Demons and Wizards (Uriah Heep album)

New Zealander Gary Thain, at the time a member of Keef Hartley Band, joined Uriah Heep as a permanent member halfway through another American tour. "Gary just had a style about him, it was incredible because every bass player in the world that I've ever known has always loved his style, with those melodic bass lines," lead guitarist Mick Box commented later. Another addition, of drummer Lee Kerslake (a former bandmate of Ken Hensley's in the Gods and Toe Fat), solidified the rhythm section. Thus the "classic" Uriah Heep lineup was formed, and according to biographer Kirk Blows, "everything just clicked into place". Hensley recalled: "The band was really focused at that time. We all wanted the same thing, were all willing to make the same sacrifices to achieve it and we were all very committed. It was the first album to feature that lineup and there was a magic in that combination of people that created so much energy and enthusiasm". == Music ==

Staff writers at Classic Rock Magazine said the album is a "mixture of spacey-progressive rock, acoustic-themed moments and hard rock-boogie-shuffles." ==Cover art==

The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve, the front of which was designed by Roger Dean. The inner sleeve had pictures of the band and notes by Hensley, while the liner featured printed lyrics. ==Release==

The album reached No. 20 in the UK and No. 23 in the US. In Finland, the album hit No. 1 in May and remained on top of the charts for 14 weeks. The songs "The Wizard" and "Easy Livin'" were released as singles in the UK and North America as well as many other markets. The latter, a defiant rocker, according to Blows, was "tailor-made for Byron's extrovert showmanship" "Easy Livin'" was also a mega-hit in the Netherlands and Germany, countries which were becoming strong markets for the band. It reached a disappointing No. 75 in Australia. Demons and Wizards was remastered and reissued by Castle Communications in 1996 with three bonus tracks, and again in 2003 in an expanded deluxe edition. In 2017, Sanctuary Records released a two-disc deluxe edition. ==Reception==

Rolling Stone, which printed an infamously negative review of the band's debut album, ran a positive assessment of Demons and Wizards. Mike Saunders wrote: "These guys are good. The first side of Demons and Wizards is simply odds-on the finest high energy workout of the year, tying nose and nose with the Blue Öyster Cult...they may have started out as a thoroughly dispensable neo-Cream & Blooze outfit, but at this point Uriah Heep are shaping up into one hell of a first-rate modern rock band". According to AllMusic, the album "solidified Uriah Heep's reputation as a master of gothic-inflected heavy metal". Staff writers at Classic Rock Magazine said that the album's blend of styles "was irresistible, even if, taken at face value, keyboard player Ken Hensley’s fantasy-oriented lyrics elicited a few chuckles." ==Track listings==

;Uriah Heep • David Byron – lead vocals • Mick Box – guitars • Ken Hensley – keyboards, guitars, percussion, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Paradise" and "The Spell" • Lee Kerslake – drums, percussion, backing vocals • Gary Thain – bass guitar • Mark Clarke – bass guitar on "The Wizard" and "Why", co-lead vocals on "The Wizard" ;Production • Gerry Bron – producer • Peter Gallen – engineer • Ashley Howe – assistant engineer ==Charts==