Review of Magnum Livin` The Dream (1978-2005)

Introduction

Magnum (not the ice cream or gun) are a rock band formed in the Midlands in 1972. Magnum never really had the commercial success that similar bands have had with the big stadium rock sound, and even when they did, it was barely fleeting. Still, here they are, still going strong despite a seven-year hiatus from 1995 - 2002.

The core of this band is lead singer Bob Catley and songwriter/guitarist Tony Clarkin, and they are joined by Mark Stanway on keyboards (since 1980), Al Barrow on bass (since 2002) and Jimmy Copley on drums (since god knows when…). The live performance on this DVD coincides with the 20th Anniversary of their (to most fans…) On A Storyteller`s Night album. So what you get here is a sort of Greatest Hits/some new stuff setlist for the first half of the concert and then the complete On A Storyteller`s Night album as per the original tracklisting.

So, tracklisting as follows:

Brand New Morning
Backstreet Kid
Need A Lot Of Love
Soldier Of The Line
We All Run
Vigilante
Kingdom Of Madness
Sacred Hour

How Far Jerusalem
Just Like An Arrow
On A Storyteller`s Night
Before First Light
Les Morts Dansant
Endless Love
Two Hearts
Steal Your Heart
All England`s Eyes
The Last Dance

Video

The main feature is very well done, possibly in DV as it is just so clear. The lighting is superb, so good in fact that it can`t help but expose the ages of both Bob Catley and Mark Stanway (Tony Clarkin gets away with it to a degree by means of a bushy beard/tache combo and a bald head…). The editing is well done with some nice effects. The stage is small, but it doesn`t feel that way and it has a bit of a big budget feel to it despite the fact it probably wasn`t.

Audio

Choice of Stereo or 5.1 Mix for the main feature. I only sampled the 5.1, and let me tell this much: it`s pretty darn loud. The mix is good, you can hear every note played and whilst live, it hardly shows.

Features

Band Interviews - separate interviews with Bob Catley, Tony Clarkin, Mark Stanway and Al Barrow. Each of varying lengths and oddly, each individual interview is further broken down into chapters. I say oddly, as some of these `chapters` only last 30 seconds…

Al Meets… - interviews with Mark Stuart (Sound, man…) and Paul `Pliers` Myers (stage monitor engineer), as filmed by bassist Al Barrow. The Myers one is pretty funny and doesn`t attempt to grease up the band simply because he works for them…

View From The Queue - vox pops with Magnum fans queuing up outside to watch the show.

The Spirit (acoustic) - an acoustic version of a song called The Spirit, oddly enough. Quite good too…

Promo Vids - Not all of them by any means, but the promo vids for Rockin Chair, Lonely Night, It Must Have Been Love, Lonely Night, Days Of No Trust, Start Talkin` Love, Just Like An Arrow, Heart Broke And Busted and Midnight. You can watch `em all with intros to each by Bob and Tony or by themselves without the wisdom of the dynamic duo.

Slideshow - live photos accompanied by a live version of How Far Jerusalem

On The Road Again - documentary by Al Barrow: 9 minutes of bleary eyes and hangovers (amongst other things…)

Easter Eggs - two of these, but they`re not hard to find as the instructions for these are printed on the booklet (which also contains lots of nice pictures). Nothing spectacular, but hey what`s a couple of minutes of your time just once?

Conclusion

Hearing music in the strangest places can make you a fan of bands for life. My introduction to Magnum came in 1986, some 11 or 12 weeks after joining the Army. A friend and I were doing our laundry in the barrack block, which is generally a pretty boring task, and so to alleviate the mood he`d brought along a portable ghetto blaster (remember those?). In it was a copy of Magnum`s 1985 album Vigilante, produced by Roger Taylor of Queen (although I didn`t know that at the time). Now I`d always been a bit of a synth man myself (and a closet New Romantic, but without the frilly shirts and makeup) and tended to shy away from most rock at that time, but the combination of heavy guitars and synthesisers had me hooked from the first listen. Ali Young (for it was he…) made me a copy of his tape (remember kids, music piracy is killing music...) and I promptly wore it out over the next 4-5 years until I managed to find a copy on CD whilst serving in Germany.

I remember Magnum actually hitting the top twenty with both their next album and a couple of singles, but then they disappeared. I still have a copy of Vigilante though, and it gets played every now and again. I say now and again, if I made a list of my top twenty albums, this one would sit in there alongside Ultravox, Alphaville, OMD, Japan, Kraftwerk and a host of other synth albums. Obviously my musical tastes have broadened, but this album by Magnum is probably the only rock album to have sucked me in whole (and this is despite getting into Pink Floyd over the last 5 years…). I came across this DVD completely by accident whilst surfing one day and had it ordered within about five minutes. Snap purchase and no regrets.

This DVD is superb. It`s got just about everything I want as a casual fan of Magnum. Sure there are other tracks I would have preferred to have seen live, such as Midnight or Lonely Night, but that`s minor quibbling. This is a two disc set with some thought being put into it. The concert itself would probably have sold well on it`s own, but the extras just make that little bit more special.

Despite their age, or maybe because of it, the band put in a marvellous performance doing justice to Clarkin`s songs and producing a DVD worthy of the band. Despite the fake mock rock `n roll accent Catley uses on stage, this is also a band who don`t take themselves that seriously and seem to know exactly where they came from and who has sustained them. Despite being the relative newcomer, bassist Al Barrow has no qualms about taking the mick about Catley`s on-stage arm waving (which is both funny and baffling at times…). Barrow also helms a few of the extra features, so he has clearly earned the trust of the three core members of Catley, Clarkin and Stanway, and in his words is `just livin` the dream`.

I`d be surprised if many Magnum fans weren`t aware of this release. Anyone-else with either a passing fancy to stadium rock or knows Magnum vaguely would do well to check this out. It`s not just the Stones who can cut it live whilst qualifying for their bus passes, you know…

I`ve got two more words to say: Cheers, Ali.