The Magician's Birthday

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The Magician's Birthday
File:TheMagiciansBirthday.jpg
Studio album by Uriah Heep
Released November, 1972
Recorded September–October 1972 at Lansdowne Studios, London
Genre Heavy metal, progressive metal
Length 37:10
Label Bronze (UK)
Mercury (USA)
Producer Gerry Bron
Uriah Heep chronology
Demons and Wizards
(1972)Demons and Wizards1972		 The Magician's Birthday
(1972)		 Sweet Freedom
(1973)Sweet Freedom1973
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars[1]
Robert Christgau B−[2]

The Magician's Birthday is the fifth album released by British rock band Uriah Heep. The concept was "based loosely on a short story" written by Ken Hensley in June and July 1972.[3]

The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve, the front designed 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.

Two songs charted in the United States, "Blind Eye" (No. 97) and "Sweet Lorraine" (No. 91). "Spider Woman" reached No. 13 in Germany.

The Magician's Birthday was certified Gold by the RIAA on 22 January 1973.[citation needed]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Ken Hensley except where noted. 

Side 1
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Sunrise"     4:04
2. "Spider Woman"   Mick Box, David Byron, Lee Kerslake, Gary Thain 2:25
3. "Blind Eye"     3:33
4. "Echoes in the Dark"     4:48
5. "Rain"     4:00
Side 2
No. Title Writer(s) Length
6. "Sweet Lorraine"   Box, Byron, Thain 4:13
7. "Tales"     4:09
8. "The Magician's Birthday"   Box, Hensley, Kerslake 10:21

[3]

The 2004 remastered version by Castle (UK) added nine previously unreleased bonus tracks:

2004 Bonus Tracks
No. Title Length
9. "Crystal Ball" (Out-take) 4:08
10. "Silver White Man" (Vocal Out-take Version) 3:40
11. "Proud Words on a Dusty Shelf" (Alternate Version) 3:24
12. "Echoes in the Dark" (Single Edit) 4:23
13. "Rain" (Single Edit) 3:16
14. "Happy Birthday" (The Magician's Birthday Single Edit) 4:44
15. "Sunrise" (Single Edit) 2:49
16. "Gary's Song" (Crystal Ball Alternate Version) 4:25
17. "Silver White Man" (Instrumental Out-take) 3:43

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[4] Gold 500,000
Worldwide sales: 2,500,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Chart performance

Country (1972) Peak
position
Norway 5
Australia 10
Finland 1
United States 31
United Kingdom 28

Personnel

Credits adapted from album liner notes[3]

Band
Additional personnel

Production

  • Produced by Gerry Bron
  • Engineered by Peter Gallen
  • Assistant engineer – Ashley Howe

[3]

The 2004 remastered version by Castle (UK) as CMRCD771, team:

References

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  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Robert Christgau review
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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