WINGS OF HEAVEN

I've loved this album since I first acquired it on release. Usually I have a love / hate relationship with Magnum as much of their music is geared towards stadium rock and I'm not overly fond of that brand of music as a rule however the band usually incorporate just enough catchy melody in their music to keep me going back to their albums time and again. This album resonates with me and I would rate it as being amongst my all time favourites. It's warm, it's highly melodic and in parts it's very dramatic.

The album highlight is the longest track being "Don't wake the Lion" and it is one of the more serious tracks, subject wise, that the band has done - an anti war epic. It's highly emotive and very dramatic - in parts gentle and in parts explosive. I would have loved to hear Fish and "old Marillion" do a cover of this although that doesn't mean that I believe that they would have done a better job - purely that I would love to have heard Fish emote this one back then with his dramatic flair. Bob Catley has never sounded better than he does on this track and he has an exceptional "power rock" voice. The band instrumentally in full flight are brilliant throughout the track.

The other giant track off of this album is "Wild Swan" which again is highly emotive. It is one of the Magnum greats.

"Pray for the Day" is an anti war themed track and it leads brilliantly into the epic "Don't Wake the Lion" - I would call them parts of the same epic.

"One Step Away" has a progressive feel to it and Catley uses his voice dramatically and exceptionally well.

For the rest the tracks are standard rock fare however that is not said in a negative sense at all - all of the tracks are highly enjoyable although don't expect a heavy listening experience with them - expect an enjoyable bouncy, melodic listen.

An album that I dearly love and one that has travelled many miles with me. An easy five star rating from me.