Gillan in hard rock mode
L. B. Ivarsson | 02/18/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Gillan had left the jazz fusion beginnings of his solo career behind by the time of this release. This is hard rock all the way.The horror movie theatrics of "Demon Driver" are a little over the top, but "Bluesy Blue Sea", "You're So Right" and "What's The Matter" rock out with the best of 'em. There's even a cool cover of Stevie Wonder's "Living For The City." Jannick Gers (later to join Iron Maiden) handles the guitars quite nicely. While the material on "Magic" lacks the subtleties of Purple's best work, any Deep Purple fan should get a kick out of it."
Solid rocker all the way
David K. Barrett | Seattle, WA | 06/26/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a metal release by Gillan. Do not confuse this with the pre Mr. Universe stuff. Janick Gers of Iron Maiden starts the proceedings with a fast one called "Whats The Matter" and then cruises into a monumental Sabbath/Zeppelin esque riff on "Bluesy Blue Sea". Gillan sounds fantastic, if you liked "Born Again" with Sabbath, or NWOBHM you will love this."
Solid 3 stars!
L. B. Ivarsson | Rock City | 03/06/2003
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Ian Gillan's solo albums are very uneven. For a time (1979-1982) it seemed as he was spitting out album after album at such high speed we couldn't follow. Every release from Gillan contains at least a couple of great songs, and maybe "Magic" from 1982 is the most consistent. The album starts off with the furious "What's the matter" that fades into the more blues inspired "Bluesy blue sea". Other strong songs are "Living a lie" and the melodic "You're so right". Gillan also does an interesting cover of "Living in the city" and as a bonus track we get to hear the emotional "South Africa".In my opinion there's no great compilation of the greatest Gillan songs, so if you want his best work you probably have to put up with a decent amount of average and below average standard. That might not be the main problem but the fact that you have to buy almost every album. If you a tip where to start, this one "Magic" is good. Then you should invest in the similar sounding "Mr. Universe" (1979) and "Glory road" (1980). If you haven't lost interest, then get the more radio friendly "Naked thunder" (1990) and the harder "Toolbox" (1991). If your hunger still lingers on - go back in time and buy Future shock" (1981) and "Double trouble" (1981).By the way, it doesn't sound like Black Sabbath's "Born again" at all, it's much better."
