MAGNUM — Chase The Dragon (review)

MAGNUM — Chase The Dragon album cover Album · 1982 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
martindavey87
Back in 2002, I had a sampler CD with an issue of Classic Rock magazine, upon which there was a song on there that had a beautiful piano intro, followed by some dramatic but powerful vocals, and plenty of big, epic guitar riffs. That song was ‘Sacred Hour’, and it introduced me to British AOR band, Magnum.

Admittedly, I’ve never been the biggest Magnum fan, and they’ve only ever been a small blip on my musical radar. After checking out their discography, I found their first album to be a pleasant surprise, though its follow-up, the creatively-titled ‘Magnum II’, was pretty disappointing. So it’s good to hear that with their third album, 1982’s ‘Chase the Dragon’, the band are back on track.

Following in the same vein as their previous outings, the British quintet don’t stray too far from their established formula, mixing classic hard rock and progressive rock elements, with plenty of keyboard-driven riffs mixed in with a healthy dose of pomp and cheese. This is top notch dad rock at its finest.

The songs here are pretty solid, and the musical performances are of a high standard, in particular, vocalist Bob Catley is really belting it at times, and guitarist Tony Clarkin and keyboardist Mark Stanway have excellent chemistry together. The production is also very good, though very typical I suppose, of 80’s hard rock.

With highlights such as ‘Soldier of the Line’, ‘The Spirit’, ‘The Teacher’, bonus track ‘Down to Earth’, and the aforementioned rock ballad ‘Sacred Hour’, ‘Chase the Dragon’ is just a straight-up good album. I’m sure the band will improve with later releases, but this is none-the-less a worthy addition to the collection.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Wither Death-Doom Metal
SLUKA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Wails Of Ten Thousand Sludge Metal
OLD SKIN (CO)
Buy this album from MMA partners
Thunderhunter Sludge Metal
KARLA KVLT
Buy this album from MMA partners
Black Rain Falls Atmospheric Sludge Metal
WREN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lifespring Sludge Metal
HELLVETIKA
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

To Obey A Tyrant - "Obsidian Sol" (Official Music Video)
TO OBEY A TYRANT
Bosh66· 11 hours ago
DESTROY HUMANITY - Cats of Ulthar (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
DESTROY HUMANITY
Bosh66· 20 hours ago
DESTROY HUMANITY - Isolation (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
DESTROY HUMANITY
Bosh66· 20 hours ago
Destroy Humanity - Grabbing the Cow by Its Tail (Lyric video)
DESTROY HUMANITY
Bosh66· 21 hours ago
HAG - Gods of Famine (Official Music Video)
HAG
Bosh66· 2 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed