ADD LINK! Hear No Evil Recordings / Cherry Red Records are releasing “Great Adventure: The Jet Years 1978-1983”, a terrific box set celebrating the first phase of MAGNUM’s existence, specifically the band’s tenure with Jet Records, the record label run by Sharon Osborne’s father and which also used to be home to bands such as ELO, Black Sabbath, Girl and Gary Moore.
This box-set contains a whopping 6 discs with a total duration of five and a half hours all over 80 tracks, with tons of worthy bonus tracks. In fact, one disc is for “Archive” rarities alone.
Since their debut LP ”Kingdom Of Madness” the quality songwriting and melodic, pompy, proggy hard rock music flowed from the very start.
Disc 1 contains Magnum’s debut album “Kingdom of Madness”…. no more, no less. It was released in 1978 but had actually been recorded two years earlier. Rock music was booming back then so this album’s release benefitted from a receptive music scene. “Kingdom of Madness” contained some Proggish elements without any Prog pretentiousness. Lead vocalist Bob Catley sounds particularly exuberant and musically speaking the band is almost unrecognisable when compared to their current incarnation.
The production is a bit thin, but nevertheless the album contains some great numbers, such as the title-track and ‘The Bringer’. This is a snapshot of a band that seems unsure about what musical direction to take.
Disc 2 – Now we come to the juicier stuff. The second CD contains archival material – demo tracks, outtakes and the like. The Magnum very first demo is here, and is easy to tag each song with specific contemporary bands… such as ‘Sea Bird’ (Uriah Heep), ‘Stormbringer’ (Jethro Tull) and ‘Captain America’ (Kiss). Of course these comparisons merely reflect my own impressions. The first 4 tracks of this disc are actually the first recordings Magnum ever made.
‘Without Your Love’, was recorded during the “Kingdom of Madness” sessions but omitted from the album’s official release, is another track on this disc. It’s a mellow number with great choir vocals but it’s easy to see why Magnum felt the song didn’t fit with the rest of the album.
There are also a couple of different versions of ‘Kingdom of Madness’, a song which makes several appearances within this box-set.
The 3rd disc mainly contains “II”, Magnum’s second album, which had been promoted by the singles ‘Changes’ and ‘Foolish Heart’. On the back of this album, the band had toured extensively with bands such as Judas Priest and Blue Oyster Cult. Consequently Magnum’s fanbase kept growing back in the early 1980s.
“II” brings Magnum closer to their classic sound even though there are moments here when the band still sounds very different. In my opinion, even though it might not have been as successful as its predecessor, this is an underrated album boasting several gems, such as ‘So Cold The Night’ and ‘Stayin’ Alive’.
The disc also contains a couple of different versions of ‘Changes’ and an acoustic Swing / Be-Bop version of ‘Foolish Heart’ complete with trumpet and sax…. all of which will certainly intrigue the avid Magnum fan. ‘All Of My Life’ is an epic song featuring, amongst other things, Jazzy piano runs from Richard Bailey as well as a Bob Catley in fine form. Despite that, I prefer the live version of the song as it appears in “Invasion Live”… a point which neatly segues into the next disc….
The fourth CD is jam-packed to capacity with live recordings. Besides containing “Marauder”, there’s also Magnum’s live EP from 1980 as well as most of their “Invasion Live” live album. Although “Invasion Live” was released in 1989, it contains the recording of a concert Magnum had done in Nashville back in 1982 when supporting Ozzy’s band… in fact it was the first tour Ozzy had done after Randy Rhoads’ death.
“Marauder” was recorded at London’s legendary Marquee venue in December of 1979 and there’s a great vibe at that gig. The band’s performance is not flawless but perhaps that’s what makes it so real.
“Invasion Live” is split between the 4th and 5th discs and while I understand that there are issues of capacity limits with CD’s I’m not sure I like the idea of an album chopped in two. Nevertheless there’s some good stuff here, such as an inspired Richard Bailey on keyboards and a playful but hard-hitting rendition of ‘Reborn’.
Magnum have never released anything which I dislike but for me the “Magnum Live” EP is a snapshot of the band at its best. In ‘The Battle’, one of the songs in “Marauder”, Bob Catley sings: “Where do we go from here?” Well, you’re about to find out where…
Disc 5 contains “Chase The Dragon”. Possibly Magnum’s most accomplished album to date and in fact it had dented the top 20 of the UK charts. The songwriting quality is superb, the music epic and diverse and the sound is very well-rounded.
Keyboardist Richard Baily got replaced by Mark Stanway, who would remain in Magnum for many years. After having been recorded, the album took a while to be released and in fact Stanway was already with the band for a couple of years when eventually it did come out.
“Chase The Dragon” was the 1st Magnum album to be adorned with Rodney Matthews’ artwork. Matthews would of course go on to illustrate several albums for the band.
There isn’t the whiff of a filler here but standout tracks include ‘Universe’ with its instantly recognisable keyboard intro and live favourite ‘The Spirit’. The additional tracks are live versions of “Chase The Dragon” songs that appeared in “Invasion Live” plus a slightly different version of ‘Soldier On The Line’.
Disc 6 ”The Eleventh Hour!”, was Magnum’s 4th studio album, and a strong follow-up to “Chase The Dragon”, but lacked its predecessor’s inventiveness. With this album Magnum moved away from Prog in favour of Rock and AOR traits.
