Category: MAGNUM

Universal Music Japan did it again, a new campaign of their ‘HR/HM 1000‘ series – the Limited Release reissue of long time out of print albums from their Hard Rock / Heavy Metal catalog at the price of 1000 Yen = about 8 USD.
Now it’s time for the second 2022 batch, ”HR-HM 1000 Vol.5”. And as part of these there’s the out of print in Japan “Wings Of Heaven“, 1988’s MAGNUM album considered by many their masterpiece.
The recording takes the best of both worlds; the approach to this album was commercial, melodic, radio-friendly but still with the distinct progressive leanings of the band’s origins, resulting in an album including some of their best songs ever.
“Wings Of Heaven” was MAGNUM’s first studio album to gain both critical and commercial success and the first to achieve a top 10 placing, which it did all over Europe…

Universal Music Japan did it again, a new campaign of their ‘HR/HM 1000‘ series – the Limited Release reissue of long time out of print albums from their Hard Rock / Heavy Metal catalog at the price of 1000 Yen = about 8 USD.
Now it’s time for the second 2022 batch, ”HR-HM 1000 Vol.5”. And as part of these there’s the out of print “Goodnight L.A.“, British AORsters MAGNUM ‘Americanized’ album from 1990.
For “Goodnight L.A.” the band flew to Los Angeles to record the album with Keith Olsen, suggested by the record label because of the success of his work on Whitesnake’s ‘1987’ LP. Additionally, Tony Clarkin, the band’s guitarist and usually MAGNUM’s sole songwriter, then invited co-writers such as Russ Ballard and Jim Vallance to collaborate and obtain a ‘North American’ feeling.
The result was a glossy, polished, awesome AOR album with that late Eighties / early Nineties huge sound…

If a band in their already since 1972 (!) lasting career is still able to completely inspire the fans with every new album, this can only be called an absolute sign of quality. MAGNUM have such a quality and prove it once again with their upcoming studio work ”The Monster Roars”.
Even after pandemic-related difficult months with concert cancellations, contact restrictions and unclear perspectives for the entire music world, the English classic act has succeeded in creating a lively and homogeneous-sounding work inspired from the first to the last note.
”The Monster Roars” starts with a real bang: right with the title track as opener Magnum make it unmistakably clear that the current line-up of the band – namely: Bob Catley (vocals), Tony Clarkin (guitar), Rick Benton (keyboards), Dennis Ward (bass) and Lee Morris (drums) – is bursting with joy of playing and creating captivating melodies…

British melodic hard rock institution MAGNUM is releasing the new CD ”Dance Of The Black Tattoo”, a compendium of rare archive tracks and some kind of a companion piece to this 2017 disc “The Valley Of Tears / The Ballads“.
Renowned not only for their powerful melodic hard rock songs but also for countless, elaborated moving ballads, “The Valley Of Tears / The Ballads” features ten of the band’s most accomplished slow tunes, all of them remastered and in parts even newly re-recorded & remixed.
The album has been reissued 2020 on vinyl LP.

MAGNUM‘s new CD ”Dance Of The Black Tattoo” consists of 14 rare studio recordings, radio versions and live cuts. It’s been three years since Magnum brought out The Valley Of Tears / The Ballads, a compilation that focused on the British rock act quiet, more otherworldly and dreamy side. Three years during which the idea matured to follow this successful release with a companion piece.
”Dance Of The Black Tattoo” has turned into exactly that: a collection of songs that present Magnum exclusively as tough-as-nails rocking and extremely vibrant musicians.
What makes this album so special is the fact that Magnum have gone through their impressive archive, looking for rare live cuts and outstanding radio versions and have come up with spirited live recordings and edits that concentrate on the essential components of some of their most accomplished rock numbers.
Naturally, guitarist and band mastermind Tony Clarkin has used this opportunity to remaster and update all 14 tracks so that they comply with the state-of-the-art of sound technology…

Last year legends MAGNUM presented their 20th studio album, “Lost on the Road to Eternity”. Coming forty years after the release of their debut album it was a great CD that demonstrated that they’re still making great music and got the fire. The release of the album was followed by a two month tour which concluded with a show on...

I have been spinning several times “Lost On The Road To Eternity“, the new 2018 album from prestigious British band MAGNUM. The twentieth studio recording by the group led by founding members Bob Catley (vocals) and Tony Clarkin (guitar) introduce their current lineup, featuring new additions Rick Benton (keyboards) and Lee Morris (ex-Paradise Lost; drums).And I did repeated listens because...