DEMONS AND WIZARDS

I was 11 when this album came out in 1972. At age 15 I did a music presentation on Uriah Heep to my high school class. Someone else did Queen, another pupil did Be Bop Deluxe and I think Cockney Rebel were also put forward for our classmates perusal. I'm sure I was the only Heep fan at my high school so my peers were in for a treat. I chose 4 tracks in the time allocated to me and 2 of them came from this album, 'The Wizard' and 'Easy Livin'. Both tracks came in at roughly 3 minutes each and represented different aspects of the band. The two of them featured the excellent vocals of David Byron, however the first was more acoustically driven (powerful nonetheless) and the latter was pure ROCK - a classic, timeless slab of pure adrenalin-injected R-O-C-K. Heep were always the uncool, less fashionable brethern of Deep Purple, and it'so unfair that they never reached the heights of Blackmore and his legions. 'Rainbow Demon' is a more menacing track than the two I chose all those years ago - it has a hypnotic quality about it, and features excellent guitar from Mick Box. Mick was a hero of mine when I was young. His solo from the title track of the album 'Magician's Birthday' is probably my favourite heavy rock guitar solo. I feel he, like the band, never got the recognition he truly deserved. The albums second track, 'Traveller in Time' is a great track, it has superb organ on it, as do many of the tracks on here (especially Easy Livin'). Ken Hensley was a superb keyboard player, easily on a par with Jon Lord, and he also played guitar and percussion. Many years later Hensley would join Blackfoot, and he was a multi-talented addition to them, but Heep was his true home and along with Box and Byron he was responsible for many Heep classics. This album is a good place for the Heep novice to check out. I haven't discussed all the tracks found here - go on that journey for yourself with the knowledge that you won't be disappointed. I'm thrilled to say that I haven't discussed whether or not Heep are prog. Lets just say that I'm glad they are in here, and that YOU, my classmates of today, are in for a treat.