Review/ Magnum: "Into the Valley of the Moon King"
TobiasBritish hockey-rink hard-rock band Magnum have a lot in common with Saxon when it comes to breaking things big, a point that both bands probably wouldn’t wish on their worst enemies, unless said enemies would dig being big in Italy and remaining relatively obscure (compared to your Black Sabbaths, AC/DCs and whatnot) in America.
For Magnum, who are more on the radio ball than Saxon, the years 1972 through 1995 were a wash save for decent Billboard rankings during the mid/late 80s, when any skinny Fabio with a Flying V could trip over a record contract. So they broke up, got back together in 2001 to join in on the reality-TV-inspired dead-cat-bounce of oldschool metal, and here, as they say, we are. I’m not sure where Magnum fits in the great scheme of today’s things, but they’re above reproach if your scene is Steely Dan (singer Bob Catley has Donald Fagan down to a science) in (discreet) power-chord hell.
“All My Bridges” flashes back to Billboard-darling-era Foreigner, and, in their best move of the album, “The Moon King” isn’t nearly as mummified Rainbow as you’d think.
By Eric Saeger
Homepage: Magnum
Homepage: SPV Records
Article in serie
Microphone-gargling: More melodically rounded than ...
2009-07-01
Overwhelmingly powerful: Two Grindcore discoveries ...
2009-07-01