Magnum – On The 13th Day
Magnum – On The 13th Day CD (Steamhammer/SPV)
Magnum, the Midlands based melodic hard rock band need no introduction if you’re even remotely musically astute. Returning with their eighteenth studio album (how many bands can you realistically count who have reached that landmark? Thought so…) and including key members Tony, Bob and Mark to boot and with Harry James providing the solid drumming that combines all the elements of the ever-present quality musicianship, ‘On The 13th Day’ is absolutely classic Magnum, maybe with a little more melody (a touch of Marillion springs to mind), with Tony ‘the Hat’ Clarkin’s guitar providing sincere guidance throughout the entire record, Bob Catley’s voice is in amazing form, a strong and charismatic vocal delivery both of which are cushioned by Mark Stanway’s comforting but not intrusive keyboard skills. Magnum once again deliver anthemic rock masterpieces, but anthemic tunes doesn’t mean they’re dinosaurs! Every song on ‘… 13th Day’ is built around, and contains a real classic Magnum feel with maybe a refreshed anguish, that’s anything but formulaic. Try not bouncing your feet or tapping the car steering wheel when blasting it at high volume. It’s damn near impossible. And it’s nice to see that the cover was, once again, drawn by fantasy artist Rodney Matthews, which also helps to keep that true old school vibe flowing and it’s also available as double LP on coloured orange vinyl! What more could you want, or ever need? Mark Freebase
