The Magician's Birthday

The Magician's Birthday
Cover art by Roger Dean
Studio album by
Uriah Heep
ReleasedNovember 1972
RecordedSeptember–October 1972
StudioLansdowne (London)
Genre
Length37:34
LabelBronze
ProducerGerry Bron
Uriah Heep chronology
Demons and Wizards
(1972) 		The Magician's Birthday
(1972) 		Sweet Freedom
(1973)
Singles from The Magician's Birthday
  1. "Spider Woman" / "Sunrise"
    Released: December 1972 (EU and Japan)[1]
  2. "Sweet Lorraine"
    Released: January 1973 (US)[2]

The Magician's Birthday is the fifth studio album by English rock band Uriah Heep, released in November 1972 by Bronze Records in the UK and Mercury Records in the US. The concept was "based loosely on a short story" written by keyboardist Ken Hensley in June and July 1972.[3]

The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve, the front designed again by Roger Dean. The inner fold had pictures of the band, with the album itself housed in a liner on which were printed the lyrics.

The single "Sweet Lorraine" / "Blind Eye" reached No. 91 in the US Hot 100 chart.[4] The single "Spider Woman" reached No. 14 in Germany.[5] The Magician's Birthday was certified gold by the RIAA on 22 January 1973.[6]

The album was remastered and reissued by Castle Communications in 1996 with two bonus tracks, and again in 2003 in an expanded deluxe edition. In 2017, Sanctuary Records released a two-disc version.

  1. ^ "Uriah Heep singles".
  2. ^ Great Rock Discography. 18 August 1995. p. 859. ISBN 9780862415419.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference LPNotes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Uriah Heep Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  5. ^ "Single - Uriah Heep, Spider Woman". Charts.de (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  6. ^ "RIAA Database: Search for Uriah Heep". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 15 November 2018.