Year : 1975 (Japan SHM-CD Edition 2026)
Style : Hard Rock
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 176 mb
Bio:
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and are regarded as one of the seminal hard rock acts of the early 1970s.Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always included a massive keyboard sound, strong vocal harmonies and (in the early years) David Byron's quasi-operatic vocals.Twelve of the band's albums have made it to the UK Albums Chart (Return to Fantasy reached No. 7 in 1975)while of the fifteen Billboard 200 Uriah Heep albums Demons and Wizards was the most successful (#23, 1972).In the late 1970s the band had massive success in Germany, where the "Lady in Black" single was a big hit.Along with Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep had become one of the top bands in the early 1970s - one of "The Big 4" of hard rock.Uriah Heep's audience declined by the 1980s, to the point where they became essentially a cult band in the United Kingdom and United States. The band maintains a significant following and performs at arena-sized venues in the Balkans, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia and Scandinavia.They have sold over 40 million albums worldwide with over 4 million sales in the U.S.
Album:
While URIAH HEEP 1975’s eighth studio album “Return To Fantasy” was not included into the recent Japanese reissue batch, here’s the SHM-CD replica remastered reissue from years ago, including 6 bonus tracks. This pressing uses the same, latest remastering job also used in the European reissue, however… the bottom end is much better on this SHM.“Return To Fantasy” is the first of the two albums to feature the incredible John Wetton as the new bass player, who replaced Gary Thain in early 1975.After two albums that downplayed their penchant for mysterious sounds and mystical lyrics, Uriah Heep brought these elements back to the fore on 1975’s Return to Fantasy. The resulting album retains the musical experimentation that marked ‘Sweet Freedom’ and ‘Wonderworld’, but has an overall harder-rocking feel.”Return to Fantasy” throws down the gauntlet with the title track, which builds from a tapestry of spooky synthesizer and organ riffs to a thunderous rock tune where the guitar and organ duel over a galloping backbeat laid down by Lee Kerslake. It’s bracing stuff and one of the finest rockers in the Uriah Heep canon.The rest of the ‘first side’ continues in a similarly strong hard rock vein and its other key highlight is “Beautiful Dream,” a song that marries stomping hard rock verses to a spooky, ethereal chorus that sounds like it could have been plucked from a mid-’70s Pink Floyd album.On the second side, Heep give themselves over to experiments that, while listenable, cause the album to lose focus. For instance, “Prima Donna” is a sardonic commentary on the rock & roll world that features a prominent brass section and prominently overdubbed Beach Boys-style harmonies, while “Your Turn to Remember” is the kind of bluesy ballad that seems inoffensive for UH standards. Both songs are fun listening but stray too far from the group’s traditional sound and are too dissimilar to make ”Return to Fantasy” a cohesive experience.Despite that, the group never turns in a less-than-engaging instrumental performance and the consistent quality of their work keeps the album from getting carried away by all the genre-hopping. In the end, ”Return to Fantasy” lacks the coherence of a top-shelf Uriah Heep classic like ‘Demons and Wizards’ but c’mon, this is prime classic rock and remains a strong and likable album that is guaranteed to please the group’s fans.
Line Up:
David Byron – lead vocals
Mick Box – guitars
Ken Hensley – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals
John Wetton – bass guitar
Lee Kerslake – drums, percussion, backing vocals
+ Additional musicians:
Gary Thain - bass (tracks: 12 to 15)
Production:
Recorded At – Lansdowne Studios
Engineer – Peter Gallen
Liner Notes – 伊藤政則
Photography By – Joe Gaffney
Producer – Gerry Bron
Reissue Producer, Remastered By – Robert M Corich
Remastered By – Mike Brown
Tracklist:
01. Return To Fantasy
02. Shady Lady
03. Devil’s Daughter
04. Beautiful Dream
05. Prima Donna
06. Your Turn To Remember
07. Showdown
08. Why Did You Go
09. A Year Or A Day
10. Shout It Out (B-Side) (Bonus Track)
11. The Time Will Come (B-Side) (Bonus Track)
12. Prima Donna (Alternate Demo Version) (Bonus Track)
13. Why Did You Go (Alternate Demo Version) (Bonus Track)
14. Showdown (Alternate Demo Version) (Bonus Track)
15. Beautiful Dream (Alternate Demo Version) (Bonus Track)
16. Return To Fantasy (Extended Version) (Bonus Track)
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