The Magician's Birthday by Uriah Heep (CD, Oct-1990, Mercury)

The ship had just taken off for Heep with 'Demons and Wizards' and this album was released just a few months afterward. Uriah Heep was now being heard around the world in a big way. This album is great but has the feeling of being a bit rushed after the success of Demons. 'Sweet Lorrain' is the standout and 'Blind Eye' could have been a classic with the right lyrics- of all things. 'Tales' is actually my favorite with it's slow mystic swirls of fantasy.
The album cover has got to be most memorable of any record ever made. The red, green, blue painting of Roger Dean is a marketing masterpiece and one of his best ever. The record album would open with nifty pics of the band and one of Ken Hensley's message of progression of the band (his last regrettably). No doubt back in these days, album covers were fun to look at while listening to the music.
It's said that Hensley wanted this to be a concept album but was out-voted by the rest of the band. They should have let him go with it, it may have been a brother to Yes's 'Close to the Edge' along the same line of thinking. We'll never know.

I purchased this CD because I really loved this band's music and still do. But with kids running around the house it is impossible to play my records. I am currently replacing my whole library of music from vinyl to CD. Some say I should just buy compilation CD's or greatest hits CD's but they cannot give you the same feeling or convey the ideas and messages that a complete album was intended to do.

the CD that i received is new that i didn't expect.
Uriah Heep's songs are very powerful and artistic..
i'd like to listen to other albums...

I grew up on Uriah Heep and I always enjoyed there music. I do have this on vinyl and the opportunity to get it on CD was alright. The price was a
darn good deal, to good to pass up.

I had not heard this record since I left South Korea in 1974. In the army and everyone having BIG sound systems in their rooms, it was hard to depict a particular record that may have been playing... all at the same time, there were so many. But I was drawn to this record like a magnet through the different tunes. It always haunted me, so I bought it to give it a listen and to to see if it stood the test of time. I am so glad I did.