Loosely based on a story by Ken Hensley, The Magician’s Birthday continues Uriah Heep‘s adventurous immersion into fantasy worlds at a time when similarly sci-fi pop-culture releases such as Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons were still years away. Influential in concept, appearance, and sound, the 1972 record remains a thematic bookend to Demons and Wizards, released the same year and, akin to this set, recognized as the group’s high-water mark. Both records resonate with a newfound vitality in a 21st century engrossed in a resurgence in comic-book superheroes and gothic tales

1. Sunrise
2. Spider Woman
3. Blind Eye
4. Echoes in the Dark
5. Rain
6. Sweet Lorraine
7. Tales
8. The Magician’s Birthday