Gig review – Europe in London (19 Feb 2011)

On Saturday night Swedish hitmakers Europe stormed through a spirited 90-minute set to a heaving Shepherd’s Bush Empire. The band, and more specifically, lead singer Joey Tempest had the audience in the palms of their hands from the opening strains of Last Look At Eden, the title track of their latest album, right through to the inevitable encore of The Final Countdown. 

In between they covered the bulk of their career, thankfully ignoring their mostly dire debut, but reaching back to sophomore effort Wings of Tomorrow for Scream of Anger early on, while their other essential hits (Rock the Night, Carrie, Superstitious) were scattered with precision throughout an intelligent set.  The setlist was largely dominated by material from the band’s two most recent efforts, with 3 songs featured from 2006s Secret Society and three more from Last Look at Eden; conversely only the title track from the first post-reformation album Start From the Dark got a look in, and only two tracks were featured from my personal favourite, Out of This World. It has to be said the newer material emitted almost as strong a response from the audience as any of the old songs, particularly the Eden material – and why not? It’s first rate. 

Possibly because the show was being filmed for future DVD release there were a large number of hardcore fans in attendance who had made the trip across from the continent – indeed, barely a word of English could be heard on the ground floor before the show began. 

The show was paced fairly relentlessly, with only perennial power-ballad Carrie and new track New Love in Town (inspired by the birth of Joey’s son Jamie) allowing the audience time for breath. Joey Tempest’s powerhouse vocals dominated the night, but a drum solo and guitarist John Norum’s brilliant performance of Gary Moore’s The Loner, played in tribute to the recently fallen guitar hero, gave him a couple of breaks and allowed the other band members room to show off their considerable chops.

More (from any era) would have been welcome, but this was a consummate performance by a skilled band, and demonstrated that they were and remain so much more than that song, even if it will be their perpetual calling card/closing number for all time. If as to prove this, they began the encore with an as-yet unrecorded song, Doghouse, before that big keyboard riff sent out its shockwaves.

Hopefully the filming will do the gig justice, but only time will tell. There didn’t seem to be many cameras in attendance; I only spotted one actually roaming the stage, with the rest behind the audience,so the end result may be a bit of a static affair visually. But it was a cracking gig, and all things being equal the DVD will be highly recommended. 

I was also lucky enough to nab a John Norum guitar pick, (one used by Joey Tempest, so the best of both worlds) which came flying at me mid-set, so that was a nice bonus!  (9/10)

February’s Fabulous First Five

Ah, if only every month started with an ‘F’ I could have such beautiful alliteration every time on my ‘first five’ lists (for those who might don’t know a monthly exercise wherein I look at the first five songs thrown up randomly by me ipod). Okay, for February 2011, the first 5 songs out of a possible 10247 are:

1. Gerry Rafferty – Because
2. Stealers Wheel – Another Meaning
3. Pride of Lions – Prideland
4. Marillion. – Don’t Hurt Yourself (Video edit)
5. Marillion – Beautiful (Live)

Gerry Rafferty – Because (from Life Goes On  – 2009)

Rafferty’s final release was hardly a fitting swansong – or, indeed, epitaph, as it turned out: this is one of six ‘new’ songs featured on it, but tellingly only one of the six was a Rafferty-penned tune (and an old one at that) and most had been featured as downloads on his website a few years earlier. This is, of course, a cover of the Beatles tune which was originally the second worst song on the (slightly) overrated Abbey Road. As a cover it’s redundant from the start, but Rafferty’s multi-layered vocals never fail to delight and it’s at least as good as the original. But it only serves as yet another reminder of what could have been. (6/10)

Stealers Wheel – Another Meaning (from Stealers Wheel – 1972)

Kind of a Rafferty double-shot here, although this song was penned and sung by Joe Egan, the other ‘half’ (in inverted commas as there were 5 members credited on the debut, but of course only Rafferty and Egan got any further than that) of the band. This is a good, if not outstanding tune, on a par with most of the material on the album. With the legendary production team of Leiber-Stoller on board you’d be forgiven for expecting something approaching ‘rock and roll’ but this is very laid back and melancholic, like much of Egan and Rafferty’s material – and not as good as most of what followed. (7/10)

