A complete review of Magnum's career

Written by Mat, October 2005

riefly mentioned in other reviews on this site, classic and legendary British based Magnum haven't got a review of their own and that's one of the biggest shortcomings in the review bank so far according to me. That's reason enough really to give you a brief career overlook of this excellent melodic hard rock unit, but regarding their reputation this should have been done a long time ago. Never mind, these veterans have been on many different labels over the years and the numbers of collections, live releases and compilations are so many that this will solely have to be about their studio albums. So this is briefly and basically what Tony Clarkin, Bob Catley and co have been up to since the beginning in the late Seventies, and I sincerely and utterly hope that this overview will shed some more light on a band, that despite my deep and honest affection for heavy- and above all, power-metal still remains to be one of my absolute favourites of all time.

Kingdom Of Madness (1978) - 6,5/10

- In these early years of the band they were still struggling to find a fitting musical identity and therefore the material is a bit uneven and swaying in the composition quality. The sound is also, as can be expected, a bit weak despite the nostalgic feel you get when hearing this kind of late Seventies melodic rock with lots of prog feeling to the guitars. But as it would turn out, the album compiles a couple of really good songs and especially the title track is one of the band's strongest crowd-pleasers ever and have been recorded in many different versions, both in the studio and live on stage. A real immortal number but also other tracks like for instance In the Beginning, The Bringer and Lords of Chaos have frequently occurred on many of the different collections and must also be regarded as real classic song material as well. Even though this album is not among their best work, there's still a strong and positive vibe that something great was lurking below the surface mainly due to the combination of Tony Clarkin's feel for brilliant song-writing and Bob Catley's outstanding vocals.


Magnum II (1979) - 6/10

- This album doesn't differ that much from the debut, but is still a little more even and the band took a small but steady step towards what that was to come. The sound again revolves around a sound mainly described as early prog rock with melodic and harmonic features but not enough to feel over-worked, even though it's very rich in details. But here I miss songs of the Kingdom of Madness timeless quality. Great Adventure, The Battle, Reborn and Firebird are the real highlights of this release but I still regard their debut as the better album of the two first outings. Nevertheless, Magnum's career was starting to really go somewhere around this time and the word and quality of the band was starting to spread more widely.


Chase The Dragon (1982) - 8/10

- A truly great album that left a huge portion of the Seventies prog rock feeling behind. Less piano and more guitars and an overall much better sound and song-writing marks this release as one of the real classics in Magnum's discography. Three outstanding tracks are found on this one and remain to be among the best band material ever still today. Soldier of the Line is a real masterpiece number and here Tony Clarkin started to use the war-theme more prominent in his lyrics for the first time. The Spirit then is in some ways the best Magnum song ever and especially the second verse with the supporting flute is to die for and the entire song is just fantastic. (This song also occurs in a cover version on Edguy's latest Superheroes for those into more curiosa). The beautiful semi-ballad/mid tempo rocker Sacred Hour is the third amazing track. The opening keyboard intro by Mark Stanway is pure ear-candy and this song really shows Tony Clarkin's genius in writing songs that slowly are built up and escalate into pure greatness. Magnum in one of their many absolute prime moments! The rest of the song material is also very good but not really reaching the elite class of these three. Chase the Dragon also marked the beginning for the beautiful cover-art by legendary Rodney Matthews and this co-operation would continue for many more albums in the future. I strongly recommend this release for new acquaintances of the band and for those of you ready to dive into the old melodic rock sound of the early Eighties.


The Eleventh Hour 1983) - 8,5/10

- Really one of my absolute favourite Magnum albums. Once again a great cover by Matthews and the band started to be very reliable and delivered a 10-track solid melodic rock output. Despite the lack of real immortals of the former Chase the Dragon calibre, this release has a great vintage sound and shows a surprisingly even song-material. The album also contains a more guitar-based edge than on the other previous recordings and the earlier prog feeling started to fade a bit. The guitars still keep a steady and rhythmic pace throughout the whole release and as usual a very fine balance between lyrics, instruments and vocals is maintained to produce a very pleasant feeling. Added to this are lots of nice breaks and bridges and a gathering of nothing but great songs. The Prize, The Great Disaster, Vicious Companions, So Far Away and Young and Precious Souls are very good numbers and the ballad The Word is among Tony's finest compositions of that sort. The production is executed by Clarkin himself but unfortunately the drums should have been given more attention but that's really the only major remark. As a Magnum album however this at least for this reviewer took more listening sessions than usual to hear the greatness, but once established there was no doubt that The Eleventh Hour was a truly great release and among the better ones. This album also marks the end of the old Magnum sound and therefore also feels a bit more special.


