Escape from the Shadow Garden-Live 2014

Yes, I'm biased. I'm British American, and first discovered Magnum all the way back in 1988 when I was a 16yr old kid living quietly in the rural north of England. My life hasn't been quite as quiet since then! If you are reading this and know nothing about Magnum here's a quick and slightly dirty overview: They are not guns, condoms, cars or ice cream. However they ARE a fearsome, fast yet delicious weapon live on stage! Not quite heavy metal, not totally prog, not so much pop, maybe a little bit pomp, but 111% ROCK! Yes, this album goes up to 111!Formed in the early 70s (they were acoustic until electricity was invented) they hail from the Birmingham area of England. These days they mostly hail taxis because they are too old to drive, but don't let that put you off as they still get to their gigs on time. Two current members of the band remain from those first years. They are too old to drink let alone drive, but can still roll around on stage like the good (very very) old days. Tony Clarkin has written practically every note and word that Magnum have ever recorded, and he plays a splendid bit of guitar as well. He's not a shredder, but rather a supremely melodic master of his instrument. Likewise, vocalist Sir Robert of Catley doesn't shred, although his vocal chords have to be a little messed up after 12 decades (or something like that) as a rock singer. His voice is a gift to humanity, yet he remains as always incredibly short - I mean humble.The rest of the band are also very old, just not quite as wise as Tony & Bob. Mark Stanway actually may be as old as them, but his birth slateificate has been lost. He plays keyboards and cracks bad jokes, while looking like a nymph from Fangorn Wood behind his rows upon rows of smoke wreathed keys. Al Barrow plays bass guitar and checks Facebook. Harry James plays drums for Magnum and 56 other bands simultaneously.Together they make great tea, and the music boils along nicely as well.This live album is a fine example of them plying their ancient trade. They sail across the seas of Tony's songs with the same grace and beauty as your humble reviewer sails across a buffet table. Melody, power, passion, emotion and the crushing embrace of musical love. It's all here in seemingly limitless abundance.If after reading this review you don't want to buy this album right now then you don't like music. Simple. So BUY IT.

this is a nice live album recorded in 2014, if you have been a magnum fan such as i have been the past 3 and a half decades you cant go wrong here, i would have given this 5 stars but i felt this should have been a 2 cd set with maybe even a dvd to go with it, there is no talk between tracks from bob so i feel this was recorded at various venues all over europe i know sweden was one place as bob mentions sweden on here, you get the usual live classic magnum hard rock you would expect but once again this could have been so much more then a single cd as i know they played a few more songs on this tour last year, im already looking foward to the next magnum album wich will release in march 2016 but for now i have about 40 years worth of great hard melodic rock from magnum to hold me over, im very pleased these guys are still at it, its a shame they have not been to the us since 1982................catley, franklin and stanway are totally on fire here, once again this could have come with a nice booklet with more info and more music, i would have thought the label would have put more into this as in todays day and age you need to give the consumer a reason to buy a cd or lp sadly as most people download now wich i NEVER have....

Waited ages expectantly for the new live album to come from Amazon...Rather disappointed as the sound quality on my disc seems to be on par with that of a poor bootleg.Did anyone else receive a substandard quality?

When I was 18 and listening to everything heavy between AC/DC and ZZ Top, I had a morbid dread of reaching 30, because I envisaged myself listening to Johnny Mathis and Perry Como records, with my heavy rock youth a fading memory.Thankfully none of that happened! I'm 55 now, and apart from a touch of dartitis, still play superb air guitar.Magnum have been one of my favourite bands through my 20s, 30s, 40s and now into my 50s, and to still be producing albums this good defies all musical logic! I never thought they could better Wings of Heaven Live, but this is a killer...now where did I put that air guitar?!

Didn't catch them on tour, so had to pick this up, and so chuffed that I did.Sound quality is excellent, the guitar is more up front in the live versions, and the newer songs more than hold their own against the older "classics". In fact, being honest, I think I would have preferred twelve songs from the albums since Princess Alice rather than have the mixture with the older gems.Before Princess Alice, I would have rated Wings Of Heaven as the band's finest hour, but every album since 2007 has been outstanding. If you haven't listened to any of the more recent albums, then you need to get hold of one - any one of them - and give your ears a treat!A great live recording, with all members of the band doing justice to supremely well crafted music.Top band. Chapeaux, guys!

Another great issue, the title is slightly misleading as there are few tracks from The Shadow Garden on there but plenty of earlier great tracks. Picked it up delivered for £3 as 2 German companies had a downward bidding war. Cd produced there so must have bought surplus warehouse stock!Happy 70th soon Mr Cately.

A fine live performance by these pensionable rockers who have defied the odds and actually come back to produce a series of good albums of late my favourite being 13 which proved they could stand aside the best in their field .Others have written god reviews of this live mix of old and new tracks so I need say no more

Fantastic live band takes me back to when I used to see Magnum in the early 80s here in Cornwall.