Artist: URIAH HEEP
Album: THE MAGICIAN BIRTHDAY DELUXE EDIT. (CD)

Release date: 1972/ 2004
EAN/UPS: 5050749205223
Media type: CD

The Magician's Birthday is the fifth album released by British rock band Uriah Heep.

The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve, the front of which was designed by Roger Dean. The inner of the gatefold had pictures of the band and the LP itself was housed in a liner which had the lyrics printed on it.

Two songs charted in the United States, "Blind Eye" (#97) and "Sweet Lorraine" (#91). "Spider Woman" reached #13 in Germany. The album went gold in the US.

Uriah Heep's 1972 release, THE MAGICIAN'S BIRTHDAY, followed in the same direction as its predecessor one year earlier, DEMONS AND WIZARDS--mystical lyrical themes are merged with heavy guitar riffs and prog-rock organ/synth explorations. Sonically, THE MAGICIAN'S BIRTHDAY is a tad more rough around the edges than DEMONS (keyboardist Ken Hensley is given more of a free reign on this album as well), but it's still unmistakably Uriah Heep. The album closing, ten and a half-minute title track is a bona fide Heep epic (with many mood shifts), while "Sweet Lorraine" catches the band at their most rough and rocking.

TRACKLIST:

1. "Sunrise" (Hensley) – 4:04
2. "Spider Woman" (Box, Byron, Kerslake, Thain) – 2:25
3. "Blind Eye" (Hensley) – 3:33
4. "Echoes in the Dark" (Hensley) – 4:48
5. "Rain" (Hensley) – 3:59
6. "Sweet Lorraine" (Box, Byron, Thain) – 4:13
7. "Tales" (Hensley) – 4:09
8. "The Magician's Birthday" (Box, Hensley, Kerslake) – 10:19

Bonus tracks:

9. Crystal Ball (bonus track)
10. Silver White Man (bonus track)
11. Proud Words (bonus track)
12. Echoes In The Dark (bonus version)
13. Rain (bonus version)
14. Happy Birthday (bonus version)
15. Sunrise (bonus single version)
16. Gary's Song (bonus track)
17. Silver White Man (bonus instrumental track)

LINE-UP:

David Byron – vocals
Ken Hensley – keyboards, guitars, Moog synthesizer
Mick Box – guitar
Gary Thain – bass guitar
Lee Kerslake – drums, percussion, kazoo