''Innocent Victim'' is the 11th studio album by British

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band Uriah Heep, released in November 1977 by

Bronze Records Bronze Records was an independent English record label founded in 1971 by record producer Gerry Bron on Oxford Street in London, eventually relocating to Chalk Farm. History Bron had been producing Uriah Heep for Vertigo Records, and he set up ...

in the UK and

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

in the US. Although it did not chart in the US or UK, ''Innocent Victim'' went on to sell more than 100,000 copies in Germany alone, and reached No. 19 and No. 44 in New Zealand and Australia, respectively. The single "Free Me" was a #3 hit in New Zealand and also peaked at #3 in South Africa. "Free Me" was also Uriah Heep's only hit in Australia, reaching #9. The eyes of drummer Lee Kerslake were used for the snake on the cover artwork. In the US, the sleeve was a live photomontage instead. The album was remastered and reissued by

Castle Communications Castle Communications, also known as Castle Music, was a British independent record label and home video distributor founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane, and Jon Beecher. Its video imprint was called Castle Vision. The label's producti ...

in 1997 with two bonus tracks, and again in 2004 in an expanded deluxe edition including three live tracks recorded during the band's 1979 European tour (these are alternate versions to the ones released on the ''Live in Europe 1979'' album).

Track listing

Personnel

;Uriah Heep * Mick Box –

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

* Ken Hensley –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, guitars, backing vocals * Lee Kerslake –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, backing vocals *

Trevor Bolder Trevor Bolder (9 June 1950 – 21 May 2013) was an English rock musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his long association with Uriah Heep and his tenure with the Spiders from Mars, the backing band for David Bowie, a ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals * John Lawton –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

;Production *

Gerry Bron Gerald Lincoln "Gerry" Bron (1 March 1933 – 18 June 2012) was an English record producer and band manager. Early life and education Bron was born in Hendon, Middlesex, into a Jewish family, the elder brother of actress Eleanor Bron. Their fath ...

, Ken Hensley – producers * Peter Gallen – engineer * Mark Dearnley – engineer on track 9 * John Gallen, Juilan Cooper – assistant engineers

Charts

Album

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1977 albums Uriah Heep (band) albums Albums produced by Gerry Bron Bronze Records albums Warner Records albums