Pride of Lions – Prideland (from Pride of Lions  – 2003)

Yuk. Jim Peterik (Ides of March/Survivor) is one of THE great pop/rock songwriters, but sometimes he goes astray, and this is probably the ‘best’ example of this. Sounding desperately like something written for The Lion King although mercifully even Disney wouldn’t have allowed anything this twee like this on to the soundtrack, even if it hadn’t been over a decade too late. Vocalist Toby Hitchcock tries his best but you can pretty much hear him thinking how lame the whole deal is, especially on this *inspired* verse: ‘The lion king and the lioness/Defend their kingdom against the best/Their pride's survival's the only test/And all the proof their life demands.’ And it’s over six minutes long too…  (1/10)

Marillion – Don’t Hurt Yourself (from Marbles on the Road – 2004)

The second single of Marillion’s mid-noughties ‘chart comeback’, which began with their surprise return to the UK top 10 after a mere 17 years away with You’re Gone, this one also performed respectably, reaching #16. Many fans have a stated preference for Marillion’s more extended/progressive/experimental works, but I’ve always liked their more accessible/commercial stuff just as much and this ticks all the right boxes for me. I think it’s also the only Marillion song that opens with acoustic guitar that doesn’t reduce me to crying like a baby, so that’s nice too…this is an edited version, taken from the promo video as featured on the 2-disc edition of the  Marbles on the Road DVD (and below - check it out!). Presumably this was also the single edit (It’s about two minutes shorter than the album version in any case), but I’m not deducting anything on account of it being an edited version that’s popped up. (9/10)

Marillion – Beautiful (from Somewhere in London  – 2007)

A genuine double-shot to round out this month’s ‘first five’, and given that Marillion account for over 5% of the songs on my ipod (563 of the buggers at present!) if it’s going to happen with anybody it will be them – strange that for this double-shot we’ve also had two tracks from special editions of DVD releases though! The song itself was the band’s final single on EMI (and another UK Top 30 hit), and ranks amongst their very best singles (Kayleigh, Sugar Mice, Easter and Cover My Eyes round out my top 5, in case you wondered)  I’m yet to hear a below-par live version, but this (from what remains the definitive live DVD by anybody, in my book) is one of the best. Invigorating, life-affirming and, yes, beautiful. (10/10)

So another mixed bag, with one of the few truly dreadful songs I own bringing the average score down to 6.6…but let’s do some rounding – an average of 7/10’s pretty decent really, innit?

Some more first impressions...and another final farewell

It seems I’ve erred in allowing one (albeit completely horrid) radio song colour my attitude to a band, even when I suspected all along that they’d be right up my street. Comprised entirely of stellar musicians and fronted by a chap (Eric Martin) who once nearly became Toto’s third lead vocalist (or DID become Toto’s third lead vocalist for almost a week, as Martin tells it!), and with a focus on musicianship and songwriting, why wouldn’t I love them?

The band is Mr. Big, and while it’s possible I know several of their older songs it’s the cloying To  Be With You that I’ve had ringing in my ears and preventing me from buying any of their albums for all these years. With their reunion album What If… being generally very well received (including a rare 100% rating at melodicrock.com) I figured it was finally time to add them to the collection, and starting with the most recent album seemed a logical move – after all, if I like this, I should like their past efforts at least as much. 

The good news is, after just one listen I like it plenty, and while I’m wary of albums that sound good on a first listen – too many end up with nothing more to reveal on repeated plays – I’m confident that this will grow further. Only thing is I’ve a feeling I’m going to have to go back and get their earlier albums, including their biggest success, Lean Into It (1991) – yep, that’d be the one with To Be With You. Who knows, I may even find that song’s not too bad after all. Yeah, right, and if that happens I’ll stop confusing Billy Sheehan with Billy Sherwood…anyway, with this, the new Magnum and John Waite's Rough and Tumble, 2011 is off to a very good start for old-school melodic rock lovers everywhere...

