Innocent Victim is the eleventh studio album by English rock band Uriah Heep, released in November 1977 by Bronze Records in the UK and Warner Bros. Records in the US.
Although it did not chart in the US or UK, Innocent Victim went on to sell more than 100,000 copies in Germany alone, and reached No.19 and No.44 in New Zealand and Australia, respectively. The single "Free Me" was a No.3 hit in New Zealand and also peaked at No.3 in South Africa. "Free Me" was also Uriah Heep's only hit in Australia, reaching No.9. Finally, it is one of the very few Western rock albums issued in the USSR (although as a self-titled one and with no cover artwork) before the perestroika, in 1980.
The eyes of drummer Lee Kerslake were used for the snake on the cover artwork. In the US, the sleeve was a live photomontage instead.
The album was remastered and reissued by Castle Communications in 1997 with two bonus tracks, and again in 2004 in an expanded deluxe edition including three live tracks recorded during the band's 1979 European tour (these are alternate versions to the ones released on the Live in Europe 1979 album).
Track listing
Personnel Uriah Heep Mick Box – guitars Ken Hensley – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals Lee Kerslake – drums, backing vocals Trevor Bolder – bass guitar John Lawton – lead vocals
Production Gerry Bron, Ken Hensley – producers Peter Gallen – engineer Mark Dearnley – engineer on track 9 John Gallen, Julian Cooper – assistant engineers
Charts
Album Weekly charts Chart (1977–1978) Peakposition Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 44
Monthly charts + Monthly chart performance for Innocent Victim Chart (1981) Peakposition Soviet Albums (Moskovskij Komsomolets) 1
Year-end charts Chart (1978) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 37 + 1981 year-end chart performance for Innocent Victim Chart (1981) Position Soviet Albums (Moskovskij Komsomolets) 3
Singles YearSingleChartPosition1978"Free Me"New Zealand Singles Chart3South African Singles Chart3Austrian Top 40 Singles8Swiss Singles Top 758German Singles Chart9Australian Albums Chart18
Certifications
References
External links