We all know and love British legends MAGNUM most successful albums, but their early efforts are very good LP’s as well. As requested, here’s ”Magnum II”, the 2nd studio album by the English band released in 1979 in its Japanese expanded Limited Edition remastered including 5 bonus tracks.
”Magnum II” followed on from the success of Magnum’s debut album, Kingdom Of Madness. The LP was produced by former Ten Years After bass player Leo Lyons, who had success with Phenomenon, Force It and No Heavy Petting for UFO.
As with their debut album Kingdom Of Madness, much of the material on ”Magnum II” was already written and had already been previewed in Magnum’s live set and were suitably “road tested”.
In 1979, Bob Catley, Tony Clarkin and the rest of the band went back into the studio to record their follow up LP. Released in November, the prosaically titled ‘Magnum II’ continued down a musical path of pomp and light prog rock, but in many ways featured much more accessible songs.
Decades on, it is little more than a fan curio in relation to the bigger picture of a career spanning so many years, but as a stand-alone listen it’s still a thoroughly enjoyable record. An under-appreciated forty minutes, it’s very much the kind of album that deserves to be revisited by so many fans of melodic and progressive rock.
Musically “Magnum II” shows the band’s evolution. Its music is more mature, the melodic work is even more impressive and Tony Catlin’s guitar is widely highlighted. All this leads to a brilliant melodic hard rock with a progressive touch, the work on keyboards and piano being of a rare finesse. Finally Bob Catley confirms his vocal talent with a remarkable performance.
And it emerges from these ten tracks several excellent songs like ‘Great Adventure’. A very rich drawer track, it alternates between acoustic and electric with powerful epic passages and quiet piano moments, and confirms that Magnum creates a strong personality for itself.
With ‘Reborn’, ‘Changes’, ‘The Battle’ and ‘So Cold The Night’, Magnum shows its talent for catchy melodies within songs well served by gorgeous choruses and brilliant riffs and solos. With the ballads ‘If I Could Life Forever’ and ‘Stayin’ Alive’, he is also an excellent emotional storyteller, with Catley being particularly inspired in style.
Finally, the band is again going off the beaten track with a very jazzy ‘All Of My Life’, deliciously catchy and once again remarkably interpreted.
This Japanese expanded reissue by Arcangelo Records in a vinyl / paper sleeve replica includes as bonus hard to find songs: single B-sides, a remix and alternate versions.
“Magnum II” is a brilliant confirmation of these British talents. With this record the band lays the foundations for what will be its glory in the albums to come.
A bit forgotten, this album deserves to be re-discovered at its true value as it contains excellent songwriting & performances and excels in the melodic research.
HIGHLY Recommended
Arcangelo ＡＲＣ ～ 7160
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01 – Great Adventure
02 – Changes
03 – The Battle
04 – If I Could Live Forever
05 – Reborn
06 – So Cold The Night
07 – Foolish Heart
08 – Stayin’ Alive
09 – Firebird
10 – All Of My Life
BONUS TRACKS:
11 – Lonesome Star (B-Side)
12 – Changes (Remix Version)
13 – Everybody Needs (B-Side)
14 – Changes (Live)
15 – Foolish Heart (Acoustic Version)
Bob Catley — Vocals
Tony Clarkin – Guitar
Wally Lowe – Bass
Richard Bailey – Keyboards, Flute
Kex Gorin – Drums