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An album that’s been out for a while now, but I have only just got around to is The Doobie Brothers’ World Gone Crazy. Released last year, it marks the Doobies return to recording  with their first a) studio album in 10 years and b) their first with Ted Templeman producing since One Step Closer (1980) the last album the band put out prior to their early 80s break-up. The previous album, Sibling Rivalry, was a patchy affair, which itself had come nearly a full decade after its predecessor (1991’s Brotherhood). Still, there was a bit of a buzz around this release, not least because of the reunion with Templeman, who produced the band right throughout the 70s, and it’s received mostly positive reviews, so I figured it was worth investigation.

After a couple of listens though, it’s just not hitting the mark for me. As with Sibling Rivalry Patrick Simmons’ contributions are the more musically satisfying, and his voice has worn the years well. Tom Johnston’s efforts, on the other hand, seem repetitive and dull, albeit with some decent lyrics at times, but his songwriting never really developed and his best songs all date from 1971-1975. Actually the rot began to set in from Stampede (1975) with the likes of Rainy Day Crossroad Blues and I Been Workin’ On You weakening the tail-end of an otherwise excellent album. Indeed it’s telling that the standout cut (and first single) on World Gone Crazy is a remake of Nobody, from their completely ignored debut. Now, I’ve been a fan of the Doobies for decades, but unless this album turns out to be a serious grower (which, based on the previous album, won’t be the case) I’ll not be tempted to check out any future output. Although I would plump for a Patrick Simmons solo album…

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Finally, another great musician has passed away in recent days, legendary guitarist Gary Moore. If you’ve read an obituary you’ve probably seen him described as ‘former Thin Lizzy guitarist…’ which, while true, is hardly the way he deserves to be remembered. (I hope that when – in many years time! – John Wetton passes away, he isn’t described as ‘former Uriah Heep bassist….’!)

Sadly, other than a vague memory of his Still Got the Blues days (which passed me by at the time, although I’ll forgive myself the oversight given I was still pre-teens) I wasn’t familiar with his output at all, until last year, when I caught his set at the High Voltage festival, and he turned out to be one of my unexpected highlights of the weekend.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but by the second song (Thunder Rising) he’d won at least one new convert, and I found his set compelling form start to finish. Sadly his planned encore failed to come to pass, as organisers would not let him back on the stage due to timing pressures, and I guess that’s an apt metaphor for his sudden passing – he certainly had more to offer, but was prevented from being able to do so – RIP Gary.

Transatlantic's 'Whirld Tour 2010' Boxed set: Too much of a good thing?

Just under forty years ago Robert Christgau, self-appointed ‘Dean of American rock critics’, was tasked with reviewing Chicago’s 4LP live set Chicago at Carnegie Hall. Deciding that it wasn’t actually necessary to listen to it in order to reach a rating (C- in this case) his capsule ‘review’ concentrated mainly on the packaging. You can read it here:http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=chicago.

Christgau represents everything I hate about rock snob critics, but his consumer guide reviews are worth reading for their entertainment value; just don’t pay any attention to his opinions, as they’ll tend to irritate you if you take them seriously. To give credit where it’s due, I'll reluctantly acknowledge that he is the originator of this type of review, and does have a penchant for the snappy (and, dare I say it, occasionally witty) putdown. It’s just a shame that there have been so many pale imitators taking up this style as though it represents genuine rock journalism. Ah well.

Strangely though, I find myself in a similar predicament of being overwhelmed by the sheer scale of a release as to not be able to even bring myself to play it, namely prog-rock supergroup Transatlantic’s document of last year’s World tour, redubbed Whirld Tour 2010 after 2009s The Whirlwind studio album. The deluxe edition comprises two DVDs and three CDs, consisting of the band’s near 3.5 hour performance at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire. The second DVD also contains an extensive documentary (another 2 hours of material there!) plus a bonus performance from the High Voltage Festival, where the band was joined by Steve Hackett on their rendition of Genesis’ Return of the Giant Hogweed. So about six hours total viewing time. That’s fantastic, it’s very in-depth, thorough and the quality is (I’m sure) exemplary…but when am I ever going to have time to actually watch it?! 

