The late 80’s was a period when Birmingham’s favourite sons Magnum were flying high. The third part of the Polydor Triple Crown was this 1988 affair ‘Wings Of Heaven’.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Magnum
ALBUM: Wings Of Heaven
LABEL: Polydor (UK), Polydor (USA)
SERIAL: POLD 5221, 835-856-1
YEAR: 1988
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England
LINEUP: Bob Catley – vocals * Tony Clarkin – guitars * Mark Stanway – keyboards * Wally Lowe – bass, backing vocals * Mickey Barker – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Days Of No Trust * 02 Wild Swan * 03 Start Talking Love * 04 One Step Away * 05 It Must Have Been Love * 06 Different Worlds * 07 Pray For The Day * 08 Don’t Wake The Lion (Too Old To Die Young)
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
The late 80’s was a period when Birmingham’s favourite sons Magnum were flying high. This was the period where I personally enjoyed the band’s creativity, kicking off with the fantastic ‘On A Storytellers Night’ and segueing into 1986’s ‘Vigilante’. The third part of the Polydor Triple Crown was this 1988 affair ‘Wings Of Heaven’.
Co-produced by Dutchman Albert Boekholt at Wisseloord Studios, the band took their ideas into the studio during the early part of 1988. The resulting album was short on quantity with just 8 songs, though the last song ‘Don’t Wake The Lion’ was well over 10 minutes long; the album itself timing out at 44 minutes.
The Songs
‘Days Of No Trust’ is one of Magnum’s most identifiable songs, and really needs no reintroduction here, as it’s as common as sugar is to Coca Cola. ‘Wild Swan’ is a boisterous rocker, which stomps its way into your consciousness with relentless (as opposed to reckless) abandon. The tempo changes mid-song and it’s all the better for it.
‘Start Talking Love’ has many appreciable qualities, and would’ve fitted at home perfectly on their previous album ‘Vigilante’ to my way of hearing. Magnum provide some clean-cut AOR like qualities for ‘One Step Away’. Mark Stanway’s keys sounding less grandiose than before, the song building slowly from its measured start and kicking into gear before too long.
‘It Must Have Been Love’ is simply a gorgeous epic like ballad, in the same vein as ‘When The World Comes Down’ from ‘Vigilante’. It’s a great live song too, as evidenced on the live ‘Wings Of Heaven’ video and subsequent live sets since.
‘Different Worlds’ is another track to impress, I’m beginning to remember how much I enjoyed this album back in 1988, especially after refamiliarising myself with this particular track again. ‘Pray For The Day’ much like the previous ‘One Step Away’, is another with modern sounding qualities. The arrangement is just killer stuff.
‘Don’t Wake The Lion (Too Old To Die Young)’ is the album’s most progressive moment, at all 10 and a half minutes worth. It’s a power-packed anthem with an epic sound and huge production qualities. You can just imagine this being played right in the middle of a Magnum concert.. ah yes..
In Summary
‘Wings Of Heaven’ was released in April 1988, with three singles released from the album: ‘Days Of No Trust’, ‘Start Talking Love’ and ‘It Must Have Been Love’, all worthy selections I reckon, and released between March and June 1988.
Magnum went on to tour with ‘Wings Of Heaven’ all through the year, with a video live concert being issued as well. In following years, Magnum put on a 20th Anniversary performance during 2007/2008, which culminated in the ‘Wings of Heaven Live’ CD set in 2008.
Video
Days Of No Trust
Start Talking Love
It Must Have Been Love
