Sonicbond Publishing [Publication date 26.04.24]

The merits of these “On track…” books lie in the authors’ comprehensive trawling of sources as much as subjective opinion. Matthew Taylor’s expose of Magnum drives a balance between the two. He has used a wide range of material to inform his track by track breakdown but he avoids too much subjective analysis which can sometimes taint these tomes. However, as typically with this series, none of the movers and shakers have been interviewed for the book.

Newcomers and old hands alike will find much of interest here. For fans, the text merely reinforces what they have known for a long time, for some as far back as the late 1970s. Magnum were and are a great band and Taylor may be right to describe them as one of the most underrated.

With this book’s publication tinged by the poignancy of Tony Clarkin’s passing in January it does also allow a fresh re-evaluation of his amazing output.

Strangely Taylor omits the band’s first single ‘Sweets For My Sweet’ in his introduction. Another reference might have been to the large number of picture and shaped discs that came out in the 1980s and a comprehensive discography is lacking. The illustrations reflect the conventional album releases.

Some of Taylor’s detail is a little misleading or lacking. The original cover of the band’s debut ‘Kingdom of Madness’, for example, was replaced by Jet for the UK in 1979 based on the US version.

It may be that the newcomer to Magnum’s music will be drawn to specific periods of their history and these are well covered in the narrative. The late-1970s was characterised by a certain “Dungeons and Dragons” ambience in both the semi-prog music and the cover artwork.

By the mid to late-1980s the band were on a roll starting with ‘On A Storyteller’s Night’ which, whilst still steeped in fantastical imagery, also had the punchy commercial tunes that presaged the full flowering with ‘Wings Of Heaven’ (1988).

This was the band’s most successful commercial period and Taylor rightly repositions ‘Goodnight LA’ and ‘Sleepwalking’ as worthy of more attention. Both albums would certainly benefit from a modern remastering, the former especially. ‘Rock Art’ similarly in 1994 “stands up well alongside the other perennially underrated 1990s albums that preceded it.”

The irony is perhaps that, as the author states, the band’s latest offering (released a few days after Clarkin’s death) is one of their best.

Taylor does reference Get Ready to ROCK! in his introduction recognising our “Magnum Month” in 2022 although more accurately it is the review website that has championed the band over an extended period rather than the radio station. In his use of sources, he has preferred to quote from many other “webzines” and print media rather than GRTR! which does seem a bit short-sighted, although of course I am biased. In the list of online resources the radio website link is incorrect which is a bit slapdash too.

The interviews in particular would have yielded material and might have allowed – for example – more of an expose of long-term keyboard member Mark Stanway’s departure abruptly in late 2016 rather than the somewhat vague and inaccurate “the precise reasons…are not entirely clear and, anyway, probably not particularly important”.

This is a little insulting to the band’s longest-serving keyboard player who had increasingly found his creative role in the band suppressed and the use of pre-programmed pads in the live situation excessive.

As Bob Catley told me in December 2023, Magnum “was very much Tony’s band” and he called the shots. This also explains why Stanway really enjoyed the more collaborative process of making ‘Rock Art’, as Taylor also recounts (“he hadn’t had as much freedom making a Magnum record in 14 years”) and it remains his favourite.

In retrospect, and with suitable distance from Clarkin’s sad passing, it may also be more accurate to apply proper critique to his guitar skills which by the latest album were somewhat diluted. As Taylor remarks it’s “a record short on guitar breaks”.

I can only think that he was not in the best of health for longer than we appreciate and this would have impacted on his playing. He told me previously that he was sometimes unhappy with his guitar rig and how that translated to both studio and live work. This partly explains the re-recordings and mixes that appeared on the ‘Evolution’ compilation in 2011.

These aspects aside, this is a much-needed, welcome, and well written account of one of our favourite bands. In its own way a fitting tribute to Tony Clarkin’s achievement, and not least to the critical and creative role of his loyal musical collaborator Bob Catley. ****

Review by David Randall

The Grotto of Greatness (Magnum, December 2023)

Album review (Here Comes The Rain, 2024)

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)