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| released = {{Start date|1972|05|19|df=yes}}
| released = {{Start date|1972|05|19|df=yes}}
| recorded = March–April 1972
| recorded = March–April 1972
| studio = Lansdowne Studios, London
| studio = [[Lansdowne Studios|Lansdowne]] (London)
| genre = {{hlist|[[Hard rock]]|[[progressive rock]]|[[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]]}}
| genre = {{hlist|[[Hard rock]]|[[progressive rock]]|[[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]]}}
| length = {{Duration|m=39|s=40}}
| length = {{Duration|m=39|s=40}}

Revision as of 07:48, 14 November 2022

Demons and Wizards
Cover art by Roger Dean
Studio album by
Uriah Heep
Released19 May 1972 (1972-05-19)
RecordedMarch–April 1972
StudioLansdowne (London)
Genre
Length39:40
Label
ProducerGerry Bron
Uriah Heep chronology
Look at Yourself
(1971) 		Demons and Wizards
(1972) 		The Magician's Birthday
(1972)
Singles from Demons and Wizards
  1. "The Wizard"
    Released: March 1972
  2. "Easy Livin'"
    Released: July 1972[1]

Demons and Wizards is the fourth studio album by British rock band Uriah Heep, released 19 May 1972 by Bronze Records in the UK and Mercury Records in the US.

Composition and recording

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," lead guitarist Mick Box commented later.[2] Another addition, of drummer Lee Kerslake (a former bandmate of Ken Hensley's in the Gods and Toe Fat), solidified the rhythm section. Thus the "classic" Uriah Heep lineup was formed, and according to biographer Kirk Blows, "everything just clicked into place".[2] While the album title and Roger Dean's cover art both suggested medieval fantasy, Hensley's notes declared the album to be "just a collection of our songs that we had a good time recording".[3]

Hensley recalled: "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 lineup and there was a magic in that combination of people that created so much energy and enthusiasm".[2]

Cover art

The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve, the front of which was designed by Roger Dean. The inner sleeve had pictures of the band and notes by Hensley, while the liner featured printed lyrics.

Release

The result of Heep's newfound chemistry was the Demons and Wizards album, which in June 1972, reached No. 20 in the UK[4] and No. 23 in the US.[5] In Finland, the album hit No. 1 in May and remained on top of the charts for 14 weeks.[6]

The songs "The Wizard" and "Easy Livin'" were released as singles in the UK and North America as well as many other markets. The latter, a defiant rocker, according to Blows, was "tailor-made for Byron's extrovert showmanship"[2] and entered the US Billboard Hot 100 chart reaching No. 39, making it Heep's first and only American Top 40 hit.[7] "Easy Livin'" was also a mega-hit in the Netherlands and Germany, countries which were becoming strong markets for the band. It reached a disappointing No. 75 in Australia.[citation needed]

Demons and Wizards was remastered and reissued by Castle Communications in 1996 with three bonus tracks, and again in 2003 in an expanded deluxe edition. In 2017, Sanctuary Records released a two-disc deluxe edition.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal10/10[9]

Rolling Stone, which printed an infamously negative review of the band's debut album,[10] ran a positive assessment of Demons and Wizards. Mike Saunders wrote: "These guys are good. The first side of Demons and Wizards is simply odds-on the finest high energy workout of the year, tying nose and nose with the Blue Öyster Cult...they may have started out as a thoroughly dispensable neo-Cream & Blooze outfit, but at this point Uriah Heep are shaping up into one hell of a first-rate modern rock band".[11] According to AllMusic, the album "solidified Uriah Heep's reputation as a master of gothic-inflected heavy metal".[8] Martin Popoff in his Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal described the album as "a sullen, solitary, contemplative sort of record, existing in a hazy flux on the more mystical side of early heavy metal" and praised the new rhythm section and especially Byron's performance, which demonstrated his "capable helmsmanship of both the most subtle of contemplative bits and the loudest of rock roars."[9]

The album also served as partial inspiration for Hansi Kürsch and Jon Schaffer's side project Demons and Wizards.[citation needed]

In an interview Lee Kerslake did with Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles from 2020, when asked "Is it true that Randy Rhoads was a big fan of the Demons and Wizards album?", he replied, "Yes, he was. He loved the way the style of the music, the way it turned and the way it went. And that's why when he came up with the idea of a riff – me, Bob, and Randy – we wrote ‘Diary of a Madman.’ It was such a strong song on the album".[12]

Track listings

All tracks are written by Ken Hensley except where indicated

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Wizard"Mark Clarke, Ken Hensley2:59
2."Traveller in Time"Mick Box, David Byron, Lee Kerslake3:25
3."Easy Livin'" 2:37
4."Poet's Justice"Box, Hensley, Kerslake4:15
5."Circle of Hands" 6:25
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Rainbow Demon" 4:25
7."All My Life"Box, Byron, Kerslake2:44
8."Paradise" 5:10
9."The Spell" (on some CD editions, "Paradise" and "The Spell" were combined into one track) 7:32
1996 Remastered Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Why" (original B-side version)Paul Newton, Box, Byron, Hensley4:53
11."Why" (extended version recorded during Demons and Wizards sessions in early 1972) 7:39
12."Home Again to You" (demo recorded during Demons and Wizards sessions) 5:28
2003 Expanded Deluxe Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
10."Why" (extended version)10:34
11."Rainbow Demon" (single edit)3:36
12."Proud Words on a Dusty Shelf" (outtake)2:52
13."Home Again to You" (demo)5:36
14."Green Eye" (demo)3:46
2017 Expanded Deluxe Edition disc 2 (all tracks previously unreleased)
No.TitleLength
1."Easy Livin'" (alternate version)2:39
2."Rainbow Demon" (alternate version)6:13
3."Traveller in Time" (alternate version)3:48
4."Paradise" (alternate version)5:26
5."The Spell" (alternate version)8:11
6."All My Life" (alternate version)3:11
7."Home Again To You" (alternate version)4:53
8."Why" (alternate version)13:46
9."The Wizard" (alternate version)3:06
10."Poet's Justice" (alternate version)4:43
11."Circle of Hands" (alternate version)8:08
12."Proud Words" (alternate version)2:55
13."Green Eye" (alternate version)4:08
14."Why" (alternate single edit)4:45

Personnel

Uriah Heep
Additional musician
  • Mark Clarke – bass guitar on "The Wizard" and "Why", co-lead vocals on "The Wizard"
Production
  • Gerry Bron – producer
  • Peter Gallen – engineer
  • Ashley Howe – assistant engineer

Charts

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