DEMONS AND WIZARDS

For sure, Demons and Wizards is a 5-star album. The bigger question is whether its a Prog Album or not and this is much of the debate of previous reviews, but I would say yes, with a couple of tracks falling in the maybe category. Its an LP that I recently re-discovered after 20 years as like many (I would think) I was put off by their later body of work. "Easy Livin' " sounds more like Gillan 8 years later and stands out as being the most mainstream track on the album, but for me its the opening track "The Wizard" that sets the tone and mood. Its a polished, complete sound (compare it to "Birds of Prey" from Salisbury, two years earlier). "Traveller in Time", if you were being really generous, has that soft-then-loud style much beloved of Seattle bands 15-20 years later, but maybe its something I notice in lots of tracks now I am aware of it. "Poets Justice" keeps the pace and quality going and still has that Deep Purple / Machine Head feel to it, followed by "Circle of Hands" which has a more unique style and feel to it. "Rainbow Demon" is a little laboured and gives me Spinal Tap flashbacks about amps to 11 and big bottoms, but again its not a track you skip (infact there aren't any). "All My Life", "Paradise", and "The Spell" close out the album and although "The Spell" has that US mock-rock fell to it (Supertramp?) they complete a superb set. If not out-and-out prog, if you need one Uriah Heep album, then its this one for its overall quality and statement. Deep Purple never did a single album this good.