Of course it’s easier to find time to listen to the CDs, as you can do other things at the same time, but so far I’ve only managed to listen to one song. Or, to put it another way, all 80 minutes of disc 1!  While The Whirlwind was always conceived as a single song, on the studio release it was broken into twelve chapters with individual titles, which went some way to aiding its digestion, but here it’s presented as one single solid lump of music – mildly intimidating to put it lightly! The track’s so long that there’s barely room for any audience applause at the end - I seem to recall we cheered for a lot longer than eight seconds! Ah yes, another factor that separates me from Christgau - I was actually present for the recording! 

At the time I was brand new to Transatlantic, having only added The Whirlwind to my collection around a fortnight before the gig - although I'd booked the ticket while still in New Zealand. I was already a fan of two of the band members, specifically bass player Pete Trewavas (on leave of absence from my #1 band, Marillion) and drummer Mike Portnoy (who wasn't quite ex-Dream Theater at this point), so on arrival at the venue I picked a prime spot near the front where I'd be as close to the two of them as possible, albeit in the knowledge that it would be difficult to pay attention to anyone but Portnoy - he is an absolute monster after all! Turns out this was just as well, as I'd never realised just how tiny Pete T is - I was mere metres away from the stage but rarely spotted him all night! (Not helped by the fact I ended up behind a ten-foot tall giant...thankfully I did get to see Pete a couple of months later at the High Voltage festival, where he did double duty, appearing with both Transatlantic and Marillion and effectively headlining the prog stage on both nights - nice).

Guitarist Roine Stolte of The Flower Kings was fine (not a weak link, just not as awe-inspriing as his colleagues, if that makes sense), and live-member-only Daniel Gildenlow was a joy to behold, but the real revelation for me on the night was Neal Morse, formerly of Spock's Beard and currently a solo artist with his very own sub-genre - Christian Prog. While the vocals were shared by all band members, it was Morse who dominated (and rightly so) the vocal department, and I'm always a sucker for a decent keyboardist as well. That would have been more than enough but this phenomenally talented individual had to show off by also playing some guitar and then taking over on the drums when Portnoy decided to do a bit of crowd surfing (and was whisked straight past my right ear as a result!)

Anyway, after The Whirlwind, the remaining songs in the set were significantly shorter, although as three of them were around half an hour long each we were never in any danger of entering three-minute pop song territory! Not being familiar with any of that material may have been a disadvantage, but it didn't feel like it at the time, although it is possible that my brain exploded at some point without me realising it - in any case I'd ordered Transatlantic's first album within an hour of the gig ending, and Morse-era Spock's Beard has also magically appeared (at last) in my collection. I also realised I'd no longer have to persevere with Dream Theater, as I can get my Portnoy fix elsewhere, all thanks to the stunning gig captured for posterity on this release.

 

So, while simply not buying this boxed set might have seemed an option, I really had no choice but to splurge on it (actually it was too ridiculously cheap to even qualify as a splurge...which was nice). And it is beautifully presented, even if getting the second CD out of the case is a bit tricky (Handy hint: remove the third disc first!).  While it’s possible I might never actually get around to watching/listening to everything contained in this package, I’m confident that the quality will be every bit as high as you’d expect from a band of this calibre, so have no hesitation in awarding a rating, perfunctory though it may be, (and, not coincidentally, the same rating as I’d have given the gig itself) of 10/10. Hey, it's better than a C-...I just envy people who have the time on their hands to enjoy it. And get to see Pete...(assuming the cameras had more luck on the night than I did!)

