Description

Limited double album on red vinyl with gatefold cover On a Storyteller's Night, Magnum's sixth album originally released in the U.K. in May 1985, wasn't the band's best-selling album; it peaked at number 24 in seven weeks, not as good a showing as the third album, 1982's Chase the Dragon (number 17), much less the Top Ten hits Wings of Heaven (1988, number five) or Goodnight L.A. (1990, number nine). Whether it is Magnum's best album is a matter of opinion, though, according to Dave Ling of Classic Rock magazine, that interviewed guitarist Tony Clarkin in 2004, ‘fans still rate Storyteller as Magnum's masterwork’. What is indisputable is that the album, Magnum's only one on FM Revolver Records, marked a transition for the band from its first five albums, recorded for Jet Records, to its major-label contract with Polydor Records, which commenced with 1986's Vigilante. Ling notes that singer Bob Catley ‘has theorized that On a Storyteller's Night was important for offering a bridgehead between the more pompous early Magnum style and something more commercially oriented’, to which Clarkin grudgingly concurs, ‘I suppose so’. Track listing: 1. How Far Jerusalem 2. Just Like An Arrow 3. On A StoryTellers Night 4. Before First Light 5. Les Morts Dansant 6. Endless Love 7. Two Hearts 8. Steal Your Heart 9. All Englands Eyes 10. The Last Dance