''The Magician's Birthday'' is the fifth studio album by English rock band Uriah Heep, released in November 1972 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 (band), Uriah Heep for Vertigo Reco ...

in the UK and

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

in the US. The concept was "based loosely on a short story" written by keyboardist

Ken Hensley Kenneth William David Hensley (24 August 1945 – 4 November 2020) was an English musician, singer, songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Uriah Heep (band), Uriah Heep during the 1970s. He wrote or co-wrote the majority of ...

in June and July 1972. The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve, the front designed again by Roger Dean. The inner fold had pictures of the band, with the album itself housed in a liner on which were printed the lyrics. The single "

Sweet Lorraine "Sweet Lorraine" is a popular song with music by Cliff Burwell and words by Mitchell Parish that was published in 1928 and has become a jazz standard. It is written in F major and has an AABA structure. A version by Teddy Wilson charted in Octo ...

" / " Blind Eye" reached No. 91 in the US

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

chart. The single " Spider Woman" reached No. 14 in Germany. ''The Magician's Birthday'' was certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on 22 January 1973. 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 1996 with two bonus tracks, and again in 2003 in an expanded deluxe edition. In 2017,

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is, as of 2013, a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest ...

released a two-disc version.

Reception

''The Magician's Birthday'' received mixed reviews from contemporary critics. Mike Saunders, writing for ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American rock music magazine and entertainment company, founded in Detroit, whose initial print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor ...

'', called the album "a package full of dreck", finding the first side of the LP "listenable" despite poor production and side two downright "irritating". ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

described the songs on the album as "third-hand heavy metal fantasies (...) hooked to some clean, powerful arrangements, and a good melody or two." Modern reviews are more positive.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

reviewer remarked the album's prog elements and wrote that "''The Magician's Birthday'' never quite hits the consistent heights of '' Look at Yourself'' or '' Demons and Wizards'', but remains a solid listen for Uriah Heep fans". Joe Geesein of ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

'' praised the musicians and the good sound of the album's reissue, but wrote that most of the songs "don't stand up quite out so well" in comparison with opener "Sunrise" or the single "Spider Woman". Canadian journalist

Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of '' Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has written over twenty books ...

called ''The Magician's Birthday'' "another colourful, mystical journey", although "somewhat disjointed, less accessible and in total much less metallic" than previous efforts, "culminating in the band's most harrowing, nightmarish epic of them all, the ten minute title track."

Track listings

Personnel

Credits adapted from album liner notes ;Uriah Heep *

David Byron David Garrick (29 January 1947 – 28 February 1985), better known by his stage name David Byron, was a British singer who was best known in the early 1970s as the original lead vocalist of the rock band Uriah Heep. Byron possessed a powerfu ...

– lead vocals *

Mick Box Michael Frederick Box (born 9 June 1947) is an English musician who is the lead guitarist of rock group Uriah Heep, having previously been a member of The Stalkers and Spice, both with original Uriah Heep vocalist David Byron.Larkin, Colin (20 ...

– guitars *

– keyboards, guitars, Moog synthesizer, backing vocals *

Lee Kerslake Lee Gary Kerslake (16 April 1947– 19 September 2020) was an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and backing vocalist for the rock band Uriah Heep and for his work with Ozzy Osbourne in the early 1980s. Biography Early life a ...

– drums, percussion, backing vocals *

Gary Thain Gary Mervin Thain (May 15, 1948 – December 8, 1975) was a New Zealand bassist, best known for his work with British rock band Uriah Heep. Biography Thain was born in Christchurch. He had two older brothers, Colin and Arthur. He recorded in ...

– bass guitar ;Additional musician * Brian Cole – pedal steel guitar on "Tales" ;Production *

Gerry Bron Gerald Lincoln "Gerry" Bron (1 March 1933 – 18 June 2012) was an English record producer and band manager. Gerry married Penny Bron in 1982. Early life and education Bron was born in Hendon, Middlesex, into a Jewish family, the elder brother of ...

– producer * Peter Gallen – engineer * Ashley Howe – assistant engineer * Gilbert Kong – mastering * Mike Brown and Robert Corich – remastering (1996 and 2003 reissues)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magician's Birthday, The 1972 albums Uriah Heep (band) albums Albums with cover art by Roger Dean (artist) Albums produced by Gerry Bron Bronze Records albums Mercury Records albums