WINGS OF HEAVEN

Quite funny that I recently listen to mostly cassette than CD because I just want to return to the time when I first knew prog music in the past. I found this 'Wings of Heaven' album by Magnum in my cassette collection and I wrote the date of purchase in Bandung, 28 April 1988. Honestly I never spun this cassette - or may be only one spin and put it back to the shelf. And I know the reason why I rarely spin it because the music is straight forward with the kind like Journey music. It's not in my cup of tea. In fact the cassette looks new because I never played it. The other reason by that time I was heavily in love with Marillion who just released Clutching at Straw in 1987. So, no wonder I never gave a chance for Magnum to play this album.

Now when I am tired to hear digital sounds from CD and play back my old cassettes collection, this album serves like an ear candy rock as entertainment purpose because the sweet rock nature of the music. I notice song like Wild Swan comprises two movements as the music changes dramatically from sweet rock to mellow one in the middle. I am quite happy with the sound or sonic quality of this album and I think it's an excellent production even though I play the cassette format. In a away, I am enjoying the music from cassette because of two reasons: fisrt, it brings me back to the nuances of the old days ( I term this as 'nuansamatik' combining the Indonesian word and 'matic') and secondly, the analog sound is much better than the lousy digital sound. Well ,....it's not that lousy but in digital records I can not find the true sound. Song like 'Days of No Trust' is also a good rocker and I enjoy the music. 'One Step Away' is also another nice tune that reminds me to hair bands like Bad English, Damn Yankees and the like. There is no lengthy guitar solo along the music presented here but the guitars are quite good. The vocal quality is in the vein of Journey. 'Don't Wake The Lion' which turns to be the longest out of other tracks presented in this album is an interesting song and I do enjoy the music from start to end.

Overall, this is a good sweet rock album that has basically no complexity in the music; so everyone can actually enjoy this album. I like the overall composition of this album that combines melody, harmony and tempo changes nicely throughout the album. Those of you who like Journey, Asia and other AOR music must love this one. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

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