On A Storyteller's Night (1985) - 9/10

- This is the major turning point in the band career and by many die-hard fans, myself included, regarded as among the best melodic rock albums ever. Everything suddenly fell into place and virtually everything had improved. The production was by far the best the band had suffered up to this point and Tony Clarkin's compositions really reached yet another level. Bob Catley's singing brings tears of joy to your eyes and melodic hard rock has very seldom been better than this on the album's real shining moments. The opening How Far Jerusalem sets the perfect tone while the single Just Like an Arrow shows a warm and happy touch and both songs are just meant to be forever. And then it's time to introduce the real masterpiece and among the top-five Magnum songs ever: On a Storyteller's Night! Amazing that this song after twenty years still sends shiver upon shiver through my spine and the classic opening lyrics, "There's a stormlamp on the table…" and the chorus words "Keep your nightlight burning…" are forever nailed in my heart and soul. A gigantic atmosphere is found on this amazing number. Les Morts Dansant is also another track deeply rooted in the fertile soil of grand Magnum compositions. Starting out as a ballad to really transform into a real and true epic and once again words like "What a night though it's one of seven…" in the great refrain are eternalized. "Real outstanding work and a galore composition of Tony Clarkin once again. Other tracks like Endless Love, Steel Your Heart and All England's Eyes also catapult this album into the status of finest value but keep a little lower profile than the other ones mentioned. But that put aside, On a Storyteller's Night is simply a real milestone, and not only for Magnum, but also for the entire melodic rock genre, and is a definite must in every single melodic rock collection. The album was re-issued in a longer 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition (60 min) earlier this year so there you definitely have a solid investment.


Vigilante (1986) - 9/10

- This album with its classic unicorn cover showed a little happier and a more popish approach than the somewhat darker and more atmospheric On a Storyteller's Night. The opening Lonely Night with it's xylophone intro instantly show such features but also showed that the band-members by now were really confident in what they were doing and continued to develop end evolve their sound. The production of Roger Taylor (also producer of Queen) is just excellent and plays a big part in that process. The semi-ballad Need a Lot of Love is definitely among Tony's finest compositions ever and the classic Vigilante is just one of those unforgettable Magnum epics with it's faster pace and just outstanding melody. Furthermore, the saxophone-solo on the single Midnight (You Won't be Sleeping) feels right on track and more melodic rockers like Red on the Highway, Heart of Stone and Back Streed Kid are also great instalments right along high quality Magnum standards. The ballad When the World Comes Down is formidable in its own right and the only thing not so great here is the length of the album. Only a little over 43 minutes and that's a real shame and a little too short since the band was on a true winning streak that could have been further explored.


Wings Of Heaven (1988) - 9,5/10

- No Matthews cover this time but perhaps their absolute best release ever. With especially Vigilante and On a Storyteller's Night in their back, Magnum were in their absolute prime, powerful, mystic and emotional, full of energy and trusted in their work. Wings of Heaven, as a natural consequence of this, delivers the strongest material in the band history (together with Sleepwalking as we will se further on…). The sound feels very full, very complete and fits the music like the most perfect tailor-made glove. Bob Catley sings like the vocal god he really is and on this album Clarkin has written a couple of songs that really makes the perfect use of Catley's immense set of pipes. Days of no Trust is the perfect opener and the following epic Wild Swan climbs very high when the best song of Magnum's career is to be crowned. Catley performs just splendidly here and fulfils the feeling of greatness. Other memorable songs are definitely Start Talking Love, One Step Away and Pray for the Day. But the real highlight comes with the closing number and here we have a track on the same high levels as The Spirit, On a Storyteller's Night, Les Morts Dansant and Vigilante. The war-concept in Tony Clarkin's compositions have never been better in this fantastic 10,5-minute Don't Wake the Lion (Too Old to Die Young). Only Magnum can deliver a song like this that actually is two different tracks merged into one. The lyrical concept is World War II and the boasting and naïve thoughts of young men dressed in their uniforms ready to end the war by themselves in a matter of days. It starts out in calm, solemn ballad fashion just as Magnum opuses almost always does. The song then slowly builds up in the Don't Wake the Lion part and during the instrumental transition to Too Old to Young there are some really amazing keyboard effects of Mark Stanway. Too Old to Die Young is then a little faster and heavy while maintaining the original highly atmospheric aura. The final transition back to the Don't Wake the Lion part is just amazing, merging the two parts splendidly, and if you haven't recognised Tony Clarkin's genius yet, you certainly will when this song and the album is over. With this immense finish and the super class of the other numbers as well there's no doubt that Wings of Heaven ultimately is THE Magnum album to own, and justifiably so!


