MAGNUM

Rock 'n' roll can be a cruel mistress. When MAGNUM stepped on to the stage at KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton, England, on December 10th 2022, they were looking forward to an evening of celebration with their most devoted fans. The entire thing would be filmed and recorded for posterity, marking the end of another successful touring cycle, as the band's founder and guitarist Tony Clarkin prepared to start writing MAGNUM's 23rd studio album, another career highlight that was finally released in January last year.

Tragically, its release came five days after Clarkin's unexpected and untimely passing at the age of 77. What would have simply been the Birmingham legends' next live album (MAGNUM have at least ten to their name already) has now become a career-summarizing epitaph for one of British hard rock's most extraordinary talents. A document of the final gig in an epic and illustrious history (vocalist Bob Catley has since confirmed that MAGNUM have officially disbanded),"Live At KK's Steel Mill" captures a band on vintage form, exuberant to the last and with nothing further from their minds than the end. Devoted fans may struggle to make it through it all without shedding a tear.

It certainly doesn't help that one of Clarkin's strengths as a songwriter was an unerring ability to conjure huge, anthemic melodies, built from equal parts pomp and pathos. Hard rock with a generous sprinkling of progressive and poetic seasoning, MAGNUM's sound lends itself to the grand gesture and the heart-stopping crescendo. This 90-minute trundle through the many peaks in their 49-year discography weaves multiple eras together and emphasizes the band's ability to weather the decades with flair and imagination, but always with their musical identity intact. A band for whom the phrase "defiantly unfashionable" was probably invented, MAGNUM rejoiced in their own honest and humble, zeitgeist-spurning incongruity. And many, many people loved them for it.

"Live At KK's Steel Mill" is also a handy reminder of the strength and depth of the Brits' vast catalogue of (mostly) great albums. Still as fresh as daisies, the title track from 1978 debut "Kingdom Of Madness" and grand finale "Sacred Hour" (from 1982's "Chase The Dragon"),are joyous throwbacks to MAGNUM's initial rise to glory. Three songs from 1985's immortal classic "On A Storyteller's Night" lift the roof off: the perennially moving "Les Morts Dansant" the most potent of all, thanks in part to a magnificent Bob Catley vocal. Less conspicuous deep cuts are rediscovered and explored anew, too. Taken from 1992's polarizing pop-rock detour "Sleepwalking", "The Flood (Red Cloud)" reveals itself to be one of MAGNUM's most majestic epics. Most telling of all is a welcome preponderance of recent material, most notably from 2020's "The Serpent Rings" and 2022's "The Monster Roars": two of the band's strongest albums in decades. Played with energy and passion, "The Day After The Night Before" and "The Archway Of Tears" are the equal of anything Clarkin had written since the mid-'80s, and the fans' vociferous response at KK's Steel Mill confirms it.

This is both a fine tribute to one of hard rock's most dogged creators, and a bittersweet reminder that MAGNUM had survived for 50 years and, in truth, only death could stop them. But be warned: Bob Catley's amiable, post-encore banter is almost unbearably poignant.