Magnum is a hard rock band from the UK formed during the late seventies, releasing twenty-three studio albums across an incredible fifty-year career.
In the history of hard rock music there’s been so many great bands, some of them even labelled as the greatest. And then there’s Magnum – a band who’ve consistently delivered at the top of their game. The band have a back catalogue to rival many of the worlds biggest bands, featuring twenty three studio albums, nine live albums, ten compilations, and over twenty singles! Beginning their career supporting the likes of Judas Priest, Whitesnake, and Ozzy Osbourne, Magnum quickly elevated to headliner status, touring the UK in 1987 on the back of the bands top ten charting album ‘Wings Of Heaven’ – and my first time seeing the band live at Birmingham’s iconic NEC Arena! Over the years though, the band has survived line-up changes, an ever changing rock scene, and even a four year hiatus – during which time founding members Tony Clarkin and Bob Catley formed Hard Rain, releasing two albums, ‘Hard Rain’ (1997) and ‘When The Good Times Come’ (1999).
But right here, right now, it’s all about ‘Here Come The Rain’ – a ten song, fifty one minute roller coaster of rock, featuring the bands incredible array of styles from hard rock to classic rock, pomp rock to riff-rock, and everything in-between! Magnum are one of the true greats of hard rock with an instantly recognisable sound – no matter where or when you hear the band, you just know it’s Magnum. And that sentiment rings oh so true for the albums hard rocking opener ‘Run Into The Shadows’ – the band’s majestic elegance shining ever so brightly! And if memory serves me right, every Magnum album opener has been a hard hitting first punch just to let you know it’s Magnum – but then you can’t mistake the band for anyone else! There’s simply no-one with the same sound, poise or grandeur – the Birmingham band standing tall and proud in the hard rock arena.
Title song ‘Here Comes The Rain’ launches forth with even more elegance than the album opener, Magnum striding on with shoulders back and head held high, inviting everyone to come and listen – listen to one of the most perfect rock bands ever! And I’m not saying that because of my bias towards British bands, or the fact I’ve seen them live (more than once), it’s because they just are. The bands history, achievements and accolades speaks for itself – ‘Some Kind Of Treachery’ maintaining the new albums elegant nature, the sound reminding me of the bands ‘On A Storyteller’s Night’ era. An era that propelled the band to new heights of popularity with rock fans all over the world becoming fanatical over the bands music!
Music that continues to grow Magnum‘s fanbase – even after fifty years at the top – ‘Here Comes The Rain’ (the album) switching gears to roar loud with the all out rocker ‘After The Silence’. Featuring an infectious riff-rock aura, ‘After The Silence’ is the rockiest song heard so far, creating ear to ear smiles on the faces of every listener, fan and follower everywhere. And for some, vigorous head nodding too – for Magnum inject a small amount of heavy metal into at least one song per album, ‘After The Silence’ the latest genre-hopping, border-breaking offering. Such versatility and variety is incredible, the first single released ‘Blue Tango’ maintaining the up tempo nature of the previous song, but with a much prouder swagger! A swagger that swings this way and that, parading around rock territory like it owns the place – and I for one ain’t gonna argue!
Magnum have owned the realms of pomp, stadium, and arena rock for decades, always giving one hundred percent and never letting anyone down – the rock roller coaster rolling on relentlessly with the dramatic ‘The Day He Lied’. And an epically tinged atmosphere to send shivers down the spine of every listener, with goosebumps forming on forearms, and adrenaline levels spiking such is the song’s emphatic imapct! There is a genre of heavy metal called “epic and glory metal”, reserved for bands with anthemic leanings such as Manowar and Sabaton – now if ever there was an “epic and glory” genre of rock, then Magnum would be both its ambassador and torch bearer. The album continues to get better and better, ‘The Seventh Darkness’ a mesmerising meander through every style of rock the band have in their locker! The incredible variety on offer is exactly what you expect from a Magnum album – and it’s exactly what you get!
And as I mentioned earlier, Magnum doesn’t ever let anyone down, never putting a foot wrong to deliver amazing rock albums time and time again – ‘Here Comes The Rain’ (the album) no exception! Moving into the most majestic realm heard so far, ‘Broken City’ is a masterstroke of elegancy, a jaw-dropping chill coming to the fore as the band adopt a mighty regal feel. Songwriting is a skill I firmly believe you are born with and cannot be learned – and yes I can hear you all howling at me to say “yes it can”. And to some extent yes, it can – but passion and heartfelt emotions can’t! And that’s what separates great songwriters from the greatest – Tony Clarkin one of rock’s greatest songwriters. And to continually come up with new and fresh ideas album after album, year after year for fifty years is simply amazing.
And with only two songs left to go, there’s no let up in the incredible melodious nature of ‘Here Comes The Rain’ (the album), ‘I Wanna Live’ the next delightful slice of harmonious hard rock come AOR come arena rock! Magnum is relentless in its drive to deliver crowd-pleasing and eargasmic rock, continually succeeding where many others continually fail – rock is most definitely not dead regardless of what an aging American glam rocker says! The final song on offer ‘Borderline’, is also the longest, clocking in at six and a half minutes in length! And what a final hurrah – from the tension-fueled, anticipation-loaded intro, through the punch and crunch to the majestic, melodic hard rock march, Magnum round off a terrific album in sensational style.
Overall, elegant hard rock from one of the finest rock bands to ever grace the planet, ‘Here Comes The Rain’ is infectious and catchy as hell.
ADDENDUM: On January 9th 2024, Magnum announced that founding member Tony Clarkin had passed away, the band cancelling their Spring tour. ‘Here Comes The Rain’ was released just five days before his death, reaching number one in the official UK rock and metal albums chart. Rest in peace Tony.
TRACKLIST
Run Into The Shadows
Here Comes The Rain
Some Kind Of Treachery
After The Silence
Blue Tango
The Day He Lied
The Seventh Darkness
Broken City
I Wanna Live
Borderline
Magnum: Facebook
Release Year: 2024
Label: Steamhammer / SPV
Category: Album
Country: UK
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire and Metal-Roos.
