Description

Double album with gatefold cover In the late 80s early 90s Magnum had started talking about releasing a new live album and in 1991 they finally released The Spirit that was recorded on the Goodnight L.A.-tour. No overdubs were used during the production process, which seems almost unbelievable when you hear the result. Tony said We recorded a lot of shows on the last tour and ended up with zillions of tapes to sift through. So, there was so much choice, why should we have to resort to using studio overdubs? All we needed to do was spend the time to go through all the recordings to find the ones that we were happiest with. The album contained an edited set from the Goodnight LA tour as Polydor refused to issue a double album because they feared that it might be too expensive for the fans and wanted to make sure the financial success, so a lot of the songs from the show were dropped. The cover, designed by Ted Koehost and Kathy Wright, showed a golden shield with a big red ruby in the middle and a new Magnum logo on a black background. On the rim of the shield you can see the symbols of the last albums, the sword of chaos, the storyteller, the unicorn, the wings and a half moon. Polydor promoted the album and the tour to get back on the success track, but after the poor Goodnight LA sales figures the album sold disappointingly as well. After all, it had been the company who had urged them to do the American sounding album, which had led to a serious setback for Magnums ambitions. Their promotion work wasn't what Magnum had in mind so they asked whether they could leave. Polydor agreed but the band had to pay for the untimely end of the contract with their own money, a fortune, as Bob put it. Track listing: 1. Introduction 2. Vigilante 3. Days Of No Trust 4. Mama 5. Need A Lot Of Love 6. Pray For The Day 7. Les Morts Dansants 8. Reckless Man 9. How Far Jerusalem 10. The Spirit 11. On A Storytellers Night 12. Rockin Chair 13. Kingdom Of Madness 14. Sacred Hour 15. When The World Comes Down