Magnum - Kingdom Of Madness (1978)

Hailing from my hometown of Birmingham, prog-AOR rockers Magnum have had a long and somewhat chequered history which is beyond the scope of this review of their debut album Kingdom of Madness other than to say they started out, as here, as a 70s semi-prog rock band (a tick) and then got caught up in the 80s commercial rock boom (a big red cross) and unfortunately their popularity favoured the latter approach! But back to the album in hand, their 1978 release features a set of strong tracks, many of which had been developed on the live circuit for a number of years prior to securing a record deal, and trod a delicate path – immediately post-punk – between prog rock and blues rock with a hint of commerciality akin to the more Uriah Heep end of the rock spectrum at that time.

In the Beginning, aptly enough, is the opening track on the album and opens with quite a dramatic chord sequence which then dissipates into a strummed acoustic guitar overliad with a synth and a stabbing bass and drum pattern. Then we’re off with an upbeat triplet beat and some seriously 70’s synth work leading into the verse – interspersed with more synth! Not that there’s a chorus as such but the mid-section between verses is of a heavier style with a really strong vocal melody from Bob Catley – always a strong point for Magnum – and the track really rocks along nicely and features a double-tracked harmony guitar break from Tony Clarkin. Mid-way through the seven and a half minute opus the theme changes and tempo drops – with more synth – to a more acoustic ballad feel then, all of a sudden, a return to the opening phrases with some vigour reappears over which Clarkin solos. As a track this has it all – strong vocals, several interesting segments, strong musicianship and works extremely well.

Next-up is Baby Rock Me (not the most inspiring of titles) and is verging on the Kiss side of run of the mill rock fair – although Richard Bailey does his best to interject a bit of prog-style synth work into what would otherwise be a filler rock track. Once again, however, mid-way through the track provides an interesting instrumental segment with some good interplay between Clarkin and Bailey before returning to the chorus until close.

Universe fades in as Baby Rock Me fades out and opens with a phased keyboard and piano to a very mellow, slow-paced track that – a few years before – I get the distinct impression a Mellotron would have been utilised as opposed to the synth that heavily dominates the backing track and would have given a more interesting feel to the number which flirts with Moody Blues musical territory.

The title track is up next and is a classic piece of prog/hard rock – very much a product of its time but it still stands-up very well. Opening with Clarkin on acoustic and some flute a la Jethro Tull before Clarkin cranks up the guitar for a dampened, strummed riff with the band providing stabs over which Catley sings the opening verse . . . there’s even Hammond organ here for added power! The chorus, however, drops to quite a mellow segment before the track really fires-up for the next verse – interestingly, if you ever hear the live version of this track the chorus is played more in-keeping with the verses and is overall a much heavier proposition. There are, once more, multiple segments to Kingdom of Madness which all fit perfectly and keep it interesting throughout . . . there’s even a Queen-style high harmony on the later chorus for good measure!

All That Is Real is mellow piece around a simple keyboard melody with some cleverly worked multi-tracking of the vocals for the verses and an AOR-leaning chorus before leading-off into an instrumental passage with the overall feel being one of Yes combined with ELO: an interesting proposition.

The Bringer again follows a more AOR vain and is more than a match for Styx and the other largely US-based AOR bands of the era whose success vastly outstripped that enjoyed by Magnum.

Invasion, which was a single from the album, opens with a brief return to the Kingdom of Madness chorus before thundering away with an up-tempo shuffle overlaid by a Clarkin guitar melody. This is one of the heavier tracks on the album with a relenting pace but again Bob Catley preserving the melodic dominance with the vocal line and Clarkin’s extremely melodic guitar work . . . not a shred in sight (or sound for that matter).

Lords of Chaos opens with a very doom-laden keyboard intro with Kex Gorin playing around the kit before settling into a rather funky mid-tempo track with Clarkin skanking away on a clean guitar and is one of the few largely one-dimensional tracks on the album, albeit a pleasant one.

The album close with the tender piano and vocal intro to All Come Together which gradually builds with the rest of the band coming-in to take the track up-tempo and featuring a strong riff between guitar and piano in sections and some good flourishes from Clarkin and Richard Bailey along with some strong vocal harmonies to add drama.

Kingdom of Madness is a great debut from Magnum but . . . yes, there usually is a ‘but’ . . . much to the detriment of the band achieving the recognition they undoubtedly deserved, everything felt a little directionless. Unfortunately for the band, much of the work was done for the album in 1976 when prog was king but by the time it was finished punk had been (and largely gone) and prog was no more and thus the prog leanings of a number of the tracks was somewhat of a hindrance to mass appeal so you can’t help feeling the band had had the rug pulled from under their feet somewhat. Secondly, the album is a conjoining of the aforementioned prog with a US-influence of Kansas, Styx, Boston etc – a conjoining that leads to the album being neither one style nor the other which again I feel hindered Magnum in finding their audience with the album which is a pity. I really like Kingdom of Madness and think Magnum were a heavily underrated band of strong songwriters and performers but they never quite found their niche until a brief flirtation with success with a concentration on the AOR/commercial rock side later in their career. However, if you’re a fan of mid-70s rock – with the odd prog flourishes and Korg/Moog twiddles here and there – along with very strong vocals and melody, Kingdom of Madness is definitely worth checking out.

• Bob Catley – Vocals
• Tony Clarkin – Guitar
• Wally Lowe – Bass
• Richard Bailey — Keyboards
• Kex Gorin – Drums