained session musicians throw their headphones to the floor in horror, and even to this day you can hear the loud click of the wah-wah plugged through the Marshall stack on volume number 10 as the solos begin.

Salisbury was written mostly in the 'Fox & Hounds' pub in Chiswick, Longdon, where we had many a beer, writing and rehearsing for the album, which I think has a very special feel to it. The Park was written by Ken on a harmonium that was in the house in Hamburg, Germany, where the band was staying together for a while between tours. David's vocals on this track are stunning. Lady In Black shows a blend of acoustic and electric all in one song on which Kenny took the lead vocal for the first time. The number is a very infectious chant, later in the 70's it won the European version of the Grammy Award - the Golden Lion Award, of which we are very proud. The album's cover was a direct result of the times and the Hippie movement, showing something as mighty as a war tank crushing something as beautiful as a flower. This remastered version with 2 bonus tracks is a must for Heep fans young and old, to add to their collection and I hope you have as much fun listening to it as we had making it.

KEN HENSLEY
Oct. 1995, St. Louis, USA

Recording Salisbury was quite an experience! From the smell of curry in the control room that got me thrown out during the orchestral sessions, to the fact that Lady In Black became not only a huge hit but is used in German schools to teach English! (remember, this song has two chords and a chorus with no words!), to the fact that, in those days, FM radio would play the entire title track!

The Park has always been one of my favourite songs but, though I don't listen to this album much, the thing that strikes me is that we were able to explore so many different musical directions and themes. As the band grew in fame, that aspect went away and contributed a great deal to my frustration and disappointment.

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