Uriah Heep : Return to Fantasy

Great music from the perennial kings of symphonic rock. Crafty musicianship and very melodic songs from Ken Hensley and the crew. Besides the title song, this album contains such masterpieces as Year or a Day and Your Turn to Remember. Excellent album from a very good and harmonic rock band. Great pressing as well.

Item as described! Beautiful and packaged nicely….Delivered quickly excellent seller! Price was reasonable!

Well, I was not fortunate enough as to have been born in the early 60's, therefore, my comments on this album are based on the sole experience of playing it now, totally foreign to its impact or the expectations that preceded it on its original release. In my particular opinion, this is an awesome Heep record. It does not sound quite like their older works, true; yet, still retains the fine style which makes the band so special (and definitely more accomplished than that before, Wonderworld). Return to Fantasy has it all: ballads, epics, rockers and jumpy tunes. No need to expatiate on each track - anybody can enjoy this one, both fans or casual listeners, I am certain.

Great band, great melodies.

Oldie but goodie

great cd thanks

This 1975 album was a partial return to form for Uriah Heep. The band was in some turmoil at the time, due to the pressures of constant touring and the debilitating effects of drugs and alcohol. John Wetton (King Crimson, Asia) plays bass, although the songs were written primarily by the other members. By this time, the band's style was well-established. The songs were a blend of hard rock and progressive elements, the instrumental arrangements favored organ backgrounds, and the vocals were mellifluous. Despite the title, the lyrics were more grounded in reality, in contrast to the swords-and-sorcery themes of some of their earlier albums. The title track is outstanding. Most of the rest of the CD is listenable, with the exception of Prima Donna, which sounds completely out of place. Surprisingly, the band had stronger material available, which was not on the original album, but is included in the bonus tracks on the remastered CD. Two of these bonus tracks, Shout it Out and The Time Will Come, showcase the band's more metallic side.

Was very good!

Verdadera joya del hard progresivo de los 70. Uno más de los maravillosos álbumes que esta excelente banda creó en la que fue su mejor década, que además en esta ocasión viene completada por varios y golosos bonus tracks inéditos. Muy recomendable.

Nearly didn’t buy this as mixed reviews and general consensus that it was not their best but I took a chance and glad I did. Started listening to the early Heep and collecting them all on vinyl and ok this is not the best but give it a couple of listens and it’s actually a good album, great vocals backed up by great musicians. Haven’t got past Byron era yet but that’s only because of the quality of these early albums.

Spitzen Rockmusik der gehobenen Klasse. Beeindruckende Klangbilder und spannungsgeladenen Gitarre-Orgel-Duelle in Kombination mit satten Bässen, einem genialen Sänger und einer astrein bedienten Schießbude. Mit Return to Fantasy haben die Jungs von Heep ein klassisches Hard-Rock-Album abgeliefert. Es braucht den Vergleich mit einigen Werken von den anderen großen Vertretern des Genres nicht scheuen. Was dieses Album allerdings mit ausmacht ist ein Sound, der für meinen Geschmack etwas in Richtung Pop durchhängt, doch darin besteht wiederum sein Reiz. Für Musikfreunde, denen Led Zeppelin zu eigenwillig, Deep Purple zu komplex und Black Sabbath zu eingängig sind, dürfte diese Variante des Hard-Rock das Richtige sein. Der Versand und der Service rund um die Bestellung waren prima.

年寄りなので、あいにく大昔買ったLPレコードしか手元にありませんでした。当時鮮烈なジャケデザインに魅せられまして、アナログ盤を買った覚えがあります。今回、久々に聴きたくなり、ボートラ付CDを購入しました。 タイトルから「原点回帰的なサウンド」と評される作品ですが、初期のファンタジック＆ドラマチックな要素は、実際あまり感じられない、むしろな世俗的な（人間臭い）作品仕上がりです。 敢えて言ってしまえば、シャウトを連発する、D・バイロン主導の躍動感にあふれるポップなロック・アルバムです。 例の渡り鳥ベーシスト＆シンガー、ジョン・ウェットンの加入が現場でのレコーディングにどれだけ影響を及ぼしていたのか不明ですが、むしろこの作品には、70年代初期の野趣（ケン・ヘンズレーの異様なオルガン、ミック・ボックスの乱暴なギター・リフ）に富んだヒープ臭さは皆無な名盤と言っていいでしょう。 初期ヒープに過剰な思い入れがなければ、これも新境地を開いたポップなヒープでOKです。ゴスペル風のコーラスと、スライド・ギターが印象的です。ボートラを含め、最後まで聴くと、後のジョン・ロートン時代を予見させるような、かなりアメリカン・テイストに聴こえる作品です。 ま、これはこれで全般に楽曲が良く、名盤だと思います。ジャケの美しさと言ったら・・「悪魔と魔法使い」と並ぶ、傑作でしょう。

excellent !