Magnum - 2024 - Here Comes the Rain

(50:15; Steamhammer)

It is always difficult to review a band when there has been a death, especially so when it is the main composer, and even more so when it is a band I have been following for more than 40 years. From the day I saw their ‘Live’ double single available for the princely sum of 50p I was keen to hear what they sounded like which led to me buying it, soon getting ‘Marauder’ and then the two studio albums they had released at that point, ‘Kingdom of Madness’ and ‘II’. There then followed the golden period for Magnum, with ‘Chase The Dragon’ and ‘The Eleventh Hour’ leading directly to ‘On a Storyteller’s Night’. In December 1985 I saw them for the first time (supported by some outfit called IQ!), something I repeated over the years, always in awe of Bob Catley’s vocals and Tony Clarkin’s songs. Magnum broke up in 1995, before Tony asked Bob to sing on his new project Hard Rain, which in turn led to the reformation in 2001, and they have been going ever since.

Tony has always had a particular style, and somewhat unusually for a sole guitarist has always been happy to sit in the background and not even provide solos, leaving that to the keyboard player, knowing the arrangements are there for Bob to strut his stuff, surely one of the finest and under-rated singers of the last 50 years. There have been multiple line-up changes over the years, but this line-up has been in place for a few years with Clarkin and Catley joined by keyboardist Rick Benton, bassist Dennis Ward and drummer Lee Morris. It is strange to think that Catley was 25 when he and Clarkin formed Magnum in 1972, and more than 50 years later he is still fronting the band and his vocals do not seem as if they have aged at all. Some singers lose their presence as they get older, but not Bob, he is singing as well as ever and listening to the belting “Blue Tango” I can imagine him striding the stage in full control. Part of me is saying this is the best album I have heard from Magnum in years, but is that due to the quality of the music or is it that I know it will be the last studio release and I want it to be good? That it reached #2 in Germany, #3 in Austria and #4 in Switzerland, their highest ever chart placings in those countries is something of a surprise, is it due to the quality of the album or what everyone was thinking about Clarkin?

I don’t know to be honest, and I am still confused as to my own feelings on it. There is definitely a part of me who wants to say it is the best they have done since 2002’s ‘Breath of Life’, but to be honest they have never released a shocking album so perhaps it is just best to say that yet again Magnum have delivered the goods. This is a fitting end to a wonderful musical career, and if you have ever enjoyed Magnum then rest assured the pomp and presence is here in spades. Thanks for the music, guys.  

Kev Rowland, April 2024

Links:
http://www.magnumonline.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/SPVsteamhammer/