...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble signed to that label. The album shows the band trying out various genres a mix of heavy metal and progressive rock rather than the hard rock that they would become known for on later albums. Tracks 3 and 8 were recorded as Spice songs prior to the band's renaming as Uriah Heep, and featured session player Colin Wood on keyboards. When Ken Hensley joined Spice in late 1969, the tracks were not re-recorded. The album was generally panned by the mainstream critical press upon its release, although it has since been acknowledged as an early classic of the heavy metal
Heavy metal guitar Weinstein states that powerful sound, timbre, and volume are the key elements of metal. She argues that the loudness is designed to "sweep the listener into the sound" and to provide a "shot of youthful vitality". In relation to the gender composition of heavy metal bands, it has been said that "[h]eavy metal performers are almost exclusively male" "...[a]t least until the mid-1980s" apart from "... exceptions such as Girlschool". However, "...now [in the 2010s] maybe more than ever–strong metal women have put up their dukes and got down to it","carv[ing] out a considerable place for [them]selves". Given that most