Demons and Wizards

Review

by Donald A. Guarisco

This is the album that solidified Uriah Heep's reputation as a master of gothic-inflected heavy metal. From short, sharp rock songs to lengthy, musically dense epics, Demons and Wizards finds Uriah Heep covering all the bases with style and power. The album's approach is set with its lead-off track, "The Wizard": it starts as a simple acoustic tune but soon builds into a stately rocker that surges forth on a Wall of Sound built from thick guitar riffs, churchy organ, and operatic vocal harmonies. Other highlights include "Traveller in Time," a fantasy-themed rocker built on thick wah-wah guitar riffs, and "Circle of Hands," a stately power ballad with a gospel-meets-heavy metal feel to it. Demons and Wizards also produced a notable radio hit for the band in "Easy Livin'," a punchy little rocker whose raging blend of fuzz guitar and swirling organ made it feel like a '70s update of classic '60s garage rockers like » Read more

Tracks

				Title	Composer	Time
		1		The Wizard	Clarke, Hensley	2:59
		2		Traveller in Time	Box, Byron, Kerslake	3:25
		3		Easy Livin'	Hensley	2:37
		4		Poet's Justice	Box, Hensley, Kerslake	4:15
		5		Circle of Hands	Hensley	6:25
		6		Rainbow Demon	Hensley	4:25
		7		All My Life	Box, Byron, Kerslake	2:44
		8		Paradise/The Spell	Hensley	12:42

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