Best Compilation of the Best British Soft/Hard Rock band of
Mark A. Carter | New York | 09/22/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The best most underrated Soft/Hard Rock British group of the late 70's early 80's.
I always had a sneaking suspicion I liked Magnum back in the very early 80's with their excellent 1982 album `Chase the Dragon' which has two of their all time best songs on it, `The Spirit' & the awesomely anthemic soft-rock ballad `The Lights Burned out', both of which are included on this compilation. That Album was I think their best. The musicianship on show from Keyboards to Drums & the beautifully observed sensitive lyricism of Tony Clarkin writing was never I think matched by the band before or since. Aside from `Chase the Dragon' all their best known tracks are included on this excellent value for money 2 CD Set: `Kingdom of Madness', `Changes', `Foolish Heart' & the sing-along ballad `The Word' to name a few. Accentuated with a nice mix of Live Tracks from various sources, if you are a fan of `Magnum' but don't see yourself procuring their entire catalogue then this is the very best collection of theirs to get. 37 Tracks, you can't go wrong! Good straight-forward (Hard/Soft? - Take your pick) rock. Magnum were always more melodic than heavy hitting and the songwriting of Tony Clarkin's is a perfect fit to the band's sound. From Romantic themes to apocalyptical visions of life & death & let's not forget the soaring vocal's of Bob Catley. One of the most criminally underrated Rock Singer's ever. All in all an excellent best of Anthology. I guess this is in part due to the fact that the Band themselves picked the tracks for the CD & as ever they always's had an unnerving knack of knowing what their fans wanted. I recommend this album with 5 big Stars."
Track Listings (19) - Disc #1