Customer Reviews

Wings of Heaven

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been a fan of Magnum since I was an exchange student in Germany in '88. I wish they were more accessible in the U.S. I have most of their albums (except the most recent couple). This one is simply the best of the best. I actually go back and forth between this one and "On A Storyteller's Night" for my favorite. If you are new to Magnum, this is definitely one to try. If your interested in my ranking of all their albums (excluding live and compilations):

1st - tied - "Wings of Heaven" and "On A Storytellers Night"
2nd - tied - "Chase the Dragon" and "Vigilante"
3rd - "Eleventh Hour"
4th - "Goodnight L.A.
5th - "Kingdom of Madness"
6th - "Magnum II"
7th - "Sleepwalking"
8th - "Rock Art"

I don't have the most recent studio albums, so I can't rank them. This band has amazing musicianship. Bob Catley has a great voice. The sound is catchy progressive rock. Their top singles sound quite mainstream, but some of the deeper tracks on the albums have a more unique sound. Simply great!

1988's Wings of Heaven is the eighth studio album from long running British pomp rock/AOR band Magnum, and is one of my favorite Magnum releases overall (and that's saying something!). I was less than thrilled with 1986's Vigilante, but the band rebounded in a big way on this album, their best-selling release.

Wings of Heaven gets off to a great start with the keyboard-drenched rocker "Days of No Trust" and the bombastic "Wild Swan" before moving onto more conventional AOR love songs like "One Step Away" and "It Must Have Been Love". Even when Magnum is sticking close to the radio-friendly conventional AOR sound, they still seem like they're operating on a whole other plateau. I think that has a lot to do with Bob Catley's ethereal vocals. Between his vocals and the band's majestic instrumentals, Magnum has a sense of magic and grandeur that the average arena rock band would be hard-pressed to match, and I say that as a major arena rock fan. The album closes on a high note, first with the stirring "Pray for the Day" and finally the epic 10-minute closer "Don't Wake the Lion (Too Old To Die Young)". If I have any complaint at all with this album, it's that it is just too short. I feel like I could listen to music like this forever.

A fantastic album from start to glorious finish, Wings of Heaven is a must-have album for Magnum fans as well as fans of high quality 80's AOR and melodic rock. They really don't make `em like this anymore.

NOTE: As surprising as it seems, Wings of Heaven is still in print. On one hand that's a good thing, but at the same time I'd love to see a nice reissue with remastered sound and the various b-sides from the album's singles included as bonus tracks.

From the bombastic first chords of "Days Of No Trust" to the majestic power of "Don't Wake The Lion" this is arguably Magnum's finest work, and certainly their most commercially successful. From fine atmospheric songs like the aforementioned "Don't Wake The Lion" and the beautiful and stirring "Wild Swan" to the pop-rock of "Start Talking Love" to the moving ballad "It Must Have Been Love", Magnum prove here why they are so well loved by their fans and so well respected by and reputable musician and journalist.

In finding that fine line between commercial and individual that had so far eluded them, Magnum hit it spot on with this album. Every song is a winner and nothing can stand out in terms of quality but "Don't Wake The Lion", a 10-minute anti-war anthem of the very finest vies as a true classic song of the 80's. If I have one gripe, it is that the three bonus tracks ("Maybe Tonight", "C'est La Vie" and "Crying Time") haven't been released with the album recently on any re-release as with these killer tracks included, this album would actually score more than a mere five out of five.

Lanzado en el año 1988, "Wings of Heaven", es el mejor álbum del grupo inglés Magnum, justo cuando estaban en lo más alto de su carrera, después del éxito del álbum "Vigilante", deciden cambiar de nuevo al productor, y se van a grabar a Holanda con Albert Boekholt buscando un sonido más personal; abren el disco con la excelente "Days of No Trust", seguida por "Wild Swan" un tema épico en sus conciertos, seguido por el sencillo "Start Talking Love", que prueban la diversidad de los temas, siguiendo una línea progresiva, llega "One Step Away" en donde destacan los teclados de Mark Stanway y la balada "It Must Have Been Love", cierran el disco con tres temas de diversa manufactura pero igual excelentes "Different Worlds", "Pray for the Day" y la épica y extensa "Don't Wake the Lion", (una de las mejores canciones de toda su carrera), este es un disco que te deja con ganas de escuchar más y que deja abierta la posibilidad de editarlo algún día con el bonus track "Maybe Tonight", que es una gran canción con todo el potencial para ser un sencillo, ya que los otros dos bonus tracks sí se pueden encontrar en la recopilación "Chapter & Verse" de 1993 ("Crying Time" y "Ces't La Vie").
Uno de los más gratificantes discos que puedas escuchar y que tiene un lugar especial en mi colección, "Más que recomendable".