The Magician's Birthdayis the fifth studio album by English rock bandUriah Heep,released in November 1972 byBronze Recordsin the UK andMercury Recordsin the US. The concept was "based loosely on a short story" written by keyboardistKen Hensleyin June and July 1972.[3]
The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve, the front designed again byRoger Dean.The inner fold had pictures of the band, with the album itself housed in a liner on which were printed the lyrics.
The album was remastered and reissued byCastle Communicationsin 1996 with two bonus tracks, and again in 2003 in an expanded deluxe edition. In 2017,Sanctuary Recordsreleased a two-disc version.
The Magician's Birthdayreceived mixed reviews from contemporary critics.Mike Saunders,writing forCreem,called the album "a package full of dreck", finding the first side of the LP "listenable" despite poor production and side two downright "irritating".[11]Village VoicecriticRobert Christgaudescribed the songs on the album as "third-hand heavy metal fantasies (...) hooked to some clean, powerful arrangements, and a good melody or two."[8]
Modern reviews are more positive.AllMusicreviewer remarked the album's prog elements and wrote that "The Magician's Birthdaynever quite hits the consistent heights ofLook at YourselforDemons and Wizards,but remains a solid listen for Uriah Heep fans ".[7]Joe Geesein ofRecord Collectorpraised the musicians and the good sound of the album's reissue, but wrote that most of the songs "don't stand up quite out so well" in comparison with opener "Sunrise" or the single "Spider Woman".[10]Canadian journalistMartin PopoffcalledThe Magician's Birthday"another colourful, mystical journey", although "somewhat disjointed, less accessible and in total much less metallic" than previous efforts, "culminating in the band's most harrowing, nightmarish epic of them all, the ten minute title track."[9]
^Pennanen, Timo (2006).Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972(in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166.ISBN978-951-1-21053-5.
