Magnum (band)
| Magnum | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Rock , AOR |
| Website | www.magnumonline.co.uk |
| Founding members | |
| Bob Catley | |
| Tony Clarkin | |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
Bob Catley |
| Dennis Ward | |
guitar |
Tony Clarkin |
| Lee Morris | |
| Rick Benton | |
Magnum is an English hard rock - band . It was founded in 1972 by Bob Catley and Tony Clarkin in Birmingham . The style of the pieces written by the band is shaped by Bob Catley's vocals as well as the accompanying keyboards and synthesizers, which are rather untypical for a hard rock group and which, especially during the early phase, consolidated the sound of the English.
Band history
Until 1979
Initially the band played background for Del Shannon and other American singers at their concerts in England. However, the success was moderate and the concerts were of a rather small nature. The real breakthrough came in 1976 as the opening act for the metal band Judas Priest .
Despite the controversial mix of Judas Priests heavy metal and the more "normal" rock of Magnum, Jet Records - which at the time also had the Electric Light Orchestra under contract - became aware of the group and offered them a record deal.
The first two albums Kingdom of Madness (whose title song was to be kept in the live set for over 10 years) and Magnum II were released less than a year apart.
Although Catley even consulted David Coverdale - the Whitesnake singer - for advice on stage shows, concerts remained the exception. There were only eight live performances before Magnum II was released .
1980 to 1985
1980 came out the third work Marauder as a live album. At this time keyboardist Mark Stanway (for Richard Bailey), drummer Kex Gorin and bassist Colin "Wally" Lowe worked out the long-standing line-up of the band. Supporting appearances for bands such as Blue Öyster Cult , Def Leppard , Tygers of Pan Tang , Krokus and Ozzy Osbourne proved to be a stepping stone into the American music scene.
In the fourth album, Chase the Dragon , the American influences - not least through producer Jeff Glixman and their appearances as the opening act for Kansas - could no longer be ignored, which brought Magnum a top 20 ranking.
In 1983 it initially seemed as if the band wanted to break up. The new album The Eleventh Hour sold well below the record company's expectations.
When Mark Stanway returned to the band and Bob Catley couldn't find another singer role, optimism rose again. With the last of their own money, the album On a Storyteller's Night was recorded at FM Records . This record reached the top 30 in the album charts and, in addition to the best reviews for the band, also brought in a contract with Polydor and the opening of the Monsters of Rock Festival . On a Storyteller's Night is widely regarded as the classic Magnum album by which all of the following were measured.
1986 to 1995
In 1986 the album Vigilante , produced by Queen drummers Roger Taylor and Dave Richards, came out.
Wings of Heaven even made it into the Top 5 in 1988 with a mixture of the styles heard on Vigilante and On a Storyteller's Night . The title Pray for the Day asked the audience to pray for the fall of the Berlin Wall . Quote: "Pray for the day this city's wall, concrete for chains, will crumble and fall ..."
1988 was one of Magnum's most successful years with three sold out concerts at London's famous Hammersmith Odeon . The spectacle was recorded on video and as a radio concert.
In 1990 the album Goodnight LA reached neither the rankings nor the positive reviews of its predecessor. The following tour was edited and released on the album The Spirit .
In 1992, the album Sleepwalking was released under the record company Music for Nations .
Keeping the Nite Light Burning , released by FM Records in 1993, was in line with the MTV unplugged spirit of the time. That year the first compilation called Archives came out. On the one hand, this consisted of first releases of songs from the early days of Magnum, recorded in the Nest studios in Birmingham in 1974, such as B. Sea Bird , Slipping Away , on the other hand from edited or alternative / original versions of well-known songs like Kingdom of Madness , The Word , Lights Burned Out etc.
In 1994 EMI released Rock Art, the first record since Kingdom of Madness .
In late 1995, the band broke up after one last live performance in Wolverhampton . Clarkin and Catley continued as a duo Hard Rain , with new sounds and different styles of music. At the same time, a double album called The Last Dance came out, which impressively documents Magnum's last live performances.
2002 until today
In 2002 the reunification took place; the studio albums Breath of Life and 2004 Brand New Morning , which have a noticeable change in style to melodic hard rock, were released. A successful tour in 2005 celebrated the 20th anniversary of the On a Storyteller's Night album. The concert from the London Astoria was released on a live DVD titled Livin 'the Dream . On March 23, 2007, the album Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow was released . Magnum tend to focus on the quieter sides of rock music and return to fantastic themes with titles like Dragons Are Real . In 2009, the band's sixteenth studio album, Into the Valley of the Moonking , was released, which also featured a tour of Europe. In January 2011 the new album The Visitation was released. At the end of the year, the Best of Compilation Evolution followed , which contains two new songs as well as remixed and partly newly recorded versions of the best tracks from 2002 to 2011. In September 2012, the new studio album On the 13th Day was released, which was advertised with an extensive European tour at the end of the year. This album was released for the first time in many years with So Let It Rain again.
In March 2014 the album Escape from the Shadow Garden followed, which was followed by the live recording Escape from the Shadow Garden - Live 2014 in May 2015 . In February 2016, Magnum finally released the album Sacred Blood "Divine" Lies , which climbed to number 20 in the German charts.
Mark Stanway left the band on December 7th, 2016. He was replaced by keyboardist Rick Benton, who performed live with Magnum for the first time on December 10th, 2016 at The Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton , England. Benton was officially introduced as a new band member in January 2017. On June 25, 2019, bassist Al Barrow left the band, citing the reason that he had significant problems with being away from his American homeland. Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Unisonic) was then introduced as a new member.
On January 17th, 2020 the band released the studio album The Serpent Rings .
