We contine our look back at the music of 50 years ago….
1972 was the year it all came together for the band Uriah Heep. They had made some lineup changes, adding bassist Gary Thain and drummer Lee Kerslake to the solid core of guitarist Mick Box, Keyboard/singer Ken Hensley and lead vocalist David Byron. This group led the band to their greatest successes in 1972 with two LPs that cracked the top 30 in the US.
It started in May with this one, “Demons & Wizards”.
The album is really not a mystical, fantasy world concept LP although the cover art and songs like the title track, “Rainbow Demon” and “Traveler In Time” might suggest that. Hensley said “it’s just a collection of our songs that we had a good time recording.
I thought the sound from producer Gerry Bron and engineer Peter Gallen is really good. The instruments stand out…especially Hensley’s organ, Kerslake’s drums and Box’s guitar. Mick Box really doesnt get enough praise as one of the better ax-slingers in a period of classic guitar aces.
Byron drives the train with lots of front man charisma. He also co-wrote a couple of the tracks.
The hit single was “Easy Livin” which just exploded out of the radio in the spring of 72. Just a great sounding rock track. The album’s closer ‘The Spell” also stands out.
This would start a solid run of a few years before more personnel changes would come. Uriah Heep was a rock band that could bring the goods.
 
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