Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Uriah Heep
Label: Bronze Records
Release: 1972
Rating: 5/5
Making two sensational albums back to back in a single year is no small feat. And on top of that, the guys weren’t fully happy with ‘The Magician’s Birthday’. Gary Bron, their manager and producer, was simply calculating how to squeeze as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, out of such a profitable band. The plans of the Uriah Heep boys fell through; they’d set out to release a double vinyl album that would be fully conceptual. There wasn’t enough time, and the merciless Bron soon demanded another record. All that’s left of that concept idea is a mini epic masterpiece of over ten minutes, titled The Magician’s Birthday.
Sunrise is a very different song from July Morning, but listening to it, its atmosphere always draws a parallel to that song. Maybe because they tried to drill it into my head at school that when the sun rises, it’s morning. It’s a typical wizardly Uriah Heep composition that captured an incredible mood, and you simply can’t find a better opening track for a record like this. The unique galloping rhythm of Easy Livin’ has by now become the band’s trademark, and the guys used that rhythm again on the livelier Spider Woman, which also came out as a single. Blind Eye brings a completely different climate. An acoustic rhythm laced with a Balkan-sounding three-part melody carries you off to somewhere among the Gypsies. In Echoes In The Dark the guys added a distinctive motif played on slide guitar, and so in places the song’s vibe pulls toward Paradise/The Spell from ‘Demons And Wizards’ (1972). On the tender Rain, David Byron melts into the melody fantastically, magnifying the whole ‘feel’ of the song to its maximum. Here the singer once again shows an outstanding feel for improvisation and a deeply felt, sensual, sophisticated approach. This is truly Byron’s song through and through. The acoustic Tales conjures a real sense of fantasy. The sound is laced with delicate flash effects that create a genuinely esoteric moment. The atmosphere swells through the song and peaks right at its end. Roger Dean’s fascinating cover art couldn’t fit this song and the title track any better. The Magician’s Birthday is certainly the most powerful composition on the whole record. What makes this song so special is surely the poetry and the unique atmosphere trapped inside it. The instrumental middle section is a crossfire of drums and electric guitar. Mick says that before deciding to do this ‘jam’, he and Lee packed it off to the nearby pub for a pint or two. And they really did knock out their parts in orgasmic fashion. That’s the dramatic first part of the song, building toward the end, where the evil and the good wizard enter into conversation. The song closes with Ken’s magical verse: ‘And than we all knew that love will find love will find love…’ over a melancholic motif, which carries the whole record to its atmospheric peak.
What this remaster offers us is nine more bonus tracks. I’d single out two. The first is also known as Gary’s Song and is called Crystal Ball. It’s driven by a hard-hitting, headkicking heavy riff and doesn’t pale next to any of the tracks on the official release of ‘The Magician’s Birthday’. I can say the same for Silver White Man, which only found its place on vinyl later, on Byron’s solo debut. ‘The Magician’s Birthday’ sits at the very top for a lot of Uriah Heep fans. It doesn’t lag behind its predecessor ‘Demons And Wizards’ one bit and, if anything, builds on it. Once again it confirms just how strong Uriah Heep were for their time. On top of outstanding songwriting, grandiose atmosphere and superior production for the time, Uriah Heep served up fantastic poetry about light and love above all else.
Lineup
David Byron – vocals
Mick Box – guitars
Ken Hensley – keyboards, Moog synthesizer, guitar
Gary Thain – bass guitar
Lee Kerslake – drums and percussion
Production
Gerry Bron
Track List
1. Sunrise (4:04)
2. Spider Woman (2:25)
3. Blind Eye (3:33)
4. Echoes In The Dark (4:48)
5. Rain (3:59)
6. Sweet Lorraine (4:13)
7. Tales (4:09)
8. The Magician’s Birthday (10:23)
Album length: 39:46
BONUS TRACKS ON THE 1996 REMASTERED CD:
1. Silver White Man (3:43) out-take, previously unreleased
2. Crystal Ball (4:08) out-take, previously unreleased
BONUS TRACKS ON THE 2003 REMASTERED CD:
1. Gary’s Song – Crystal Ball alternate version, previously unreleased
2. Silver White Man – vocal version, previously unreleased
3. Proud Words – alternate version, previously unreleased
4. Echoes In The Dark – edit, previously unreleased
5. Rain – edit, previously unreleased
6. Happy Birthday – out-take, previously unreleased
7. Sunrise – single edit
9. Crystal Ball – out-take
8. Silver White Man – out-take, instrumental version