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
|||
| 1978 | Kingdom of Madness | - | - | - |
UK58 (1 week) UK |
|
| 1982 | Chase the Dragon | - | - | - |
UK17 (7 weeks) UK |
|
| 1983 | The 11th Hour | - | - | - |
UK38 (4 weeks) UK |
|
| 1985 | On a storyteller's night | - | - | - |
UK24  (7 weeks)UK |
|
| 1986 | Vigilante |
DE59 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK24 (5 weeks) UK |
|
| 1988 | Wings of Heaven |
DE19 (11 weeks) DE |
- |
CH7 (10 weeks) CH |
UK5  (9 weeks)UK |
|
| 1990 | Goodnight LA |
DE21 (13 weeks) DE |
- |
CH12 (8 weeks) CH |
UK9 (5 weeks) UK |
|
| 1992 | Sleepwalking |
DE67 (9 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK27 (2 weeks) UK |
|
| 1994 | Skirt art |
DE83 (4 weeks) DE |
- |
CH31 (5 weeks) CH |
UK57 (1 week) UK |
|
| 2007 | Princess Alice & the Broken Arrow |
DE60 (1 week) DE |
- | - |
UK70 (1 week) UK |
|
| 2009 | Into the Valley of the Moonking |
DE59 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH59 (1 week) CH |
UK82 (1 week) UK |
|
| 2011 | The visitation |
DE19 (3 weeks) DE |
- |
CH56 (1 week) CH |
UK55 (1 week) UK |
|
| 2012 | On the 13th day |
DE28 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH57 (1 week) CH |
UK43 (1 week) UK |
|
| 2014 | Escape from the Shadow Garden |
DE14 (2 weeks) DE |
- |
CH22 (2 weeks) CH |
UK38 (1 week) UK |
|
| 2016 | Sacred Blood "Divine" Reads |
DE20 (2 weeks) DE |
AT57 (1 week) AT |
CH26 (2 weeks) CH |
UK31 (1 week) UK |
|
| 2018 | Lost on the Road to Eternity |
DE8 (3 weeks) DE |
AT22 (1 week) AT |
CH8 (3 weeks) CH |
UK15 (1 week) UK |
|
| 2020 | The Serpent Rings |
DE5 (3 weeks) DE |
AT47 (1 week) AT |
CH7 (4 weeks) CH |
UK36 (1 week) UK |
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More studio albums
- 1979: Magnum II
- 1993: Keeping the Nite Light Burning
- 1997: Hard Rain (as Hard Rain)
- 1999: When the Good Times Come (as Hard Rain)
- 2002: Breath of Life
- 2004: Brand New Morning
Expanded Editions
- 2005: Kingdom of Madness: Expanded Edition
- 2005: Magnum II: Expanded Edition
- 2005: Chase the Dragon: Expanded Edition
- 2005: The Eleventh Hour: Expanded Edition
- 2005: On a Storyteller's Night: 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition
Live albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
|||
| 1980 | Marauder | - | - | - |
UK34 (5 weeks) UK |
|
| 1991 | The Spirit | - | - | - |
UK50 (1 week) UK |
|
| 2015 | Escape from the Shadow Garden - Live 2014 |
DE82 (1 week) DE |
- | - |
UK91 (1 week) UK |
|
| 2019 | Live at the Symphonic Hall |
DE18 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH33 (1 week) CH |
- | |
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More live albums
- 1985: The River Sessions
- 1989: invasion
- 1996: The Last Dance
- 1996: Stronghold
- 2004: Days of Wonder
- 2008: Wings of Heavenve
Compilations
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
|||
| 2017 | The Valley of Tears - The Ballads |
DE98 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - | |
More compilations
- 1985: Anthology
- 1987: Mirador
- 1993: Archives (unpublished material, outtakes from 1976-1983)
- 2002: Long Days, Black Nights
- 2011: evolution
Video albums
- 1985: Live in London
- 1990: From Midnight to LA
- 1992: Live at Birmingham
- 2005: Livin 'the Dream
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
|||
| 1980 | Magnum Marauder |
UK47 (6 weeks) UK |
|
| 1985 | Just Like An Arrow On a Storyteller's Night |
UK83 (3 weeks) UK |
|
| 1986 | Lonely Night Vigilante |
UK70 (3 weeks) UK |
|
| Midnight Vigilante |
UK91 (2 weeks) UK |
||
| 1987 | When The World Comes Down Vigilante |
UK96 (1 week) UK |
|
| 1988 | Days of No Trust Wings of Heaven |
UK32 (4 weeks) UK |
|
| Start Talking Love Wings of Heaven |
UK22 (4 weeks) UK |
||
| It Must Have Been Love Wings of Heaven |
UK33 (4 weeks) UK |
||
| 1990 | Rockin 'Chair Goodnight LA |
UK27 (4 weeks) UK |
|
| Heartbroke and Busted Goodnight LA |
UK49 (3 weeks) UK |
More singles
- 2012: So Let It Rain
Others
Magnum uses the piece Troika from the suite Leutnant Kishe by Sergei S. Prokofjew as an intro for concerts and live albums .
swell
- ↑ a b http://www.magnumonline.co.uk/ Album overview on the official homepage, accessed on May 4, 2016.
- ↑ Magnum at The Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, December 10th 2016 Myglobalmind Online Magazine. December 21, 2016, accessed March 23, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d Chart sources: DE AT CH
- ↑ a b c d Music Sales Awards: UK
Web links
- http://www.magnumonline.co.uk/ - Official website
- http://www.kingdomofmadness.de/ - German Magnum fan page
- http://www.hardharderheavy.de/interviews/interview_magnum.shtml - Interview with Bob Catley from June 2008