Artist: MAGNUM
Album: THE VALLEY OF TEARS - THE BALLADS (DIGI)

Year: 2017
EAN/UPS: 886922791321
Media type: CD

THE VALLEY OF TEARS – THE BALLADS contains material from the band’s different creative phases. Along with remastered versions of more recent ballads from albums such as Into The Valley Of The Moonkings, The Visitation and the current studio recording Sacred Blood Divine Lies, there will also be an acoustic version of their classic ´Lonely Night` and a haunting live version of their hit ´When The World Comes Down` from their 1986 cult recording Vigilante.

Magnum shortlisted 16 possible tracks for their new album, from which they went on to choose the perfect combination. Clarkin: “I kept playing the songs in my head, going through possible sequences. In addition, I asked some friends to make suggestions for the track listing because I wanted THE VALLEY OF TEARS to feature an inherent arch of suspense, just like our regular studio albums. A record featuring exclusively quiet numbers has to be complied just as carefully as a regular studio album. Everything has to fit and sound like it’s all of a piece.”

Speaking of which: these haunting tracks are complemented perfectly by the atmospheric cover artwork based on Clarkin’s own concept. “I knew that my vision wouldn’t look clichéd at the end of the day but in fact pretty sublime. That’s why I got in touch with a photographer friend in Wolverhampton, who took photos of that beautiful young woman. Then the image was bathed in those wonderful colours. All in all, there were three artists involved in the creation of the cover, and they have come up with a really awesome result.”

The release of THE VALLEY OF TEARS – THE BALLADS will be supported by selected shows in the UK and Ireland during the run-up to Christmas and a major German tour (including brief detour to Switzerland) from 30 March 2017. Ticket sales for the tour have already started.

TRACKLIST CD:

01 Dream About You (remastered)
02 Back in Your Arms Again (newly re-recorded)
03 The Valley of Tears (remixed, remastered)
04 Broken Wheel (newly re-recorded)
05 A Face in the Crowd (remixed, remastered)
06 Your Dreams Won’t Die (remastered)
07 Lonely Night (acoustic version, newly re-recorded)
08 The Last Frontier (remixed, remastered)
09 Putting Things In Place (remixed, remastered)
10 When The World Comes Down (new live version)


LINE-UP:

Tony Clarkin - guitars
Bob Catley - vocals
Mark Stanway - keyboards
Al Barrow - bass
Harry James – drums