PROG RELATED

Having become worldwide megastars with their 1991 self-titled release, the band would go on to tour the world, multiple times for over a staggering three years. Which brings us to the CD's and the first DVD; the live album part of it is from a show in Mexico City, whilst the DVD is of a similar show from San Diego. Both concerts are fantastic, with excellent performances, sound, and in the case of the DVD, great picture. However, one major downside is the endless "noodling" and messing around between songs.

Yeah, it's come to be expected, and is pretty harmless enough, but there's so many random solo spots, messing around, jams, and countless other bits of shameless banter, that after a while, it does wear a bit thin. At one point, there's 20 minutes of tomfoolery before they start another song, and during 'Seek and Destroy' James interacts with the crowd for over ten minutes. It's fun at first, but after repeated listens, it does get quite boring fast.

Then there's the second DVD, filmed in Seattle and taken from the bands 1989 tour in support of '?And Justice For All', and this is a fantastic concert. This was a great time for the band as they were still "on the way up". The playing is incredibly tight, the sound and picture are excellent, especially given the age of the footage, and with a great set list to boot, this random addition to the box set makes it totally worthwhile.

Everyone performs brilliantly on all three concerts. Even Lars, bless him, far from the best drummer in the world, but his boundless enthusiasm and excitement is infectious, and Jason Newsted's copious amounts of energy makes me sad for how things turned out for him. With around nine hours of content, 'Live Shit?' is certainly not for the faint of heart, but overall, any detriments aside, this is an absolute beast of a box set, and truly belongs in every Metallica fans collection.

And while this album anticipates the heavy rock explosion of the late 70s with its nasty licks and ferocious energy, there is also the radio-friendly flair that has always been an asset of BÖC's very own branch of rock music. With the sing-along choruses and the Vanilla Fudge-like keyboard leads, 'Secret Treaties' probably owes a lot of its success to the brilliant combination of the occult and the adventurous with the accessible and the memorable, an album that is charged up and driven as well as punctual and polished, there are many qualities to observe and appreciate within this bold 1974 release. The first side is virtually perfect, with classic tunes like 'Career of Evil' and 'Dominance and Submission', together with the moody and elegant 'Subhuman' and the powerful 'ME 262'. At the same time, with the four songs on side two, the album loses some of its steam - tracks like 'Harvester of Eyes' and 'Astronomy' do meander a little, but this surely does not undermine the cult status of the album, which is by any standard one of the great hard rock releases of the early 70s, with its self-aware mixture of commerciality and power.

The entire album is nothing short of a massive step towards the "progressivization" of rock music, and despite the presence of a number of songs that would become omnipresent radio staples, its structure and concordant atmosphere, combined with the raw playing, the quirky hooks and the fine blues licks, 'Led Zeppelin' is also one of the most influential pieces of album-oriented rock. This marvelous debut album might not necessarily be the very first instance of heavy metal, but it is a sufficiently eclectic work that had anticipated the major pillars of the classic Zeppelin sound, in the face of the straightforward blues pieces like 'You Shook Me' and 'I Can't Quit You Baby', or the fascinating playful folk tune 'Black Mountain Side', a captivating short vignette among the flaunting orchestral inclinations of more experimental songs like 'Your Time is Gonna Come' and 'How Many More Times' with its extended instrumental middle section. And then there are all-time classics like 'Dazed and Confused', the hard-rocking 'Communication Breakdown', the gorgeous 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You', or the commercially-catchy rock tune 'Good Times, Bad Times' that make this debut album ever so special and influential. It is evident from this very first release of Led Zeppelin that this band had something special going on, and even if they would go on to perfect their playing and songwriting soon after, this album is an imminent, powerful and unshakeable classic that has withstood the test of time.

3.78 rounded to 4 its iconic

3.99

With a handful of lighter moments to break up the bombast, this British warhorse have delivered another consistent later period release. Continuing from the progress of the previous album, songwriter Tony Clarkin has proven adroit at crafting great bridges and pre-chorus sections even if they are housed in a formula Rock structure. The songwriting overall does suffer a little with this recent bout of Prince-like prolificism because there are only so many riffs and chord progressions that can be used in a hard rock context. Having said that, the formula is shaken up a bit with different tempos and feels and there is a strong sense that this era of the band is building up some serious momentum.

Merit points here particularly at the business end of the album which features two decidedly foot-stomping numbers 'Crazy Old Mothers' and the Uriah Heep-ish 'Gypsey Queen' and one thing that you cannot accuse this band of is lacking conviction. Elsewhere 'Afraid Of The Night' captures a classic Magnum vibe from the band's early period. 'Your Dreams Won't Die' is likewise a memorable track with poignant lyrics and an uplifting melody.

Magnum do share similarities with the aforementioned trailblazers Uriah Heep in that they continue to crank out albums regardless of whether they make the charts or not. I just wish they would use more shade and colour in the arrangements like the best Prog Rock bands do but I am picky because I have been a fan for 27 years!

There is nothing wrong with the music of course, it is solid and reliable as always. This is perhaps part of the problem. This is a band after all which honed a very unique stadium rock sound with gutsy, bravura vocals, smart lyrics and hooks abundant enough to cloak Tony Clarkin's entire collection of hats. The Magnum of old had a very positive, life-affirming quality to their music and while some of the themes were dark it was never overwhelmingly so. For the most part however, this album is a little bit leaner and less bludgeoning than the previous one (2012's 'On the 13th Day') and the occasional regurgitation of stock AOR riffery is broken up with a fresh integration of bubbling electronic synth passages and uplifting middle 8's ('Falling For the Big Plan' features some truly impassioned vocals from singer Bob Catley). 'Too Many Clowns' taps into the playful heavy rock found on the 1994 'Rock Art' album and offers some much needed respite from the themes of mortality and despair while 'Midnight Angel' treats its dark lyrical matter with subtle, ambient keyboard textures which sounds refreshing.

'Don't Fall Asleep' conversely seems to herald the album's second half which slides back into comfortable heavy rock and lament-filled ballad territory.

For the most part, this album from Magnum continues along the same path mapped out from the punchy rock sound of 'Brand New Morning' but delivers a handful of surprises in the arrangements to energise the tried and tested formula.