The 15th anniversary reissues of British rock band Magnum’s albums The Visitation and Evolution will be available on gold 2LP vinyl and CD on 4th December via Music Theories Recordings/Artone Label Group.
Formed in Birmingham in 1972 by vocalist Bob Catley and guitarist, songwriter and producer Tony Clarkin (who passed away in 2024), Magnum built a career spanning more than five decades, during which they released 23 studio albums and 11 live albums.
2011 was a strong year for the band, and these two albums reflect the power and creativity surging through them, with Catley and Clarkin joined by Mark Stanway (keyboards), Al Barrow (bass) and Harry James (drums).
Magnum’s 16th studio album, The Visitation, was released in January of that year, its distinctive artwork painted by longtime collaborator and conceptual fantasy artist Rodney Matthews. Following its release, the band took the new songs on a large European tour, visiting Sweden, Germany, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belgium and the UK.
Evolution followed in November of the same year. It was a compilation featuring songs from their post-2001 reunion period across the albums Breath of Life, Brand New Morning, Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow, Into the Valley of the Moonking and The Visitation. At the time, all of these songs were re-recorded, remixed and remastered, and the album also included two new recordings. It went on to reach the Top 40 of the UK Independent Albums Chart. The band then hit the road once more with a short run of shows across the UK, including the Hard Rock Hell V festival in Prestatyn, North Wales.
Evolution features ‘Holy Touch’, ‘Just Like January’, ‘Brand New Morning’, ‘Immigrant Son’, ‘When We Were Younger’, ‘Out of the Shadows’, ‘All My Bridges’, ‘Blood on Your Barbed Wire Thorns’, ‘The Visitation’, ‘Wild Angels’, ‘The Fall’ and ‘Do You Know Who You Are?’.
The Visitation features ‘Black Skies’, ‘Doors to Nowhere’, ‘The Visitation’, ‘Wild Angels’, ‘Spin Like a Wheel’, ‘The Last Frontier’, ‘Freedom Day’, ‘Mother Nature’s Final Dance’, ‘Midnight Kings’ and ‘Tonight’s the Night’.
