Hugely influential British melodic hard rock group Magnum have confirmed the release of their upcoming eighteenth studio album, ‘On The 13th Day’ on Steamhammer / SPV on September 24th. ‘So Let It Rain’, taken from the album, will be released as a single at the end of August. ‘On The 13th Day’ will be available as a limited digipak edition with a bonus CD featuring unreleased, acoustic and live tracks from the Magnum vaults, plus as a double coloured vinyl LP, standard jewel case CD and download.
‘On The 13th Day’ follows the success of ‘The Visitation’, which charted at 55 in the UK national album charts, and at number one in the UK rock chart at the end of January 2011. Powerplay’s Dave Cockett awarded the album 10/10 in the magazine’s February 2011 issue, proclaiming “Just wait until you cop an earful of the likes of shimmering opener ‘Black Skies’, brooding title track ‘The Visitation’, ‘Doors To Nowhere’, ‘Freedom Day’ or ‘Mother Nature’s Final Dance’ and prepare to be absolutely gob smacked… To a man the band sound like they’re on fire – you know, that self-assured swagger bands only get when they just know they’ve come up with something special – and when you put all that alongside some of Tony’s best songs in what seems like forever, it’s not surprising there’s a real buzz around ‘The Visitation’. Simply can’t wait to see them live next Spring! In a word…brilliant!”.
‘On The 13th Day’ picks up where ‘The Visitation’ left off, boasting 11 soaring, brand new totally epic rock songs packed with hook filled choruses, glorious flowing melodies, luscious keyboards and flowing guitar licks. Right from the opening track ‘All The Dreamers’, (set to be the new ‘Sacred Hour’) you get an instant feeling that this album has something very special to offer. ‘So Let It Rain’, the first single to be taken from ‘On The 13th Day’, will without a doubt soon be officially classified as ‘classic’, while ‘Dance Of The Black Tattoo’, which, from the moment the first drum beats crash out of the speakers, mesmerizes from start to finish. ‘On The 13th Day’, which draws on the very best elements of Magnum’s illustrious back catalogue and high end production, is a strong contender for the title of ‘Magnum’s best album to date.’ Two months after the release of ‘On The 13th Day’ Magnum set off on a 13 date UK tour in November. Dates are:-
18th November Bristol – 02 Academy
20th November Liverpool – 02 Academy
21st November Glasgow – Garage
22nd November Newcastle – 02 Academy
23rd November Holmfirth – Picturedome
24th November Manchester – Ritz
25th November Nottingham – Rock City
27th November Leamington – Leamington Assembly
28th November Southampton – The Brook
29th November London – 02 Academy Islington
30th November Pontypridd – Muni Arts Centre
1st December Wolverhampton – Wulfrun Hall
2nd December Norwich – Waterfront
Magnum, who regularly breached the Top 40 of both the singles and album charts in the Eighties and early Nineties, came together in the Midlands in the mid-Seventies and released their debut album ‘Kingdom Of Madness’ in 1978, followed by ‘Magnum II’ in 1979 and their first live album ‘Marauder’ in 1980. During this period they toured relentlessly with the likes of Def Leppard, Blue Oyster Cult and Judas Priest.
1982’s ‘Chase The Dragon’ album was the first to go Top 20, and was accompanied by a sold out UK tour. 1983’s ‘The Eleventh Hour’, 1985’s ‘On A Storyteller’s Night’ and 1986’s (Roger Taylor produced) ‘Vigilante’ album all fared similarly well but it was 1988’s ‘Wings Of Heaven’ LP which really broke the band into the mainstream, going gold, breaching the top 5 of the UK chart and spawning three top 30 singles – ‘Days Of No Trust’, Start Talkin’ Love’ and ‘It Must Have Been Love’. During this period the band regularly graced the stages of such venues as Hammersmith Odeon and major UK Festivals as Reading and Castle Donington.
1990’s ‘Goodnight To L.A.’ album also went Top 10, spawned the Top 40 single ‘Rocking Chair’ and was accompanied by a tour of the UK’s Arena circuit, including venues such as Wembley Arena and the NEC. 1991’s ‘The Spirit’, 1992’s ‘Sleepwalking’ and 1994’s ‘Rock Art’, were followed by the announcement of the band’s demise and an extensive farewell tour, during which the band’s 1996 live album, ‘The Last Dance’ was recorded.
Clarkin went on to work as a producer and songwriter for other artists, brought out two albums with Bob Catley in Hard Rain (‘Hard Rain’ in 1997 and ‘When The Good Times Come’ in 1999), and generally recharged his musical batteries.
Then, in the summer of 2001, Magnum reformed and began writing their February 2002 released ‘Breath Of Life’ album, released 8 years after ‘Rock Art’. “It was particularly inspiring for me to write and produce new material for Magnum,” Clarkin enthused at the time, continuing that “Compared to the Hard Rain tracks, the Magnum compositions are powerful, deeper, and more passionate.”
2004’s ‘Brand New Morning’ album was an even more accomplished body of work, and won over a host of new fans, as well documented on the ‘Livin’ The Dream’ live DVD, recorded in the UK in 2005, and released in 2006. Both ‘Princess Alice and The Broken Arrow’, released in March 2007, and ‘Into The Valley Of The Moon King’ Magnum’s 2009 studio album, proved how, like a good wine, this band just gets better with every year.
Classic Rock’s Philip Wilding reviewed Magnum’s last studio album, ‘The Visitation’ in Classic Rock Prog’s February 2011 issue, stating; “Latter day Magnum have settled into their respective musical skins, more experimental, more mindful, a better band…The production’s lush and dense, the nuances are subtle and understated, and they can still take a tilt at Radio 2 playlists in songs like ‘Wild Angels’… Everything here feels denser and more thought out, less ambiguous…Songs like the opener ‘Dark Skies’ and ‘Door To Nowhere’ give the impression they are intended to convey something and raise a point, and Magnum are all the better for it.”
On ‘On The 13th Day’, the cover of which will once again be created by famous fantasy artist Rodney Matthews (Asia, Nazareth, Eloy), Magnum more than step up to the plate to deliver an even more accomplished body of work than ever before!
Line Up
Tony Clarkin – guitars
Bob Catley – vocals
Mark Stanway – keyboards
Al Barrow – bass
Harry James – drums
Magnuminous – Roland Hyams – roland@workhardpr.com
www.magnumonline.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/pages/MAGNUM/
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