Uriah Heep is the kind of band nobody likes but dedicated fans. Sure, they had an almost-hit single in “Easy Livin’ ” two years ago, and they garnered quite a bit of press attention about the same time {Look At Yourself and Demons and Wizards being the critical faves), when heavy metal and party bands were fashionable. But they never got another hit, and the good reviews tailed off fast after the release of an overblown excursion into the mystic,.The Magician's Birthday, and a relentlessly plodding two-record live set. Press coverage decreased drastically, to a low point remarkable even for the metal/boogie crowdpleaser genre, a class generally unadored by literary types.

Of course ticket and record sales were unaffected by Uriah Heep’s fall into critical disfavor. Both Magician’s Birthday and the live album went gold for Mercury, and their first Warners release, the lackluster Sweet Freedom did likewise; tours sold out consistently all the while.