How does one review an album that was released almost simultaneously with the passing of one of the artists?  It’s difficult to be objective, for sure.  I’m going to try, though.  Magnum recently released Here Comes the Rain on January 12^th, only five days after Tony Clarkin was taken from us.  His illness was short and his death rather unexpected, and it imbued this album with greater meaning for the fans, I think.

Magnum are a force in hard rock music and have been since the 70s.  No, they never received the popularity of the “big names”, but their music is just as good and also more authentic.  The lineup for this album is Tony Clarkin on guitar, Bob Catley on vocals, Rick Benton on keys, Dennis Ward on bass, and Lee Morris on drums.

I honestly didn’t discover the band until their 2014 album Escape from the Shadow Garden, which lured me in with the band’s signature cover art.  I still love that album, and 2018’s Lost on the Road to Eternity is also a favorite of mine, especially my favorite Magnum tune of them all, “Storm Baby”.  With a band of this age and a discography this long, it can be daunting, but I recommend starting with one of those, or the new one, if you don’t know the band.

Here Comes the Rain is a rock-solid album.  All the albums from Magnum are, though.  There are two general types of songs that the band makes: rocking tunes with gritty vocals and sweaty vibes, and then lush, full, poetic pieces with orchestrations or keyboard atmospheres, and these songs usually have addictive melodies.  I really enjoy the second kind, and I only sort of like the first kind.  This album has a selection of both.

The first two songs on the album are great examples of this.  The opener “Run Into the Shadows” rocks pretty hard, and it has a great chorus and lots of guitar.  The title track comes next, but it is beautiful, more melodic, and the chorus is catchy with lots of keys and drama; I love the piano and orchestrations at the end, too.  I love that song so much, but the opener is just a solid rock song to me.

So, for me, the two singles are just okay, then.  “Blue Tango” and “The Seventh Darkness” fall squarely into the rocking tracks, and they are good songs, but not overly memorable.  I do like the brass section that punctuates “The Seventh Darkness”, though.  That sounds really good.

My favorite songs, then, are “Here Comes the Rain”, “Some Kind of Treachery”, “The Day He Lied”, “Broken City”, and “I Wanna Live”.  “Some Kind of Treachery” and “Broken City” are like ballads; the former has more of a beat, but that only starts halfway through and is more of an epic contrast to the first half.  The latter is a true ballad that focuses mostly on vocals, and I love the authenticity and concentration that Bob brings with his vocal performance.

My two favorites are “The Day He Lied” and “I Wanna Live”.   The first is such a great song with its dark and cinematic flow.  I love the percussion and reserved keys that both accentuate the song greatly still, and the final minute of harmony really sells the song.  “I Wanna Live” is even more moving with its swelling, melodic countenance, and the keyboard and guitar solos in the second half are razor sharp and beautiful to behold. Those two songs stand tall with some of the best the band has ever produced. Oh, I should mention the closer “Borderline”, too, because it’s a good one with storytelling tones that almost feel like a swansong to me. It makes me sad as the album closes, but in a meaningful way.

Magnum are one of the great hard rock bands of the last few decades, but many people do not know them.  That is a shame.  Here Comes the Rain is a testament to their songwriting skills, ear for melody, and concrete consistency.  It has songs that will probably be among my favorites of the year, no doubt.  I hope that the band sees an explosion of interest even in this late hour.

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