Album Review: Magnum - The Visitation

2011 is off to a great start musically with this album, Magnum’s 16^th studio effort overall, and their 5^th since reforming around a decade ago. The first album of the reunion, 2002s Breath of Life had a somewhat mixed reception, but since then the reformed band have gone from strength to strength, with recent albums – particularly 2007s Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow – proving songwriter/producer/guitarist Tony Clarkin’s muse is well and truly on form.

Paradoxically, while the previous album, 2009’s Into the Valley of the Moonking contained more straight-out rockers (All My Bridges, Feels Like Treason, Blood on Your Barbed Wire Thorns, etc) this effort feels heavier overall, dominated as it is by some very aggressive riffs courtesy of Clarkin, and Harry James’ thunderous (oh dear) drumming.  Excruciating puns aside though, James really is on fire throughout and it feels as though he has truly found his niche within the band. He and bassist Al Barrow certainly reach the bar in terms of making this configuration every bit as vital as the ‘definitive’ Magnum line-up of Clarkin/Catley/Stanway/Lowe/Barker.

The album opens with Black Skies, a mid-tempo, but still aggressive, number that ably sets the tone for the whole album. Bob Catley’s voice is at its raspiest here, but this adds to the ominous feel of the song as a whole. A fine opener, but the best is yet to come.

Doors to Nowhere follows, and this is classic Magnum from start to finish, with multiple tempo changes throughout, climaxing in an irresistibly catchy chorus, the first of several on the album to fight for ‘airplay’ in your head once you’ve finished listening. The instrumental break towards the end of the song also gives the band members ample room to demonstrate their considerable chops. Lyrically the song deals with the innocence of childhood being irretrievably lost to us all, a theme Clarkin has looked at before, notably on Princess Alice’s opener, When We Were Younger. This song is also the inspiration for the Rodney Matthews’ version of the cover art, and would have been a strong contender for a single release in the band’s late 80s (commercial) heyday.

The title track features some of Clarkin’s best lyrics, featuring stunning imagery such as the concept of reaching out in desperation ‘like somebody’s lost child’.  What the ‘visitation’ itself actually entails is open to interpretation; on first reflection it seems clear to be religious, or at least faith-based, but there is the possibility of it being something darker than this, and the music seems to point in this direction. An initially slower instrumental break allows Mark Stanway to build the tension nicely, before those BIG guitars come crashing back into the mix.

Wild Angels adds to the ‘memorable chorus quota’ of the album, there’s a real anthemic feel to this track, making this (hopefully) a dead cert for the forthcoming tour. I can already ‘hear’ the audience singing along in places! It has also reportedly been receiving airplay on Planet Rock (Sorry, Magnum getting airplay? Just how chilly is it in Hell these days?!)

No Magnum album is complete without an absolute epic of the highest order, and Spin Like a Wheel meets that criteria here. The song deals with a relationship in its dying gasps, and all of the hurt that goes with it. I’m not sure if this is written from personal experience, but it feels too real not to be, especially the line, ‘Couldn’t look past your face into your eyes’. Such raw honesty in the lyric is driven home by one of Bob Catley’s finest vocal performances.

The Last Frontier taps once again into our ability to look back on our own pasts through rose-coloured spectacles. Whether you’ve ever experienced ‘England’s warm sunny days’ or not you’ll find the music conjuring up rich, vivid, images of simpler days gone by, in what might just be Magnum’s finest slow number since The Last Dance. The music and lyrics are certainly perfectly matched (although the same is true of basically everything on the album!), culminating in a stirring string arrangement that adds to the sense of peace and innocence that the song engenders.

Magnum have always focussed on the needs of the individual song over the abilities of the players, and for this album it does feel that Mark Stanway’s keyboards are a little more in the background than usual. On Freedom Day he gets his chance in the spotlight, however, beginning with some fabulous interplay with Al Barrow. Yet another big chorus, featuring some excellent vocal harmonies (another important aspect of Magnum’s sound that is all too easy to overlook due to powerhouse Catley’s vocal dominance), and providing some optimism in what is otherwise a fairly dark track.

