Wings of Heaven

AMG Review of Wings of Heaven

Greg Prato
All Music Guide

Along with such bands as Marillion, prog rock/mainstream popsters Magnum enjoy widespread success in their native homeland (the U.K.), but remain virtually unknown Stateside. Regardless, Magnum still enjoys a solid fan base back throughout the rest of the world (especially with prog metal experiencing a bit of a resurgence circa the early 21st century), as evidenced by their 2008 double-disc set, Wings of Heaven Live. With countless classic ock bands performing their best known album in its entirety nowadays, Magnum was the latest one to take the plunge, performing their most commercially successful release to date -- 1988's Wings of Heaven -- front to back, during a week-long U.K. tour in late 2007. But the 19-track set goes beyond just the aforementioned album, as the first disc is comprised of renditions of favorites from other albums, including the slightly Queen-ish opener "When We Were Younger," as well as the Zep-like "Out of the Shadows." The Wings of Heaven portion of the set sees faithful readings of the Magnum classics -- many of which reflect the mainstream ock radio sounds of the era (Survivor, Journey, Van Halen, etc.), especially such tracks as "Days of No Trust" and "Start Talking Love." [The original album was released with eight tracks in 1988.]