Goodnight L.A (1992) - 6,5/10

- The band had created a strong mass of followers with the successful trio of On a Storyteller's Night, Vigilante and Wings of Heaven but still, for me reasons totally incomprehensible, they didn't get the world-fame and recognition they were so well deserved to receive. In order to really do something about this, other well-known song-writers were involved in the compositions and creation of this album. For instance Russ Ballard (writer of Rainbow's Since You've Been Gone etc) made his contribution and has co-written the opening Rockin' Chair, Matter of Survival and No Way Out with Clarkin. Other guest-composers like Jim Vallance and Sue Shiffron are also counted and helped with What Kind of Love is This and Cry for You but honestly the results are far from mind-blowing. The heavier and harder production by Keith Olsen (Sammy Hagar, Rick Springfield, Fleetwood Mac, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Kingdom Come etc) is very good in itself but I don't think the sound goes that well with what Magnum really stands for musically. Far from flawless, Goodnight L.A still compiles very good polished melodic hard rock but Magnum can do much better. There are simply too many fillers on this album for a satisfactory result and big parts of the old Magnum magic seemed to have gone astray. Once again a war-based opus, Only a Memory, saves the day a bit with fantastic lyrics and epic touches, as does the rocking Mama and the delicious Shoot but the album must still be considered an essential buy for the die-hard fan only.


Sleepwalking (1992)- 9,5/10

- With the less successful Goodnight L.A in recent memory, Magnum luckily found their magic again and got back to the concept of writing their own material and also returned to the Matthews cover concept. An almost clean shaved Tony Clarkin (both head and long beard only a memory!) grabbed the pen, wrote down some new notes and Magnum was back with a vengeance. Perhaps I'm regarding this album a bit more on a personal level than on a strictly professional one, but the sound and the song-material on Sleepwalking for me rivals that of Wings of Heaven even though there are no tracks of Don't Wake the Lion and Wild Swan magnitude to be found here. But once again Tony Clarkin managed to find an outstanding atmosphere and by mixing the old vintage sound of the early Eighties with some more modern slightly popish touches, Sleepwalking is just formidable. Stormy Weather is a very emotional and moody semi-ballad that immediately proves that point while The Flood has a strong vibe of classic The Spirit to it, especially regarding the tempo-changes and faster rhythm towards the end. The title track is a fantastic rock piece with an outstanding bridge and chorus while the semi-ballad The Long Ride concludes the whole thing triumphantly. Despite some very critic remarks from the press I still regard this album as among the absolute best the band ever produced and especially the atmosphere and sound are the most prominent instalments. Sleepwalking combines pieces of the old Eighties vintage, the outstanding atmosphere from On a Storyteller's Night, the genuine quality feel of Wings of Heaven with the more popish touches of Vigilante in absolute splendid ways as the same time as it also introduces the next phase in Magnum's already outstanding repertoire. Therefore one of the most essential Magnum investments of all their releases!


Keeping The Night Lite Burning (1993) - 7,5/10

- Not much to say about this album really, since it's simply a release with acoustic versions of many Magnum classics. The only slightly surprising thing though is that some songs that you'd expected to be just amazing in this acoustic fashion regarding how great they already are turned out to be somewhat disappointing, while others are truly lifted and given an aura the standard version doesn't match. Still a definite must for the loyal Magnum fan with immortal songs like Need a Lot of Love, Shoot, Soldier of the Line and The Prize as the most memorable outings.


