Return To
Fantasy was Uriah heep's eighth studio album. Released in November 1975, it was the
first of two albums to include bassist John Wetton in the band. John had previously
played in Family, King Crimson and Roxy Music. He was later to gain mega fame and fortune
in one of the eighties' biggest grossing acts, Asia.
With Gary Thain's replacement, John Wetton, in place, Uriah Heep rapidly commenced work on their next album. Entitled Return To Fantasy, the record was released in November 1975 and went on to become their biggest selling album to date, reaching number seven in the charts.
Rehersals and demo recording was commenced in early 1975 even before the ejection of Thain from the band. In fact, several tracks were recorded in Jan-March 1975.
Shout It Out was recorded during the Return To Fantasy sessions in mid 1975. Released as B-side to the single Prima Donna which was taken from the RTF album. Previously released on CD in 1991 - Rarities From The Bronze Age (Sequel - NEX CD 184). This version was re-mastered in November 1995.
Time Will Come was also recorded during the RTF sessions in mid 1975. Released as a B-side to an edited version of the title track of Return To Fantasy in Germany and Holland. First released in the UK and on CD on Rarities From The Bronze Age. Time Will Come is one of the rarest and most interesting tracks from the Byron era. Listen carefully at the beginning and you can even hear David coughing. The track itself features some excellent guitar breaks from Mr. Box.
Beautiful Dream (demo) was recorded in January-March, 1975 along with other demo versions of tracks that ultimately ended up on the RTF album. It is unclear even to this day with band members as to whether Gary Thain participated in this session before he was sacked. Your guess as to whether this is Thain or Wetton is as good as anyone's! If you're wondering what has happened to the other three demo tracks, check out the box set Time Of Revelation released in the UK, April 1996.
Full recording commenced in mid 1975, resulting in an album containing nine songs. The band themselves now look upon it with mixed feelings, but the public at the time loved it. Sales for the album were so rapid they catapulted it to number seven in the UK charts. In general, Return To Fantasy was looked upon the press and public as a vast improvement on the previous vinyl offering. An extensive tour was organized for the promotion of RTF with dates scheduled all over the world.
NME called the upcoming tour 'Year Long World Tour' as a headline and Gerry Bron, the band's manager, predicted that by the end of the year Uriah Heep would have played to one million people and travelled 300,000 air miles. In the eyes of the public Heep were mega stars and still destined to climb higher. The title of the next album High And Mighty could well have summed up the real situation for the band internally.
1975 was indeed a busy and lucrative year for the band. Not only was RTF climbing the charts but both Ken Hensley and David Byron released solo albums. 1976 was to prove a watershed year for this band that appeared to be going from strength to strength. That part of the story however, will have to wait until the release of the remastered High And Mighty album.
© 1991, 1996 Robert M. Corich
Previous album 
Next album
Content Copyright © 1997 Jay Pearson
| LinkExchange Member | Free Home Pages at GeoCities |