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Uriah Heep - The Magician's Birthday (1972)

Track listing:
  1. Sunrise 4:06
  2. Spider Woman 2:28
  3. Blind Eye 3:38
  4. Echoes In The Dark 4:51
  5. Rain 4:00
  6. Sweet Lorraine 4:18
  7. Tales 4:10
  8. The Magician's Birthday 10:29
  9. Crystal Ball [Out-Take Bonus] 4:08
  10. Silver White Man [Out-Take Bonus] 3:40
  11. Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf [Unreleased Bonus] 3:25
  12. Echoes In The Dark [Unreleased Bonus] 4:23
  13. Rain [Unreleased Bonus] 3:17
  14. Happy Birthday [Unreleased Bonus] 4:45
  15. Sunrise [Unreleased Bonus] 2:49
  16. Gary's Song [Unreleased Bonus] 4:25
  17. Silver White Man [Instrumental Bonus] 3:43

Notes

Size: 147 MB
Bitrate: 256
mp3
Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included
Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

Very 'eavy... Very 'umble is the debut album of British hard rock band Uriah Heep. It was released in the United States as Uriah Heep with alternate sleeve artwork, and with "Bird of Prey" in place of "Lucy Blues."

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 genre. The most famous criticism came from Rolling Stone magazine reviewer Melissa Mills, who began her review, "If this group makes it I'll have to commit suicide. From the first note you know you don't want to hear any more."

The original vinyl release was a gatefold-sleeve, featuring David Byron on the front sleeve, almost unrecognisable beneath the cobwebs.

The album was first released on the Vertigo label in the UK, as was the follow-up Salisbury, but both were quickly reissued by Bronze when the band signed to that label.

Uriah Heep are an English hard rock band that was one of the most popular groups of the early 70s.

The band released several commercially successful albums in the 1970s such as Uriah Heep Live (1973), but their audience declined by the 1980s, to the point where they became essentially a cult band in the US and UK. Uriah Heep maintain a significant following in Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, the Balkans, Japan and Russia, where they still perform at stadium-sized venues.

Uriah Heep were the first Western band to play in Soviet Russia, under Gorbachev's policy of glasnost. They have sold over 30 million albums worldwide.

Their debut album, Very 'eavy... Very 'umble (which was self-titled in the United States), introduced a heavy organ and guitar-driven sound, with David Byron's theatrical, dynamic vocals soaring above thunderous sonic backgrounds, although acoustic and jazz elements also featured in the mix. The album's title references the signature phrase of the Dickens character Uriah Heep ("very 'umble") from the novel David Copperfield from which the band took its name . Their second album, Salisbury, was more squarely in the progressive rock genre, with its 16-minute title track featuring a 24-piece orchestra. Their third album, Look at Yourself, released at the end of 1971, included the song "July Morning". Subsequent releases would find the group's ever-shifting lineup (between 1969 and 1980, the band changed drummers five times, bassists four times, and lead singers five times) frequently exploring fantasy-oriented lyrical themes, often in lengthy, multi-part compositions, largely penned by Ken Hensley, who would eventually come to dominate the band during his tenure. On December 8, 1975, New Zealand-born former bassist, Gary Thain, was found dead in his Norwood Green home, aged 27, having overdosed on heroin.

01."Gypsy" (Box, Byron) – 6:37
02."Walking in Your Shadow" (Byron, Newton) – 4:31
03."Come Away Melinda" (Hellerman, Minkoff) – 3:46
04."Lucy Blues" (Box, Byron) – 5:08
05."Dreammare" (Newton) – 4:39
06."Real Turned On (Box, Byron, Newton) – 3:37
07."I'll Keep on Trying (Box, Byron) – 5:24
08."Wake Up (Set Your Sights) (Box, Byron) – 6:22

Bonus Tracks:
09."Gypsy" (single version) (Box, Byron) – 2:57
10."Come Away Melinda" ("Spice" version) (Hellerman, Minkoff) – 3:42
11."Born In A Trunk" ("Spice" version) (Box, Byron) – 3:45