URIAH HEEP "The Magician's Birthday" 1973 UK 1ST PRESS

	£		44
	$		58

Description

URIAH HEEP "The Magician's Birthday" 1973 UK 1ST PRESS

BRONZE A-1U/B-1U w/LYRIC INNER, SUPERB POWERFUL SOUND

URIAH HEEP
The Magician's Birthday

ORIGINAL UK BRONZE RECORDS (ILPS 9213) FIRST PRESSING (February 1973) OF URIAH HEEP'S CLASSIC "The Magician's Birthday" LP COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL (UNSPLIT) LYRIC INNER SLEEVE AND DELIVERING CRYSTAL CLEAR, SHARP AND BRIGHT AUDIO THROUGHOUT

PRESSED ON QUALITY MID-WEIGHT VINYL, THE ORIGINAL BRONZE LABELS CARRY THE "Marketed and distributed by Island Records Limited" CREDIT ON THE BOTTOM RIM WITH THE ISLAND i LOGO (only present on the first pressings)
FIRST ISSUE MATRICES: ILPS 9213 A-1U (with the U printed sideways) / ILPS 9213 B-1U (etched "G. KONG" on both run off grooves)
AND THE RECORD HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL MATT, ROGER DEAN DESIGNED, GATEFOLD SLEEVE "Printed in England by Robor Ltd" WITH FACTORY SEALED (and folded under) LEFT SIDE EDGE
COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL DELICATE LYRIC INNER SLEEVE PRINTED ON THIN PAPER WITH THE 'ILPS 9213' CATALOGUE NUMBER AND "Ⓟ BRONZE RECORDS 1972" TEXT

After reaching an international level of success with Demons and Wizards, Uriah Heep continued to build their fan base by knocking out another album of prog-like metal before the year's end.
The end result, The Magician's Birthday, is not as consistent or cohesive as Demons and Wizards but still offers plenty of highlights.
It starts dramatically with "Sunrise," a spooky power ballad that alternates quiet organ-led verses with an emotional chorus and guitar-fuelled instrumental breaks topped off by David Byron's operatic wail. The remainder of the album divides its time between punchy rockers and spacey balladry before climaxing with another prog-inflected epic.
Highlights in the rock arena include "Blind Eye," an acoustic -flavoured rocker whose galloping pace is firmly anchored by Gary Thain's melodic bass-line, and "Sweet Lorraine," a stomping good-time rocker that adds extra texture to its guitar-driven sound with some spacey synthesizer lines.
As for the quieter moments, "Rain" is a lovely piano ballad that makes surprising and impressive use of a xylophone in its sound and "Echoes in the Dark" is an eerie mid-tempo song that alternates stark piano-led verses with an emotional chorus cemented by Mick Box's searing guitar leads.

Track Listing:
Side 1: Sunrise / Spiderwoman / Blind Eye / Echoes In The Dark / Rain
Side 2: Sweet Lorraine / Tales / The Magician's Birthday

LABELS: The labels are clean and bright with moderate spindle traces - played but not over-played - EXCELLENT+
VINYL Visual: The vinyl surfaces still retain their original deep glossy sheen but there are some light and superficial marks in keeping with moderate play - these have little audio consequence - EXCELLENT
VINYL Audio: Crystal clear, tremendously rich and vibrant sound. Unbeatable depth and clarity on these first presses simply not found on later issues and on playback at a loud volume there are no scratches, no sticks,/jumps and no loud clicks or pops - just the occasional intermittent light tick and touch of surface noise in some of the very quietest passages (nothing at all major and nothing I found at all intrusive and "Rain", always the most problematic track regarding surface noise, plays beautifully). The whole album plays to a very high standard (actually far better than many MINT looking copies I have seen) with superb audio clarity, no discernible groove-wear or distortion, sounds great and is critically a strong EXCELLENT to (+) for audio
SLEEVE: The original gatefold cover is clean and unmarked and retains it's strong vibrant colour with just a touch of ring to the back. The edges (especially the corners) have some wear but the whole sleeve is good and solid. All spine text is clear and bold and the inner surfaces are unmarked - EXCELLENT
LYRIC INNER: The original thin paper lyric inner sleeve has no splits to any of the edges (which is pretty rare for this delicate inner), just a few corner creases (please see photos). Overall, a fine example - EXCELLENT (the record is now housed - and will be posted in - a new inner (with NAGAOKA anti-static liner) to prevent any 'knifing' damage to the original during transit)

PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I USUALLY TAKE QUITE A FEW SO YOU CAN GET A CLEAR INDICATION OF EVERY DETAIL OF THE ITEM
I HAVE UPLOADED AS MANY AS I CAN BUT I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SUPPLY ANY ADDITIONAL PHOTOS ON REQUEST
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER AUCTIONS FOR MORE RARE AND COLLECTABLE VINYL
AND PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUERIES YOU MAY HAVE
THANKS FOR LOOKING, CHEERS

PLEASE REFER TO MY 'ABOUT ME' PAGE FOR MORE DETAILED INFO ON MY PLAY-GRADING, EQUIPMENT USED, P&P etc

POST & PACKING
UK: 1st Class: £4.00 (recorded delivery)
EUROPE: Airmail: £5.50 or £10.00 (International Signed For delivery with tracking)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £9.50 or £14.00 (International Signed For delivery with tracking)
***Any record (or combination of records) which sells for more than £40 MUST be sent by a trackable method ie INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR outside of the UK

UK bidders: PayPal or Cheque
INTERNATIONAL bidders: PayPal ONLY

I will combine postage for items purchased within any 10 day period. However, at the end of each 10 day period, all outstanding items will need to be paid for in full and will be posted to you. Any items purchased after payment will be included in the next 10 period. I am continually adding new items which may be of interest to you and it is impractical for me to allow payment to be postponed indefinitely in the expectation that you might wish to bid on future items. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation
Guarantee: I try to be as accurate and honest as possible when describing the condition of any LP but of course if you feel that I am mistaken and the description is inaccurate I will offer a complete, no quibble refund (through Paypal) upon return of the item

ALL RECORDS ARE PROFESSIONALLY CLEANED BEFORE DISPATCH AND PACKAGED WITH THE VINYL OUTSIDE OF THE SLEEVE TO PREVENT ANY 'KNIFING' DURING TRANSIT.
A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, NAGAOKA ANTI-STATIC INNER SLEEVE, QUALITY BOX MAILER AND STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY I will email you when payment has been received to let you know when the item will be posted. Please leave feedback upon receipt of the item so that I know you have received it safely. Any problems please email me. Thanks  420 (GS 6.0.8 (420))

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