Artists (U)

U.D.O.

– Animal House (1987) 3.50 stars
– Mean Machine (1989) 3.50 stars
– Faceless World (1990) 3.50 stars
– Timebomb (1991) 3.50 stars
– Solid (1997) 3.50 stars
– No Limits (1998) 3.50 stars
– Holy (1999) 3.50 stars
– Man and Machine (2002) 3.50 stars
– Mastercutor (2007) 3.50 stars
– Dominator (2009) 4.00 stars
– Burningtracker (2010) 4.00 stars
– Rev-Raptor (2011) 3.50 stars
– Celebrator: Rare Tracks (2012) 3.50 stars

U.K.

– U.K. (1978) 4.50 stars
– Danger Money (1979) 4.50 stars

Truth be told, I was never a huge fan of John Wetton (as a vocalist, not as a bassist, where he was always excellent), so I was wary when this band popped onto the scene with him acting as the frontman. But to my surprise, I actually enjoyed Wetton’s voice on these albums, which I find creative, exciting, and fine slabs of Prog-Rock at its finest. A true “supergroup” of the era. Too band the band folded so quickly. Hearing Eddie Jobson play on these albums, one has to wonder why he wasn’t snapped up by Yes as a keyboardist prior to the Drama album.

Ubi Maior

– Incanti Bio Meccanici (2015) 3.50 stars

UFO

– Phenomenon (1974) 4.00 stars
– Force It (1975) 4.00 stars
– No Heavy Petting (1976) 4.00 stars
– Lights Out (1977) 4.00 stars
– Obsession (1978) 4.00 stars
– Strangers in the Night (1979) 5.00 stars
– No Place to Run (1980) 4.00 stars
– The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent (1981) 4.00 stars
– Mechanix (1982) 4.00 stars
– Making Contact (1983) 4.00 stars
– Misdemeanor (1985) 4.50 stars
– Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1988) 4.00 stars
– High Stakes & Dangerous Men (1992) 3.50 stars
– Walk on Water (1995) 3.50 stars
– Covenant (2000) 3.50 stars
– Sharks (2002) 3.50 stars
– You Are Here (2004) 4.00 stars
– The Monkey Puzzle (2006) 3.50 stars
– The Visitor (2009) 3.50 stars
– Seven Deadly (2012) 3.50 stars
– A Conspiracy of Stars (2015) 3.50 stars

The Ugly Kings

– Darkness Is My Home (2018) NOT RATED

UKZ

– Radiation (2009) NOT RATED

Ultimatium

– New Dawn (2004) 2.50 stars
– Hwainoo (2008) 2.50 stars

Ultime Atome

– Dark Visions (2003) NOT RATED

Ultraviolet Hippopotamus

– Square Pegs Round Holes (2011) NOT RATED

Ulysses

– Eclectic (2001) NOT RATED
– The Gift Of Tears (2008) NOT RATED

Umphrey’s McGee

– Similar Skin (2014) 3.50 stars

Una Stagione All`Inferno

– Il Mostro di Firenze (2018) NOT RATED

The Underground Railroad

– Through and Through (2000) 3.50 stars
– The Origin of Consciousness (2005) 4.00 stars

Under the Sun

– Under the Sun (2000) 3.50 stars
– Schematism (2005) 3.50 stars

Ungava

– Ungava (1977) 4.00 stars

Unicorn

– Emotional Wasteland (1995) 3.50 stars

Unifaun

– Unifaun (2008) 4.50 stars

Unified Past

– From The Splintered Present Surfaces (1999) NOT RATED
– Observations (2011) NOT RATED
– Spots (2013) NOT RATED
– Shifting the Equilibrium (2015) 4.50 stars

Union

– Union (1998) 4.50 stars
– The Blue Room (1999) 4.50 stars

Unisonic

– Ignition (2012) 4.00 stars
– Unisonic (2012) 4.00 stars
– Light of Dawn (2014) 4.50 stars

United Progressive Fraternity

– Fall in Love With the World (2014) 4.50 stars

After the sad demise of Unitopia, one of the more promising Prog-Rock bands of the past few decades, several members formed a new band with Guy Manning (The Tangent). And I must say, this band is equally as enjoyable as Unitopia. I’m praying UPF stays together and releases more material in the near future.