Rockart (1994) - 6,5/10

- Rockart is the album that at that time marked the end of the band and therefore this release is always associated with great sadness for me. Since the band announced that this was the end, I had honestly hoped for the great and mighty farewell a band of this quality should leave behind. But unfortunately it wasn't the true legacy I had hoped for even though one of their best individual songs ever is among the material. As a whole Rockart lives up to it's name and shows a huge portion of almost just emphasizing the word rock, but to be honest, that's not by far where Magnum's true strength lies however inspired, rhythmic and heavy the whole thing feels. The real epic and majestic numbers are not really there in the amount they've spoiled us so with over the years. The Tall Ships and Love's a Strangers are tracks that bear the Magnum brand of old but otherwise I don't approve much of the other material. There is one exception to this though and a really big one too: The final On Christmas Day! This just might be the absolute best Magnum song together with The Spirit, On a Storyteller's Night, Les Morts Dansant, Vigilante and Don't Wake the Lion. And exactly as with Don't Wake the Lion, On Christmas Day is one song consisting of two different parts, each one with an individual verse, bridge and chorus. Just amazing work again, both musically and lyrically and seen on an individual song basis this was the farewell you dreamed of would come. Basically, a 7- minute masterpiece that in itself is worth getting the whole album for. But otherwise I strongly recommend other releases as a starting point for the uninitiated Magnum listener.


Breath Of Life (2002) - 7,5/10

- Very luckily for us true fans, Rockart was far from the last we would hear from the band. Bob Catley had started his solo-career after Rockart was released and the band said goodbye, but in the early 2000 Magnum re-surfaced and decided to go for it again and reunite to celebrate the 25th band anniversary. Breath of Life thus became the first Magnum studio-album in about 8 years and was extremely anticipated by the hard rock world and of course the fans. Basically a mix between Rockart, Sleepwalking and Goodnight L.A this album isn't among Magnum's absolute best work but there are still some really interesting songs to focus on and of course the standard Magnum mysticism is ever present. The album begins splendidly with tracks like Cry, This Heart and Everyday, Still and the title number, everyone showing that Magnum had spend their days in hibernation in a great way. A cover without the art of Matthews I can live with but the following middle section of the album contains some songs that have a too strong flavour of filler over them and the amount of ballads of only "standard" quality are a bit too many. The concluding instalments work very well though and seen as a whole Breath of Life is a much better album than Rockart and a very good way to get re-acquainted with these British veterans. Great to have you back guys, I've really missed you!

Brand New Morning (2004)

- This is the latest release from the British veterans and a full review of the album will be on-line shortly. I can already here promise you though, that the album is truly great, mixing old and new inputs in an outstanding way and the story of Magnum thus goes on and on…

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As you can see in the list below, the numbers of different Magnum releases are incredibly many and I hope you can forgive me for not giving an individual comment on all of them. But hopefully there are also some of you out there who will find what you've read about this band interesting enough to check up their material and I personally also feel that not only fans of melodic hard rock and AOR, but also more followers of metal in general, will appreciate what Magnum has to offer. Many have most likely come in contact with some of the band touches mainly with help from Tobias Sammet as the best and most well known examples since Bob Catley makes one hell of a performance as one of many guest-musicians on Avantasia- The Metal Opera pt II and The Spirit is present in a cover version on Edguy's latest Superheroes. As a small introduction to the band this might be a good way to start from and that also goes for Bob Catley's latest super-release When Empires Burn that shows a more heavy metal orientation. Just be aware that the musical direction of Magnum is softer, pure hard rock based and as good as totally without the heavy metal edge. But if a 100% dedicated power/heavy metal freak like me can find room in my heart for them, there just might be others out there too…

A summary of other Magnum releases:

Live albums:
Marauder
Invasion Live
Spirit
Stronghold
The Last Dance
The River Sessions
Compilations:
Chapter & Verse
Rock and Pop Legends
Live In London
Best of Live
Anthology
Vintage Magnum (Jet Records)
Mirador
Night Riding
Foundation Box Set
The Collection
The Battle
That's Original
Archive
Uncorked
Swansong
Firebird
Vintage Magnum
Spirt - A History
Road To Paradise
Progressive Classics
Castle Masters Collection
Days Of Wonder
Madness In The Marquee Club
Long Days Black Nights: Anthology
An Introduction To Magnum

Bob Catley solo-albums:
The Tower
Legends
Middle Earth
When Empires Burn (full review)

Mat - October 2005