It’s blatantly impossible to find an absolute favourite song on an album this full of greats, but if pressed I think I might go for Mother Nature’s Final Dance, Tony Clarkin’s elegy to our planet and our seeming inability to notice it falling apart right in front of us. This is a tune laced with mournful regret, but it’s  a questioning, non-judgemental, piece, again rich with imagery, such as that of ‘Sweet ruby wine’ pouring, ‘like blood to the floor’.

I remember my first stereo system had a function wherein you could preview the first ten seconds of each track on a CD to give you a ‘feel’ for what lay ahead. For some reason this album brought that back to mind, by virtue of it proving just how useless it was. You simply don’t know from the beginning of any of these songs where they’re going to take you and Midnight Kings is a case in point. It begins as an out and out rocker, but slows right down for the verses, before exploding back to full pace for the choruses. Just when you think you’ve got the hang of it the final chorus fades into a beautifully orchestrated outro.  I want to say it has a Baroque flavour, but given my knowledge of classical music has faded significantly in recent years I may be out by a century or two. In any case I’d be happy for it to last twice as long as it does.

On the album’s final track, Tonight’s the Night, Bob Catley goes full circle vocally, taking us back to the raspy tones with which he opened the album. The most notable aspect of this track is the sudden change of styles as a barrage of layered vocals comes forth in sheer doo-wop style. On a first listen this seemed incongruous, but I have to say it now seems to fit quite well – although I may just be getting used to it. In any case it’s quite brief, so even if you hate it (as I’m sure some will) it’s gone before it can cause too much upset! Overall the song isn't quite as strong as the others on offer, but still forms a fitting conclusion to the album, particularly with the slow, majestic guitar solo that rings out at the end.

Overall then – a masterpiece. Yes, I’m heavily biased towards all things Magnum, but I do not feel that I’m overstating anything by labelling it as such. Certainly if their recent efforts have hit the spot for you this one is bound to do the same, but even if you’re still harking back to the Storyteller/Wings of Heaven days you will find a lot to love here. Very pleasingly the album has already made a respectable showing in the UK charts, entering at #55 (higher than any Magnum album has been since 1992!) and a staggering #3 in the UK rock album charts, not bad at all for a band the average man in the street will claim never to  have heard of (I do feel sorry for the average man in the street, he doesn't know what he's missing!). As is usual with this band repeated listening is the key to fully appreciating the album -  while it certainly sounds fine on a first listen, there is an awful lot to be gained from repeated, close listening. Right throughout the music and lyrics are married together with exquisite precision, and once the songs have gotten under your skin you’ll do well to avoid having your head become a veritable Magnum jukebox. My only wish is for more keyboards next time around, but that is the only quibble I can scrape up.

Eyes Like Fire, which didn’t make the album, but is included in video form on the DVD (for those with the special edition) is an excellent song, but I do feel that leaving it off was the right decision. As it stands the playing time of just under an hour is perfect, and while it can be tempting to throw everything you’ve got at an album there comes a point where all you do is dilute the impact of the individual songs. Hopefully though, if there are two or three unreleased gems of this quality from each of the reunion album sessions we may get a special release containing them all in the future. Tony Clarkin is not known as one too keen to delve into the past unnecessarily, but if the material is there we can only hope he’ll agree to it being released. If you want to make this happen make sure you write to your local MP...in the meantime, I have no hesitation in announcing that at least one unkool person rates this album 10/10.

Haven’t got it yet? What on Earth are you waiting for?

We're losing everyone...

Another untimely death in the rock world this week, as Cold Chisel’s drummer Steve Prestwich died from a brain tumour on Sunday, aged just 56.  While I’m not a huge Chisel fan, no one can deny that they were/are one of the great Australian bands of all time, and deserved greater recognition than they ever achieved outside of Australasia. Prestwich wasn’t their main songwriter, but did contribute some significant numbers to their catalogue, most notably the stunning When the War is Over.

