Ken Hensley is one of my biggest musical heroes. My Book of Answers is his final recorded work. He died on 4 November 2020 after a very brief and unexpected illness. I remember the day well, because as it happened I had just received the career-spanning boxed set 50 Years of Uriah Heep in the mail that very morning. I was right in the middle of immersing myself in its contents when the news hit that one of the band’s founding members was no more.
I could not believe the news. It came out of the blue, and considering what I had spent the morning doing, it just seemed bizarre. Another founding member, drummer Lee Kerslake, had passed just six weeks prior, so an already awful autumn for Heep fans was becoming downright horrible. And there I was, sitting with a new box with relatively fresh liner notes from both of them. Just a week earlier, Hensley had even appeared on a Heep fan podcast. There were no signs that anything was wrong with him.
The fact that he was active and prolific all the way up to his death is underlined by the fact that not only had My Book of Answers been finished and announced, but Hensley even finished another album last year – recorded prior to My Book of Answers but planned to be released later in the year. He might have been 75, but he never showed signs of slowing down and was as creative as ever.
As the sad news hit, my pre-order had already placed for My Book of Answers, and it was released exactly when originally planned on 5 March 2021. Even with several months of mentally preparing to hear the final works of an artist you truly admire, there air of finality can be brutal. But, wouldn’t we rather have this album than not? Like all of his music, it is a gift.
The album was a bit of a different project for Hensley. It is a collaboration with Russian poet and friend Vladimir Pavlovich. They both lived in Spain, met and became friends, and one day Pavlovich wondered if Hensley would consider putting music to some of his poems. Hensley was interested but so busy with touring and various other projects that he struggled to find the time. When Covid hit and everything stopped almost overnight, Hensley was able to turn his attention to this project. Linear poems had to be changed into something approximating verses and choruses, music was constructed, and soon he had a couple of demos. Pavlovich was enthusiastic with the results, meaning they proceeded and went into full album production mode.
With respect to Pavlovich, this never does not feel like it’s 100% a Hensley project. While the ideas behind the lyrics and a lot of the words aren’t Hensley’s own for a change, he has selected the parts to use, given them shape, written all the music, and is the producer and arranger of everything. It is inevitable that it sounds and feels the way it does.
In addition to Hensley’s usual lead vocals, guitars, piano, and trademark Hammond organ, the band on the album consist of Spanish-based musicians Tommy Lopez (drums), Moises Cerezo (bass) and Izzy Cuero (guitars).
Lost (My Guardian) sets the stage with a mid-tempo groover that sounds like vintage Hensley, which is high praise. His voice is unusually effect-laden, with echo and reverb giving an otherworldly effect. It’s a great track filled with hooks, making it remembered well after it’s done. The guitar solo is very melodic yet wailing, and the sound of the trademark Hensley Hammond organ in the background is reassuring.
Right Here, Right Now is a highly interesting track, as the musical arrangement is very similar to the Uriah Heep track The Hanging Tree from the Firefly album (1976). It would have been interesting to ask Hensley about the reuse of this musical theme, but in any case, it fits well here and it is endearing to hear it again slightly reimagined for these sets of lyrics. The new music starts with the same kind of synthesizer themes as the original, and the verses carry a lot of melodic rock elements. The chorus bring in vintage rock elements again, which intensify as the song progress. Dual lead guitar lines make up a solo section, and the outro rocks out with a guitar solo.
That feeling continues in the next track The Cold Sacrifice, which starts off with a full-blown rock band arrangement and a guitar solo. Hensley has always been comfortable in a melodic hard rock landscape with interesting instrumental passages, and he does not change the formula on My Book of Answers.
While Hensley delivers what his fans wants and expects, it is important to have realistic expectations. This is never going to sound like Uriah Heep did in the 1970s. This is music from the same man who largely came up with the Heep sound and wrote most of their material, but 50 years later than their (and his) heyday. There has been a lot of development and maturing of his sound since then, and obviously in later years also some tweaking to suit what he was still able to do in his mid-70s. Even though there is no way around the fact that his voice sounds like that of a 75-year old man on this album (what else to expect, really?), there is every reason to be impressed with his performances all around. With realistic expectations, those are well met and even surpassed. The album contains a number of great compositions that are all excellently performed.
