If you’re in the mood for a small hour of solid pomp rock, Magnum has you covered with their latest album.

Not counting the short hiatus back in the late nineties, English hard rock/AOR band Magnum have been around for a staggering fifty-two years, having released twenty-two albums. Released five days after the death of founder, guitarist and main songwriter Tony Clarkin, album number twenty-three, Here Comes the Rain, is likely to be the band’s swan song. If it is, it’s a good one at least.

Counting ten songs and clocking in around the fifty minute mark, Here Comes the Rain is Magnum at their latter-years best, with nary a dull moment on it. If you want to be harsh, you could state that it’s also wholly unremarkable, but it would be mean to do so. Magnum is one of those bands that one could say always deliver the same album, like AC/DC or Motörhead for example. One could on the other hand also call them reliable and dependable. The foundation of the band’s sound hasn’t changed one jot over the years, be it the warm guitar sounds of Clarkin, Bob Catley’s soothing, half-whispering vocals or the ever-present, healthy dose of keyboards, and it’s no different the twenty-third time around. Even the always reliable Rodney Matthews returns for some more striking cover art.

Here Comes the Rain opens with Run Into the Shadows, an excellent opener and solid rocker with a memorable chorus. Following that are the two songs I at the moment enjoy most on the album, Here Comes the Rain and Some Kind of Treachery, both of which are of the kind Magnum does best: sweeping mid-tempo tracks with hooks that will pull you in. Big on orchestration, both songs make an impact and I count them amongst the best the band has done in the past ten, fifteen years. Other highlights are the fun, ZZ Top-like rocker Blue Tango, the in hindsight rather wryly titled I Wanna Live and the mid-tempo swinger Borderline that brings an end to proceedings.

The only moment Magnum does something surprising on Here Comes the Rain is on The Seventh Darkness, which relies heavily on the participating brass section and sports a rollicking saxophone solo. The rest of the album is absolutely vintage, top-notch Magnum, and I can’t imagine any long-time fan of the band wanting it any other way. I might even go as far and call this the best album since Into the Valley of the Moonking from 2009; it’s the one I enjoyed most since then at least. If this is indeed the very last Magnum album, and I’m willing to bet some serious money on it, at least the band is bowing out with grace and style. Rest in peace, Mr. Clarkin, and thank you for all the music.

Label: SPV/Steamhammer

Where to buy: https://magnum.lnk.to/HereComesTheRain

Track listing:

Run into the Shadows (5:22)
Here Comes the Rain (4:36)
Some Kind of Treachery (4:31)
After the Silence (4:35)
Blue Tango (5:26)
The Day He Lied (4:34)
The Seventh Darkness (4:43)
Broken City (4:39)
I Wanna Live (5:28)
Borderline (6:15)

Line-up: 

• Bob Catley – vocals
• Tony Clarkin – guitars
• Rick Benton – keyboards
• Dennis Ward – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Lee Morris – drums

Review by RP