Lyrically these songs are observations of all the world’s ills. For example ‘Vicious Companion’ refers to social inequalities and ‘The Word’ is about the pressures of contemporary life. Other noteworthy songs include ‘Road To Paradise’ and ‘The Great Disaster’.
The disc’s bonus tracks are alternate versions of some of the album’s songs, including an orchestral version of the declamatory, quasi-philosophical ‘The Word’, cliché, but worth buying the album for.
There’s also one called ‘True Fine Love’ – a song that had been recorded in “The Eleventh Hour!” sessions but omitted from the original release. It has more of a Rock ‘N’ Roll feel to it, something Magnum have often indulged in during their concerts.
After “The Eleventh Hour” frustrations with the way Jet Records managed the band’s releases contributed in part to a decision by Magnum to seek a new home for their music.
Is “Great Adventure: The Jet Years 1978-1983” about nostalgia? About good songs maybe? Yes. And yes. More specifically this box set is an ideal acquisition for Magnum fans who missed out on some or all of the band’s early years.
It is very pleasurable to follow the band’s evolution and growth across those four early albums. All the live and rare stuff is simple a huge bonus. The Clarkin/Catley combo are pure magic now with 22 studio albums under their collective belts. Any curious fan or completist will want to go on great adventure exploring the past of this superior band.
As we know, Magnum would continue to fly their flag for some time to come, yet these Jet albums provide much evidence on which their reputation is based.
Highly Recommended
Kingdom Of Madness (1978)
CD1-1 In The Beginning
CD1-2 Baby Rock Me
CD1-3 Universe
CD1-4 Kingdom Of Madness
CD1-5 All That Is Real
CD1-6 The Bringer
CD1-7 Invasion
CD1-8 Lords Of Chaos
CD1-9 All Come Together
Archive (1974-1976)
CD2-1 Sea Bird (1974 Demo)
CD2-2 Stormbringer (1974 Demo)
CD2-3 Slipping Away (1974 Demo)
CD2-4 Captain America (1974 Demo)
CD2-5 Master Of Disguise (Kingdom Of Madness Session Outtake)
CD2-6 Without Your Love (Kingdom Of Madness Session Outtake)
CD2-7 Find The Time (Kingdom Of Madness Session Outtake)
CD2-8 Everybody Needs (Kingdom Of Madness Session Outtake)
CD2-9 Kingdom Of Madness (Alternative Version)
Magnum II (1979)
CD3-1 Great Adventure
CD3-2 Changes
CD3-3 The Battle
CD3-4 If I Could Live Forever
CD3-5 Reborn
CD3-6 So Cold The Night
CD3-7 Foolish Heart
CD3-8 Stayin’ Alive
CD3-9 Firebird
CD3-10 All Of My Life
Bonus Tracks
CD3-11 Lonesome Star
CD3-12 Changes (Remix Version)
CD3-13 Everybody Needs
CD3-14 Changes (Live)
CD3-15 Foolish Heart (Acoustic Version)
Marauder (1980)
CD4-1 If I Could Live Forever
CD4-2 The Battle
CD4-3 Foolish Heart
CD4-4 In The Beginning
CD4-5 Reborn
CD4-6 Changes
CD4-7 So Cold The Night
CD4-8 Lords Of Chaos
Bonus Tracks
CD4-9 All Of My Life (Magnum Live E.P.)
CD4-10 Great Adventure (Magnum Live E.P.)
CD4-11 Invasion (Magnum Live E.P.)
CD4-12 Kingdom Of Madness (Magnum Live E.P.)
CD4-13 Reborn (Invasion Live)
CD4-14 Changes (Invasion Live)
CD4-15 All Of My Life (Invasion Live)
CD4-16 Invasion (Invasion Live)
CD4-17 Kingdom Of Madness (Invasion Live)
Chase The Dragon (1982)
CD5-1 Soldier Of The Line
CD5-2 On The Edge Of The World
CD5-3 The Spirit
CD5-4 Sacred Hour
CD5-5 Walking The Straight Line
CD5-6 We All Play The Game
CD5-7 The Teacher
CD5-8 The Lights Burned Out
Bonus Tracks
CD5-9 Back To Earth
CD5-10 Hold Back Your Love
CD5-11 Soldier Of The Line (Invasion Live)
CD5-12 Sacred Hour (Invasion Live)
CD5-13 Long Days, Black Nights
CD5-14 The Lights Burned Out (Archive)
CD5-15 The Spirit (Invasion Live)
CD5-16 Soldier Of The Line (Acoustic Version)
Eleventh Hour (1983)
CD6-1 The Prize
CD6-2 Breakdown
CD6-3 The Great Disaster
CD6-4 Vicious Companions
CD6-5 So Far Away
CD6-6 Hit And Run
CD6-7 One Night Of Passion
CD6-8 The Word
CD6-9 Young And Precious Souls
CD6-10 Road To Paradise
Bonus Tracks
CD6-11 The Word (Alternative Orchestral Version)
CD6-12 True Fine Love (Outtake)
CD6-13 The Prize (Acoustic Version)
CD6-14 One Night Of Passion (Acoustic Version)