Not as well known is that Ken Hensley (Heep’s keyboard player and also main writer) is a killer slide guitarist. Check out this 2001 “reunion” vid of Circle of Hands where Hensley comes in with a soaring solo ~4:04.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se4YjAV4CZA
There’s one of his all time best lyrics in this tune too, very counter to the hippie “live for today” theme of the day:
“Sacifice, the future has it’s price,
And today is only yesterday’s tomorrow.”
BTW, listen to this on a good system or headphones: Cheapo speakers will NOT do it justice. Better yet, try to get the DVD* if you can: It’s mostly great stuff, and other than a little mic breakup in a couple spots, and a bit of channel imbalance here and there, the sound is extremely good for a live recording. The opening of “Paradise / The Spell” on this DVD is sweet, sweet, sweet. You also get to see Hensley switch instruments from acoustic guitar to organ to slide guitar and back to organ.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWDdk0YXkfA
IMO they should have let him sing the alternate lead too, as he did on the original album. :-)
They also mess up by not doing the alternate lead bit toward the end, as they did on the album, here confusing the good vs. evil conflict, and another of Hensley’s most memorable lyrics, of evil defining itself:
“I have no need of moonlight
You’re wrong to trust in sunlight
For I exist, not just in storms,
But in life itself, in so many forms
To leave you cold...”
For a fanciful story from a (then) druggie, the guy had a handle on truth that few do.
These days, Hensley is a reborn Christian, and while not actively writing much Christian music presently, he still plays some of his compositions along that line now and then:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT5POKQtRns
(Spoiler: Starts out slow, turns to fire and brimstone, slows back down, then turns to fire and brimstone again!)