Archive for the ‘1972’ Category
Uriah Heep – Demons and Wizards
There’s really something special about listening to vinyl. One of my all time favorite records to spin was Uriah Heep’s Demons and Wizards. The record was a hand-me-down from my brother who was a pretty big 
Heep fan. I believe it was the very early 1980s when he exposed me to this band. As I was converting my CD version of this album to MP3 today, it really made me realize how much I missed spinning records. This is certainly one album that is best heard through a needle. Sure, the CD sounds good but there’s just something about this album that screams to be heard on vinyl.
I sold off most of my record collection years ago. Sometimes I regret it, but generally I don’t think about it too often. But today I am certainly missing it. Sometimes you just need that hit of nostalgia, ya know?
Demons and Wizards was Heep’s 3rd album and the 2nd of what I call their Holy Trilogy. Look at Yourself and Magician’s Birthday being the other two. That was a good run of albums!
I’d say the only song on this one that I don’t care for is All My Life, but I never skip it. When anyone ever asks me to recommend a Heep album to them, this is the one I tell them to start with.
So, if you don’t own this and you like classic prog and psyche rock, this is something you should check out.
Who couldn’t love this song?
And this may be my fave from the record:
White Witch – S/T 1972
Here’s an odd one from my old vinyl collection. Danile and I were at Electric Smiles Records in Virginia 
Beach about 15 or so years ago rummaging through their $1 bins and I ran across both LPs from White Witch. They were automatically interesting for 2 reasons…band name and imagery. I bought them without hearing them. Why not? They were only $1 each. I think that was the same day we saw Pantera’s first 4 albums on LP as well, but they were like $15 each and I wasn’t into spending that kind of cash that day.
I had no idea what to expect from this band. Seeing that they were an early 70s band, I expected something sort of Sabbath-esque and maybe a little proggy like YES. Instead it’s a little more psychedelic with a few flashes of prog rock. Maybe a little Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash thrown in for good measure. Overall this first eponymous album is pretty good with some catchy chorus and musical hooks here and there. I bought the CDs for these several years ago and they apparently sell for decent cash on eBay these days. I sold their 2nd CD on eBay a year or so ago for $40. I preferred the debut album so I kept it. Now it’s in the stack to be sold with much of my CD collection and I am making the transition to going almost completely digital. Interesting that they toured with Alice Cooper. That would have been a cool show to see for sure.
So if you’re into the trippy 70s rock, I highly recommend that you download this. It’s been out of print for a few years. Read up more on the band here.
I really dig the guy’s vocals. He has a Barry Gibb tenor thing sans the falsetto. Favorite tracks are You’re the One, Don’t Close Your Mind, And I’m Leaving, Illusion (double bass!) and Help Me Lord. I do tend to skip over Home Grown Girl and It’s So Nice To Be Stoned. They’re both a bit goofy but pretty normal for the time they were written.
The Metal Files 
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