“Gather round reluctant marksmen”
Magnum. The minute the weather starts getting cooler I reach for this veritable comfort-blanket of a band. Here’s Les Morts Dansant, the centrepiece from their excellent 1985 album On A Storyteller’s Night. Set in WWI, the song describes the execution of a British soldier who has refused to leave the trenches and go over the top. The song title translates as “the dancing dead” as it illustrates the pirouette of the dying soldier as he’s riddled with bullets from the firing squad. It’s a horrific topic but Magnum’s keen moral sense ensures the song is written and performed eloquently and compassionately. Bob Catley sings movingly with his heart on his sleeve as warm keyboards and celestial guitars gradually build to a climax of Baba O’Riley-style power chords. The album cover depicts a wizard relating a fireside tale to a bunch of captivated dwarfs and Les Morts Dansant is basically the musical equivalent. Spellbinding storytelling from a magical band.
HEAVY METAL OVERLOAD 
I didn’t learn of Magnum until I got to the UK in 1986 and that’s a great song!
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Yes they just didn’t make a dent over in the US at all. So was Storytellers the first album of theirs that you heard?
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Actually, it was “Vigilante”
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That’s a brilliant album too!
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It’s coming up on 80smetalman in the near future.
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Great album and the song reminds me of those Paul Simon songs. When I heard this song I thought it was Marillion.
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I get where you’re coming from with both of those comparisons. They had that prog base in common with Marillion. In the early days there was lots of Yes and Queen in their sound.
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Heard ‘of’ Magnum but never heard them before. See some albums in the bins every once in a while and wonder, but haven’t picked any up. Would you say this song is representative? Am I totally nuts to be reminded of Mike and the Mechanics?
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Not heard enough of them to know. I don’t know if this is representative as such cause it’s a ballad. You’d maybe want to try out a more rock song like ‘Vigilante’?
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