Unitopia

– More Than a Dream (2006) 4.00 stars
– The Garden (2008) 4.50 stars
– Artificial (2010) 4.50 stars
– Covered Mirror Vol 1 Smooth as Silk (2012) 4.50 stars

This band popped onto the scene with impressive material and delivered high-quality Prog-Rock on every subsequent release. For some reason, the group reminds me of The Flower Kings, but there are so many styles tossed into each release that it’s difficult to pinpoint any specific/major influences regarding the sound. The album Covered Mirror, Vol. 1 – Smooth As Silk, which features nothing but terrific covers of Prog-Rock classics, gives a clue as to the variety of the band’s influences all the while placing its unique stamp on them, making each track Unitopia’s own. The band, unfortunately, called it a day after the aforementioned cover album.

Universe Effects

– In the Haze That Surrounds Us (2015) NOT RATED

Unkh

– Traveller (2014) NOT RATED
– Innerverse (2018) NOT RATED

Unreal City

– La crudeltà di Aprile (2013) 4.00 stars
– Il paese del tramonto (2015) 4.00 stars
– Frammenti Notturni (2017) NOT RATED

Unruly Child

– Unruly Child (1992) 4.00 stars
– Waiting for the Sun (1998) 4.00 stars
– The Basement Demos (2002) 4.00 stars
– UC III (2003) 4.00 stars
– Worlds Collide (2010) 4.00 stars

Until Rain

– The Reign of Dreams (2009) 3.50 stars

Unto Us

– The Human Landscape (2014) 4.00 stars

Unwritten Pages

– Noah (2010) 4.00 stars
– Fringe Kitchen (2012) 3.50 stars

Urban Tale

– Urban Tale (2001) 4.00 stars
– Signs of Times (2003) 4.00 stars

Urgent

– Cast the First Stone (1984) 4.00 stars
– Thinking Out Loud (1987) 4.00 stars

Uriah Heep

– Very ‘eavy…Very ‘umble (1970) 3.50 stars
– Salisbury (1971) 3.00 stars
– Look at Yourself (1971) 5.00 stars
– Demons and Wizards (1972) 4.50 stars
– The Magician’s Birthday (1972) 4.50 stars
– Live (1973) 5.00 stars
– Sweet Freedom (1973) 4.50 stars
– Wonderworld (1974) 4.00 stars
– Return to Fantasy (1975) 4.50 stars
– High and Mighty (1976) 2.50 stars
– Firefly (1977) 4.00 stars
– Innocent Victim (1977) 3.00 stars
– Fallen Angel (1978) 3.50 stars
– Conquest (1980) 1.50 stars
– Abominog (1982) 4.50 stars
– Head First (1983) 4.00 stars
– Equator (1985) 3.50 stars
– Raging Silence (1989) 3.00 stars
– Rarities From the Bronze Age (1991) 4.00 stars
– Different World (1991) 3.00 stars
– The Lansdowne Tapes (1994) 4.00 stars
– Sea of Light (1995) 4.50 stars
– A Time of Revelation (1996) 4.50 stars
– Sonic Origami (1998) 4.50 stars
– Wake the Sleeper (2008) 4.50 stars
– Celebration: Forty Years of Rock (2009) 4.00 stars
– Into the Wild (2011) 4.50 stars
– Outsider (2014) 4.50 stars
– Living The Dream (2018) NOT RATED

One of the first albums I ever purchased was Uriah Heep’s Look At Yourself, and promptly fell in love with the band. Although the group has had several frontmen through the decades, David Byron’s tenure in the group (from its debut through 1976’s slightly disappointing High and Mighty) still remains my favorite period. Nevertheless, I also fairly enjoyed the John Lawton albums (from 1977-1978), the Pete Goalby releases (1982-1985), while the Bernie Shaw period of the band (the longest) from 1989 through the present day is now my second favorite period, with Heep releasing stellar material since 1996. Best forgotten, however, is the lone album with singer John Sloman (1980’s Conquest), which is pretty dreadful overall, with Sloman not fitting at all with Heep’s famous style, and displays the group at its low point.

Ursa Major

– Ursa Major (1972) 4.00 stars

US

– A Sorrow in Our Hearts (2002) 4.00 stars
– The Young and Restless (2006) 3.50 stars
– Feeding The Crocodile (2010) NOT RATED
– The Road Less Travelled (2011) NOT RATED
– Lindisfarne (2017) NOT RATED

Utopia

– Todd Rundgren’s Utopia (1974) 4.50 stars
– Another Live (1975) 4.00 stars
– Ra (1977) 4.00 stars
– Adventures in Utopia (1980) 3.50 stars