Magnum
Lost on the Road to Eternity

Besides being the most powerful handgun in the world according to a film, Magnum is a classic British hardrock band. A band that released their debut forty years ago, in 1978 came the album Kingdom of Madness. Now comes album number twenty and it has them lost on their way to eternity. Personally I am no connoisseur of Magnum’s music, in fact I own no album with them and have never really listened through any of them, but I still have heard much of their music and this sounds more interesting than say Kingdom of Madness and other stuff I have heard. The artwork is quite exciting as well; it is adventurous and imaginative, kind of listening to the album itself.

Musically it is heavy rock music with strong melodies, rather catchy and with strong energy. They have good atmosphere, kind of with a sense of magic but also with a little touch of retro sound. Even though the album has a bit of a retro sound it still has a modern production with strong sound and good energy. It is a tad on the long side with the eleven tracks taking up nearly 70 minutes of your time. But as it is both varied and has good depth it can get away with it and to me it has not felt that long when I have listened to the album.

Lost on the Road to Eternity is a very good album; it catches my attention with a magical feel, great melodies and strong atmospheres. They are one of the most vital bands I have heard with that long history; it is a strong feat to be this vital with 20 albums and over 40 years in the baggage. So, it is a strong album with a vital sound and good songs, what more can one want? The answer to that might be a distinct hit song, I don’t think the album has one of those even though there are really strong songs. Like the opening track, the title track and the ending track that I think stand out a little bit. But I don’t think it has any weaker track and no real weaknesses either.

Fans of Magnus should like this album I think, not that I really know Magnum’s earlier works that well so I might be wrong about that but it is a great album. It is an impressive and vital display of great melodic hardrock that I comfortably can recommend to anyone who likes good music – I guess you can say that it is as good and exciting as it looks. Clarkin, Catley and the others have put together a great album, perhaps the greatest one for the journey to eternity – at least if you don’t mind taking a few detours on that journey. Great album!

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