Following Chisel’s split in 1983 Prestwich soon joined another key Aussie group, the Little River Band, joining for two thirds of their all-too-brief (and sadly overlooked) John Farnham-fronted era, appearing on Playing to Win (1985) and No Reins (1986).  The latter album includes a remake of When the War is Over, which features an absolute tour de force of a vocal performance from Farnham. It’s no surprise that it has been a mainstay of his concert performances ever since, below is a performance from 2007 that I bring to you in tribute to it’s writer,– enjoy (oh, and skip most of the audience banter at the start and go to approx 2.40…). Sadly No Reins was completely ignored upon its release and both Prestwich and Farnham were long gone from LRB by the time of 1988’s patchy Monsoon album. 

Don Kirshner also passed away this week, albeit at a more respectable age of 76. Most famous for his work with the Monkees and The Archies, Kirshner had a long and varied career in the music industry. His signing of Kansas to his own Kirshner label (with whom they recorded from 1974-1984) will forever remain his greatest contribution to my collection and I can’t thank him enough for it.

RIP Don, RIP Steve, RIP it up Mr. Farnham…

First impressions: Magnum – The Visitation (2011)

                                                                                                            

First things first – this is NOT a review. Call me mad, but I like to actually digest an album thoroughly before subjecting it to critique, but that’s simply not the way the world (or more specifically, the internet) works in 2011, so here are some thoughts, based literally on my first time of hearing Magnum’s brand new album, The Visitation.

In short it’s clear that Magnum’s recent form (their previous two albums, Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow and Into the Valley of the Moonking, are on a par with anything they’ve ever released – no mean feat) was no fluke. As with those the new effort is entirely written and produced by band founder Tony Clarkin, a man who epitomises two terms that are bandied about with far too much regularity and little regard to fact: underrated and genius (He plays a mean guitar as well). As ever, vocalist Bob Catley instinctively brings Clarkin’s material to vivid life, seemingly effortlessly – it’s as if Clarkin/Catley were once a single entity somehow split into two, the symbiosis between them is so staggering. Indeed, it’s hard to think of a comparable relationship in rock history, only that between Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel springs to mind, and that only works if you actually like Garfunkel.

The above is not to denigrate the contributions made by the other band members; Magnum stalwart Mark Stanway (keyboards), Al Barrow (bass) and Harry James (drums) are almost as adept as Catley at adding further depth to the material. Barrow also does double duty, being primarily responsible for the layout and artwork of the entire package. While Clarkin is clearly the leader and Catley his 2IC, this is a band in the truest sense.

On a first listen, opener Black Skies didn't leap out at me like a good opener should, but with Doors to Nowhere and the title track following in quick succession, we're quickly in very comfortable territory. That might make it sound as though the band are resting on their laurels, but what I mean is they just scream 'MAGNUM!!!!" in the way only a band with a style all their own can manage. (Classic British rock, with shades of prog is accurate but doesn't do it justice). They certainly aren't afraid of trying new things, as the bluesy intro to Spin Like a Wheel proves, and as for the mid-section of album closer Tonight's the Night...lets just say it seems on the verge of going into doo-wop (or was it barbershop?!) before returning to 'normal' (the sudden burst of 'doo-doo-doos' sounded incongruous on first listen, but I suspect it's purpose will become clearer after repeated plays!). 

There's a nice range of styles and tempos, sometimes within the same song (Midnight Kings for one), another Magnum trademark. Vocally, Catley sounds noticeably raspier than usual in places, with a few more listens I’ll probably work out whether or not this was deliberate.

