Return to Fantasy explained

Return to Fantasy
Type:studio
Artist:Uriah Heep
Cover:Return_To_Fantasy_(Uriah_Heep_album_-_cover_art).jpg
Released:13 June 1975
Recorded:Spring 1975
Studio:Lansdowne and Morgan, London
Length:40:35
Label:Bronze
Producer:Gerry Bron
Prev Title:Wonderworld
Prev Year:1974
Next Title:High and Mighty
Next Year:1976

Return to Fantasy is the eighth studio album by English rock band Uriah Heep, released on 13 June 1975 by Bronze Records in the UK and Warner Bros. Records in the US. It was the first of the two albums to feature John Wetton as the new bass player, who replaced Gary Thain in early 1975.

The sleeve-art is by British artist Dave Field.

Reception

Return to Fantasy "retains the musical experimentation that marked Sweet Freedom and Wonderworld, but has an overall harder-rocking feel that makes it more consistent than either one of those albums", said Donald A. Guarisco in his retrospective AllMusic review. He criticized some of the album's "genre-hopping", and concluded, "In the end, Return to Fantasy lacks the coherence of a top-shelf Uriah Heep classic like Demons and Wizards but remains a strong and likable album that is guaranteed to please the group's fans". The review by Canadian journalist Martin Popoff was very critical of the album's recording "dominated by blaring but thin organ and sloppy drumming" and of Byron's "distant and unsure" performance, judging the album "completely adrift without a trace of spark".

Track listing

All tracks are written by David Byron, Mick Box, Ken Hensley and Lee Kerslake except where noted

Personnel

Uriah Heep
Additional musicians:
Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1975)Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[1] 19
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[2] 12
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[3] 8
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[4] 74

Year-end charts

Notes and References

  1. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6.
  2. Web site: Return to Fantasy - Uriah Heep . 7 December 2018. Danske Hitlister.dk.
  3. Book: Pennanen, Timo. Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972. 1st. Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. Helsinki. 2006. 978-951-1-21053-5 . 166 . fi.
  4. Book: Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Oricon Entertainment. Roppongi, Tokyo. 2006. 4-87131-077-9. ja.
  5. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts. 1975. GfK Entertainment Charts. de. 2 April 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20211129003943/https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/album-jahr/for-date-1975. 29 November 2021.