Captain Cowardly

Also, the album was released in 1994... that wasn't 35 years ago.

Still gigging, and recorded a duet on one of David A Saylor's albums shortly before he passed away, so still very much around. I have next to no interest in this. They were a one off, with probably one of my favourite AOR albums in my collection, so this completely new band 30 years on using the name holds very, very little interest. Fair enough if they were an active band who's members changed over-time in order to keep the band active, but they were never active. This feels like Escape have entered Frontiers territory. Just use the name to maximise the sales within a niche audience. At least with Escape, it won;t all be written and produced by Del Vecchio!

I enjoyed the first 2 singles, but this Robin McAuley one is dreadful... I like Robin McAuley, so it's a shame for something he's on to be such a miss.

I could cope with the song without the video. Who thought that was a good idea?! Typical American patriotic clap-trap, but it's a pleasant enough song if it was just buried on an album of similar 80's sounding cheese rock anthems. Still a better toupee than Doogie White's... but it looks like one of Neil Diamond's left-overs.

Phil X has been doing some interviews, where he's said this was written and recorded as a band, as they felt their last few albums were missing the spark of a live band and weren't very guitar centered. He said the new album they've turned up the guitars and he's been writing alot with Jon to make it more guitar focussed. So, we'll see... Either way,, i'm not sure how they'll salvage Jon's voice... the last album where his vocals sounded halfway decent was Burning Bridges.

It just sounds like a rather plodding 80's hard rock, rather than a proper AOR, album. Nothing sticks out, but then why would it when it's the same guy writing all of it, plus every other album on the label, whilst also being a touring member of several of the "bands" on the label. So it's pretty much what you'd expect. As Geoff points out, the opening 2 are ok, track one outshines track 2 for me. The only other song that I recall standing out (although not that much as I just had to look back and see what it was!) is track 11, No Turning Back. I really don't know why Frontiers persist with this, but I guess all the ingredients are there for quality music, if you just removed ADV completely from the equation. It's like having all the ingredients for a nice steak dinner, and then doing a shit on the plate. Album number 6 was completed within the same sessions, so expect more of the same in the next 12 - 18 months.

It HAS to be. Tony was the only songwriter in the band for 50+ years. Bob Catley is almost 80 and his voice sounds better on this album than it has in years, but live is a different story. I imagine they might do a farewell tour with a stand-in guitarist, or a Tony Clarkin tribute show headlined by Magnum's farewell performance, but you can't carry the band on as a recording entity without the only songwriter consistently across their career minus a very small handful of co-writes. Tony wrote it, Bob sang it and a variety of people backed the pair over the years, but Magnum were Tony's writing and Bob's voice, and without Tony's writing, you just have Bob as a solo artist.

What a horrific album. Besides not having a clue who over half the people on this thing are, the song's are just twee countrified shit. And Jim's voice... please stop!

What a pleasant surprise! A really fresh, consistent album with a few twists (the brass & sax!). What a fitting note for the band to end on. It's hard to pick a favourite from the album, whereas for the last few years they've been very much a band that have consistently released good albums, where there were a few stand out tracks and then I didn't revisit it much. This one has been on repeated spins.

Yeah, this one was a pleasant surprise!

I'm not sure that this was such a good idea. The cover isn't very good, and then releasing it the week Tony passes just means it's going to face unfair comparison's.

Just given my copy a spin, bloody brilliant. As much as I was disappointed that Dino was replaced by Ronnie "I Sing On Everything For A Short While" Romero, I think it's the best album i've heard him on. Hoping they continue and it's not a one-and-done. I know the project is focussed on Gotthard and Krokus, but i'm hoping some Cobra and Asia get the GOTUS treatment too in the future.