Clarkin’s lyrics have always been several cuts above standard rock fare, and he handles subjects from ecology (Mother Nature's Final Dance) to human rights (Freedom Day) with his usual panache. The lyrics come across as being written by a deep man who thinks things over, rather than as hollow preaching, as can so often be the case.  The only complaint I have lyrically is the absence of any ‘yeahs’ (Catley can make such a frivolous word ripple with meaning and intensity; hearing him sing ‘yeah’ is one of life’s minor pleasures…but I digress…)

When the time comes for a rating to be given I’d be highly surprised if I could go any lower than 95%...suffice to say that if you’re brand new to Magnum this is as good a starting point as any, so why not get yourself right up to date and work backwards from there (It’s what I did when Princess Alice… was released, hard to imagine that I’ve only been listening to Magnum for a little under 4 years…you see, it’s never too late!). I can't wait to get to know it better and see where it grows (and as soon as I've posted this I'll be off to start that process with spin number 2!). No doubt I'll come to wonder why I didn't love Black Skies instantly and why I've not managed to otherwise mention Wild Angels and The Last Frontier as though they made little impression on a first acquaintance.

The former is actually the first single, so have a listen to it yourself right here:

The album is available in three formats; the album and nothing but the album (featuring the Rodney Matthews cover art), a deluxe special edition containing the album plus DVD (housed in the ‘brooch on black’ artwork, but also featuring the Rodney Matthews art, so no, you don’t have to buy both!) and a super-special, over-the-top box with the CD/DVD package, plus the album in coloured vinyl and an LP-sized 48 page history of the band. (Anything I’ve forgotten? A do-it-yourself heart replacement surgery kit perhaps?)  No doubt your own particular level of devotion to Magnum will determine the edition you go for, but while I consider myself to be a very big fan indeed, I settled for the CD and DVD combo, or the ‘middle-sized Mummy Bear’ version, as I’ve now deemed it should be called, so I can offer thoughts on that aspect of the release as well.

Whereas Princess Alice (definitely) and Moonking (I think!) had bonus DVDs centred on a ‘making of the album’ type documentary, here there are only a couple of slight, but interesting featurettes dealing with the album’s artwork, while the bulk of the DVD is taken up with performance material. Eyes Like Fire (a track that didn’t make the album) is here in a largely in-the-studio style video, but put together by the ever-reliable Tim Sidwell in such a way that it feels like something much more interesting than that suggests. Oh, and (again, based solely on a first view/listen) it’s an absolute cracker. I can only speculate as to why it didn’t make the album and who knows…perhaps it will make the next one.

The centrepiece of the DVD though is a 4-song performance culled from last year’s High Voltage Festival in London. So, half of that set then (yes, it was way too brief). Oh, and it’s in a different order on the DVD than listed on the packaging, running Brand New Morning, When We Were Younger, Les Mort Dansant, All My Bridges. It remains a fantastic performance and When We Were Younger even features lots of ‘yeahs’ to keep me happy…

Obviously, given that I was there, I do crop on on screen from time to time, but I promise that I won’t detract from your enjoyment, in fact I’m happy to guarantee you won’t even notice me at all. (I can also announce that I’ll be appearing as myself once again in Magnum’s next full concert DVD, due to be filmed at the end of April…so look forward to that!)

Somewhat oddly (although this was also the case for Moonking) the DVD also contains something the booklet doesn’t, namely  the lyrics for the album, which, if you prefer to have a physical copy to refer to you can download in PDF form here:  http://www.magnumonline.co.uk/media/viz%20lyrics%202.pdf (note that an earlier version was in a smaller font and repeated the lyrics for Black Skies twice, while leaving Doors to Nowhere out entirely; this was quickly corrected).

Right, so it's too early (in more ways than one) to start naming 'albums of the year' but if this isn't a contender at year's end 2011 will have been a VERY good year for music indeed...

Magnum beginner's guide:

My personal top 5:

Chase the Dragon (1982)

On a Storyteller’s Night (1985)

Wings of Heaven (1988)

Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow (2007)

Into the Valley of the Moonking (2009)

Missing from my own collection: A handful, mostly from the early 90s, of which Sleepwalking (1992) is probably the most highly-regarded.

Compilations: There are a tonne of them, and all have their merits, but the fact is Magnum is a band that if you like, you’ll love, so you’re going to want everything anyway, you might as well just buy the original albums in the first place.

Avoid: Paying attention to any idiot who uses the phrases 'Magnum' and 'dull mid-tempo plod' in the same breath…!