The Magician's Birthday - URIAH HEEP****

Sunrise/Spider Woman/Blind Eye/Echoes In The Dark/Rain/Sweet Lorraine/Tales/The Magician's Birthday

The Magician’s Birthday found the progressive rock group Uriah Heep at the peak of their creative powers. The mystical elements introduced with the previous album are continued here. (US:31 UK:28)

“Though it may have been rushed it nearly matches its great predecessor. The band, and especially Hensley as a songwriter, were at the peak of their creativity and many of these songs have become classics and favourites.”

“It's one of their most worthwhile releases. The chemistry of the classic line-up is the best they ever had and there they are on top form. With this album they stabilized their reputation as a hard-rock group that can create magnificent music, but also be unique, having their own style that can't be copied successfully by anybody else. Some of their best songs are here like Sweet Lorraine and Sunrise, without any filler. The closer is a semi-progressive lengthy track with many changes and surprises that can be used to showcase both Hensley's songwriting and the whole band's wonderful performance.”

“Uriah Heep were often acclaimed as one of the bands at the root of heavy metal but I find little evidence of this here. At its best it has a number of good melodious rock songs that tend towards pop, with a bit of fairly accessible prog thrown in.”

“The blazing Roger Dean cover equals the music here, prime early 70s semi-prog rock, full of ladies, wizards, drugs and keyboards. Heep's shorter songs all work well, but The Magician's Birthday does have some slower moments.”

“Let's face it Uriah Heep where unstoppable at this time, and here's another shining example of their mighty talent. The title track is all out early prog metal, and the whole package is a blast to listen to.”

“From the personal introspection of Rain to the psychedelic connotations of Tales, this band exhibited a high level of talent that makes their music still relevant, today.”

“In the same vein as their previous recording. They were at the height of their powers and their music reflected that heavy psych hard rock with great guitars and keyboards.”