The Silent Scream definitely brings forth memories of Firefly-era Uriah Heep. It is easy to imagine Heep going to town on the multi-layered backing vocals in the chorus, and the instrumentation and playing is probably as close to being a Heep moment as you’re going to get on this album. The lyrics are bleak, dealing with the depression that comes from separation and isolation.
Those themes continues somewhat on Cover Girl, which is a bittersweet ballad about a woman who chose to leave to chase hollowed-out dreams in a world where beauty is fake. “I love what they did to your smile, but I hate what they did to your heart” Hensley sings, mourning the inevitable crash and burn that follows life “in those far away places full of make-believe faces”. Light the Fire (In My Heart) is yet another ballad which interestingly seem like it could be sung from the point of view from the girl in the previous track. Although this is also a good and touching track, I definitely would not have placed the two ballads on the album back-to-back. Perhaps if they are linked thematically, there was no way around it.
The album’s highlight for me comes in the form of Stand (Chase the Beast Away). While also a ballad in form, it is different from the previous ones as it takes on the feeling of a powerful, soulful number that gets a serious ‘oomph’ from the amazing choir of backing vocalists (Rosie Doonan, Belinda Campbell, Roberto Tiranti, and Ekaterina Nadaresihviti). In fact, the backing vocal choir parts are so powerful that they largely end up defining the song, contributing (and carrying) main melody lines in the song, adding chorus vocals, and even individual break-out solo vocals. With that little bit of help from his friends, Hensley also sound a bit better for not having to carry everything on his own. The song is uplifting lyrically as well: fear comes knocking, but it is possible to beat it together. A very powerful track and a lovely, lovely song.
The album definitely has a strong ending, with The Darkest Hour turning out to be a poignant and touching song. The intro with dual guitars over vintage organ layers really sells me on the song. The verses are more low-key, where Hensley delivers a really touching vocal about being lost and looking for answers. Ultimately, the answer is turning to a friend, a confidante, or a higher power for help. The CD contains a lovely alternative version of this song as a bonus track, where Hensley performs it alone on a piano with organ/keyboard lines embellishing more as the song goes on.
The final track is Suddenly. The longest track on the album, it builds slowly and spends some time establishing instrumental themes as piano, synths, guitars, and symphonic elements build into a more powerful whole. Lyrically this is a tough track to listen to. It looks like the song details someone’s journey from one plane of existence to the next. Amongst other things, Hensley sings “Is this is? Is my life really coming to a close? So suddenly.” It is obviously impossible to separate this from what happened to him, but there’s obviously no way this was written like that. It does add a lot of powerful symbolism to the track, though. He was a man of faith, and as such it is fitting that the last lines on his last recorded project are “When you’ve finished the task I have given you there / Come on home, you are welcome here”.
How to summarise this album? I’m not sure I can yet. Hensley was certainly never one to churn out fluff, and a lot of this stuff is very poignant and deep indeed. As there were layers to his music, there were layers to his lyrics. When he chose to work with someone else’s lyrics he clearly expected the same standard from them. There is a lot to dig into here from a lyrical perspective, as well as a ton of musical textures. It’s an album that needs to be listened to more than a few times, as there are so many flourishes and things happening that would not grab your immediate attention but will emerge over time.
Hensley wrote liner notes for the album before he passed, and it is a bit heartbreaking to see him mention all the other things he had plans to do with Pavlovich. They stand as a sad reminder of things that can now never happen, but I am glad that these notes were used the way Hensley wrote them as they make it clear how much he enjoyed this collaboration. His enthusiasm shines through, and that is what should define this project rather than any sad circumstances around it.
Thanks for everything, Ken.
Svein Børge Hjorthaug
Norway, May 2021
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