Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Magnum
Label: SPV Records
Release: 2011
Running time: 69:44
Rating: 4/5
Magnum need no special introduction among the “defenders of rock honor” who got “overlooked by the music world”. This is the melodic rock band you can’t squeeze into any one pigeonhole, because there’s always a creative deviation of refined art-rock haze hanging over them. These guys have a finely honed knack for crafting first-class, melodically bombastic tunes, which peaked in the eighties with the unforgettable run of the holy trinity of albums “On A Storytellers Night” (1985), “Vigilante” (1986) and “Wings Of Heaven” (1988) — and it has to be said that Magnum have never put out a bad album in their whole career. This time around they’ve put together a special kind of release to mark 10 years under the wing of the German label SPV Records. It’s a release that will delight above all their most loyal fans!
The Magnum “SPV Records era” kicks off with the album Breath Of Life (2001), and the decade that runs up to the present day is rounded off on this compilation with material from this year’s “The Visitation” (2011). “Evolution” is therefore a special kind of compilation, cramming onto a single disc the best cuts from Magnum’s SPV Records-era albums “Breath Of Life”, “Brand New Morning”, “Princess Alice And The Broken Arrow”, “Into The Valley Of The Moon King” and “The Visitation”! But the band didn’t put the original studio versions on the album. Instead, they used the occasion to touch up the originals. No, they didn’t re-record the songs in full in the studio — they went at the polishing piece by piece. The keyboards, for instance, were left untouched across the board, while the band stepped in more noticeably on the guitar riffs, the drums and the bass lines. Bob Catley also re-sang a few of the vocal lines.
The biggest changes hit the reworked originals from the first two SPV Records albums. The fresh touches of cosmetic improvement gradually fade on “Evolution” the closer we get to 2011. On “The Visitation”, the tracks The Visitation and Wild Angels kept their original form, identical to the one on the studio release of the album “The Visitation”. In other words, those two songs weren’t tampered with at all. Tony Clarkin, the main driving force behind the makeover of the songs on “Evolution”, breathed a generous dose of liveliness into the refreshed tracks. On top of that, he cranked up the blanket of guitar riffs, which sounds even warmer, more real and more predatory in the sonic overhaul. In contrast, he put the rhythm section front and center, and it makes no secret of its freshness and its drive to prove itself, thanks to the highly committed pairing of the two youngest members of the new Magnum: drummer Harry James (also of Thunder) and bassist Al Barrow.
The sound of the material on “Evolution” is thus pulled very close to the production of the album “The Visitation”, which makes total sense, since “Evolution” follows on from the two releases in chronological order and embodies the spirit and essence of today’s Magnum lineup, along with the full reach of its creative intelligence at the current stage of its art-rock philosophy.
The last two albums in particular confirm that the revamped Magnum are enjoying a new youthful bloom today. Maybe some of you quietly wished that “Evolution” would feature a selection of the “best” material from the SPV Records-era albums, played completely anew rather than just partially reworked. But this time Magnum shut up those inconsolable zealots by putting two brand-new songs on “Evolution”. Naturally, these two are also a kind of sequel to the album “The Visitation”, and in terms of interesting arrangements the first one, The Fall, takes the lead, with its integration of Clarkin’s signature Celtic melodic flourish. All the trademark elements of the recognizable Magnum sermon work to the full in both songs (when it comes to creating that typical Magnum bombast, The Fall leads the pack), and they confirm that the band isn’t stopping on its path of renaissance-style flowering, but keeps on evolving.
This isn’t an album you absolutely must have in your collection unless you’re a sworn Magnum fan. You could call it a sort of bonus disc to the album “The Visitation”, one that not only marks 10 years of the band’s association with SPV Records but also bridges the wait for the band’s next proper studio album! Either way, it’s a highly recommended addition to your CD collection, especially considering that studio albums from the band’s older SPV Records releases aren’t exactly easy to find on music store shelves these days.
Lineup
Bob Catley – vocals
Tony Clarkin – guitar
Mark Stanway – keyboards
Al Barrow – bass
Harry James – drums
Production
Tony Clarkin
Track list
01. That Holy Touch
02. Just Like January
03. Brand New Morning
04. Immigrant Son
05. When We Were Younger
06. Out Of The Shadows
07. All My Bridges
08. Blood On Your Barbed Wire Thorns
09. The Visitation
10. Wild Angels
11. The Fall*
12. Do You Know Who You Are?*
*… new songs
