There was a lot of hype around Magnum and this release back in the day, 1988 it must have been either Kerrang! or some other
magazine I was reading at the time that was raving over this album. So I bought into it, and went down to my local import record shop and handed over the cash.
Wings Of Heaven was Magnum's seventh studio album and back in those pre-internet days I relied on reviews to discover new music. This was a hit and miss affair,
but generally I didn't end up with too many pineapples.
Having not heard a single not before pressing play on my CD player, I was almost immediately hooked by Magnum's commercial brand of hard pomp rock.
Well what exactly is pomp rock? To be honest I don't really know, the term was thrown around by Kerrang! writers Derek Oliver, Malcom Dome and a few others back in the day.
It could be as simple as a little more complicated arrangements/keyboards and layers of sounds than your standard hard rock.
This album in the end is pretty easy to listen to, it has some great hooks, some poppy singles, more lengthy rockers and the last song, the epic tour-de-force 10 minute finale.
What did stand out back then and even now is the great songwriting, Bob Catley's soaring voice and an album that doesn't really sound like it's from that era of 1980's heavy music.
There of course is the big drum sound and the slightly more glam look from the band, but they has the songs to back it up.
The resulting tour they peaked with their popularity and had a brilliant live showed captured on glorious VHS cassette, that has never been upgraded to DVD or BR.
If you've never heard of Magnum, do yourself a favour and watch the live the show in the link below, you won't be disappointed.
Wings Of Heaven live
https://youtu.be/DDT3hO6gmWo