Uriah Heep - Demons And Wizards (2004 Deluxe) (1972) [FLAC]

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Uriah Heep - Demons And Wizards (2004 Deluxe) (1972) [FLAC]
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Technical Information
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Artist...............: Uriah Heep
Album................: Demons And Wizards
Year.................: 1972 (2004)
Genre................: Hard Rock
Type.................: Studio Remaster
Duration.............: 1:06:02
Number of Songs......: 14
Artwork..............: Included (Own scans - 300dpi)
Scanner..............: Hewlett-Packard HP ScanJet 4670

Audio Format.........: Lossless
Ripper...............: dBpowerAMP 15.1
Encoder..............: FLAC 1.3.0 (Level 5)
Hz...................: 44,100
Channels.............: Stereo
Reader...............: LiteOn iHBS212
Source...............: CD (Own rip)


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General Information (courtesy of Wikipedia)
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Demons and Wizards is the fourth album released by British rock band Uriah Heep. The album helped
the band break to fame and also gave the band its face. It has become a major success worldwide
by selling 3 million copies.

The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve, the front of which was designed by Roger Dean and
contains a hidden erotic image of male and female genitalia. The inner of the gatefold had pictures
of the band and notes by Ken Hensley, whilst the LP itself was housed in a liner on which were printed
the lyrics.

The songs "The Wizard" and "Easy Livin'" were released as singles in the United Kingdom and North
America, as well as many other markets. "Easy Livin'" entered the US Top 40 at No. 39, making it
Heep's first and only American hit. "Easy Livin'" was also a mega hit in the Netherlands and Germany,
countries which were becoming a strong market for the band. It reached a disappointing No. 75 in
Australia.

New Zealander Gary Thain, at the time a member of Keef Hartley Band, joined Uriah Heep as a permanent
member halfway through another American tour. "Gary just had a style about him, it was incredible
because every bass player in the world that I've ever known has always loved his style, with those
melodic bass lines", Box commented later. Thus the 'classic' Uriah Heep was formed and, according to
biographer K. Blows, "everything just clicked into place".

Also, the addition of Lee Kerslake (a former bandmate of Hensley's in "The Gods" and "Toe Fat") on
drums solidified the rhythm section into a world class powerhouse.

The result of this newly found chemistry was the Demons and Wizards album which in June 1972 reached
No. 20 in the UK and No. 23 in the USA. In Finland the album hit No. 1 position in May and remained
on top of the charts for 14 weeks. While the title of it and Roger Dean's sleeve both suggested that
the band was romantically working medieval myth into their songs – and surely songs like "Rainbow Demon"
and "The Wizard" (co-written by Mark Clarke, during his short stay) did have thematical links with
fantasy world – more straightforward, hard-rocking approach was also obvious.

To discard any possible insinuations concerning any kind of concept behind it, Hensley's note on the
sleeve declared the album to be "just a collection of our songs that we had a good time recording".
Both critics and the band's aficionados consider the album as 'definitive' and 'crowning achievement'
which (according to AllMusic) "solidified Uriah Heep's reputation as a master of gothic-inflected
heavy metal", Ken Hensley has remembered.

"The band was really focused at that time. We all wanted the same thing, were all willing to make the
same sacrifices to achieve it and we were all very committed. It was the first album to feature that
line-up and there was a magic in that combination of people that created so much energy and enthusiasm".

Two singles were released from the album: "The Wizard" and "Easy Livin'", the second (a defiant
rocker, according to Blows, "tailor-made for Byron's extrovert showmanship") peaking at No. 39 in
Billboard Hot 100.

*NOTES*

AllMusic call this album Heavy Metal, which is a slight exaggeration in my humble opinion.

Album art is included, but scans from 2007 with my then (and long since defunct) HP ScanJet 4670
vertical See-Through scanner, a beast which never functioned like it should because the lamp
somehow always managed to get lawnmower stripes on the scans (like a freshly mowed football pitch
hence the 'lawnmower' reference) but these scans are quite okay, so I didn't bother to rescan the
lot.

Enjoy!

JJ

Tracklist:

01. "The Wizard" - 2:59
02. "Traveller in Time" - 3:25
03. "Easy Livin'" - 2:37
04. "Poet's Justice" - 4:15
05. "Circle of Hands" - 6:25
06. "Rainbow Demon" - 4:25
07. "All My Life" - 2:44
08. "Paradise" - 5:10
09. "The Spell" - 7:32

Bonus Tracks:

10. "Why" (Extended Version) - 10:34
11. "Rainbow Demon" (Single Edit) - 3:36
12. "Proud Words on a Dusty Shelf" - 2:52
13. "Home Again to You" (Demo version) - 5:36
14. "Green Eye" (Demo version) - 3:46

Time: 1:06:02