In November 1975 The Best of Uriah Heep compilation was released, preceded by two solo albums: Byron’s debut Take No Prisoners and Hensley’s second, Eager to Please .
John Wetton (ex- Family and King Crimson ) joined the band in March 1975 and with him Return to Fantasy (June 1975) was recorded; representing a revitalised Uriah Heep, it soared up to No. 7 in the UK. “It was a relief to have someone solid and reliable, and he…
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Wonderworld (June 1974), recorded in Munich ‘s Musicland Studios in January, disappointed fans and band members alike. “Recording abroad disrupted the band’s normal method of operation and that had a big negative effect on the group. Our communication was falling apart, we were arguing over stuff like royalties and we…
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A lavishly packaged (an eight-page booklet including individual member biographies and full page photos) double album Uriah Heep Live followed, recorded at the Birmingham Town Hall in January 1973. Having completed another Japanese tour, the band (due to tax problems) went abroad to record to Chateau d’Herouville in France. It…
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Six months later, in November 1972, Uriah Heep’s fifth studio album The Magician’s Birthday (No. 28 UK, No. 31 US) came out, with ” Sweet Lorraine ” released as an American single and the title track (a multi-part fantasy epic featuring Hensley–Byron vocal duel and Box’s extensive guitar solo in…
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The result of this newly found chemistry was the album Demons and Wizards , which reached No. 20 in the UK and No. 23 in the US in June 1972. While its title and Roger Dean ‘s sleeve both suggested that the band was romantically working medieval myth into their…
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During that same November, Iain Clark was replaced by Lee Kerslake , once of the Gods. New Zealander Gary Thain , a member of the Keef Hartley Band, joined Uriah Heep as a permanent member in February 1972 halfway through another American tour, replacing Mark Clarke who was exhausted and…
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By the end of 1971 it became clear, according to Hensley, that he, Byron and Box had become the tightly knit nucleus of the band. Feeling marginalised and having recently been badly shaken up when he was involved in an accident in Germany in one of the band’s cars, first…
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By this time, Gerry Bron’s deal with Philips/Vertigo was over, so he set up his own label, Bronze Records . The third album was recorded in the summer months of 1971, during the band’s three visits to Lansdowne. “It was the point in time when the band really found a…
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When Nigel Olsson returned to Elton John’s group in the spring of 1970, Keith Baker took his place. The band’s second album, Salisbury (February 1971), was more squarely in the progressive rock genre, with its 16-minute title track featuring a 24-piece orchestra . One of the album’s tracks, ” Lady…
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