Magnum keeps up their prolific pace of new releases with The Monster Roars, their 22nd studio album. They have released a new studio album every other year since their reformation and return in 2002, in addition to several live albums and compilations which also contains new material, which often means there has been something new to explore nearly every year.
What makes this especially impressive is the consistency and quality of their output.
The Monster Roars was released early in the year on 14 January, and features the same line-up as the previous album The Serpent Rings (2020) which is getting well established by now. The album is, as usual, fully written by guitarist Tony Clarkin, who along with vocalist Bob Catley are the mainstays and ever-present members in the band.
Otherwise, the line-up has seen a few changes over the last 5-6 years. Rick Benton became the keyboard player in 2016, having already served for four years in the 1990s. Lee Morris stepped in as their new drummer in 2017, while Dennis Ward became the bass player in 2019. The sum of these changes could easily have been disruptive, but has instead given the band a chance to emerge with fresh sounds and approaches, while also succeeding in retaining what makes the band uniquely Magnum. The last few albums have undoubtedly benefitted from this, as does The Monster Roars.
Like its predecessors, the new album does not exactly break any new ground. The band sounds like themselves, which is exactly what fans would want and expect. There has always been room for a certain degree of diversity within the Magnum sound, and they are far from as set in their ways musically as, say, AC/DC. But just like nobody wants AC/DC to change, the same applies to Magnum as well as most legacy bands. The main thing is that the songs continue to be of high quality, and on that count they are good to go.
The album opens with the title track. The Monster Roars does not start with a boom, but rather a lovely, piano-driven melody which puts Bob Catley’s emotional delivery at centre stage. At the same time, the band is quick to add a bit of light bombast to the choruses, before they fully kick into the song in time for the guitar solo. It has an interesting build which might not make it your typical album opener, but it is definitely one that signals that the band is back on their own terms. The addition of an energetic and suitable string section in the latter half of the song is also refreshing and shows a band that occasionally will stretch a bit further than I may have implied.
Remember also starts off highlighting a very melodic Catley vocal which the band adds an interesting arrangement around, also changing from piano accompaniment to a full (and at times intense) band treatment. Magnum has a way of settling into a very infectious groove and Catley always knows exactly what to sing on top of it. This is also the case on All You Believe In, where the verse chords feel more dramatic than the rather comfortable chorus. The song has a pensive outro which again adds a different flavour to proceedings.
I Won’t Let You Down was the first single from the album, released in November 2021. The song has a great build – always one of the band’s strengths – into a very catchy and hummable chorus. It might feel a bit repetitive on repeat listens, but it has the ability to burrow into one’s brain which good singles are supposed to do – for better or worse – so it’s likely a good choice from that perspective. The different sections of the song do a good job of adding different textures between each return to that evil, earworm-y chorus.
The band mix things up on the magnificent The Present Not the Past. The verses have a strong melodic theme driven by keyboards and acoustic guitar, which grows into a plateau of a chorus. While every song has really been great so far, this is the first stone cold Magnum classic on the album. Symphonic touches add something extra as you get into the song, which makes the ordinary sound rather extraordinary through its combination of melodies and a very effective arrangement.
Magnum’s music is quite accessible, but No Steppin’ Stones takes it a step further, adding catchy horn section hooks and an overall very melodic approach. The rhythmic guitar bedding is not a million miles away from what Status Quo are known for, and it works well. The song feels tailormade for radio play, and was indeed released as the second single from the album in December 2021.
Most songs on the album are in a melodic vein, but with a dramatic build which has come to characterize the Magnum sound. That Freedom Word is a good example of this, with the music being slower and building up to the choruses, which have more tempo and a good dramatic payoff. The storytelling within Magnum was always musical as well as lyrical.
While this pattern is recognizable, it happens with varying approaches. In Your Blood Is Violence, Magnum taps into a droning verse rhythm which is very comfortable and almost hypnotic in its percussiveness, before the emotional payoff in a typical sunburst chorus. This is something the band does very well – the ebb and tide of a song, when to pull back, then to push forward, and when/how long to stay within a given section.
A band of Magnum’s longevity and with their experience should know all about this, obviously, but it’s not always the case. Many bands focus less on creative outlets as they approach their 50th+ year, losing their momentum and drive to create anything new. This is another thing Magnum should be hailed for – not only to they still release new albums like their lives depended on it, but they clearly care about the results and always use the sum of their experiences to make it the best it can possibly be at any time.
The album offers a bit of this and that. With Walk the Silent Hours they have created a ballad with a strong melody and passionate delivery, while The Day After the Night Before is a mid-tempo rocker with… umm, well, a strong melody and passionate delivery. Not that they sound the same, but the band has an established sound and an established approach at this point. This illustrates what the band does well, as well as what detractors might point to as far as the album’s potential shortcoming.
As mentioned initially, I do not have an issue with a band having a particular style/sound and sticking to it. There is enough variation here to provide a varied offering, but there is obviously an established band style and identity at play here. This is to be expected at this stage in a band’s career. Do we want a band in their fifth decade to start experimenting with genres and styles, throwing their uniqueness overboard? Heavens, no.
A tasty guitar lick signals the coming of Come Holy Men which is another solid melodic rocker, which leads into album closer Can’t Buy Yourself A Heaven. This is an album highlight, taking the shape of a melodic and emotional ballad with a lot of ebb and tide. Catley delivers a great vocal, with the band carefully finding their rightful place behind him to add a bit of ‘oomph’ in exactly the right places. A soaring guitar solo from Clarkin adds a lot as well.
The Monster Roars is a more than worthy addition to the Magnum discography. In listening to it, you just wouldn’t believe that the band’s principal members are in their mid-70s. Clarkin even recently said that the band has no plans to retire, and given the quality of their current output, there are zero creative reasons to pack it in. Long may the band continue to act as a fountain of youth and vitality for band members and fans alike.
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