Review of album by Martin Popoff, taken from his book
"
The Collectors Guide to Heavy Metal - Volume 1: The
Seventies"
Max Webster - Live Magnetic Air
(Anthem '79)
The closest me an' the buds ever came to viewing Max in the flesh (until
'96's brief reunion tour) was being denied entrance (underage) at one of
the band's near final shows at some bar in Nelson, B.C. We obviously
missed a legend, a classic, cagey, canny circus act that cut its
collective fangs on the cornerstones of technical brilliance, humour,
artful restraint when required, and an uncommon attention to detail. So
it's no surprise that Live Magnetic Air is a well-recorded and
well-executed romp through some of Max's celebratory anthems, a
veritable love-in of sound and galactic obtusion, a record demonstrating
demonstrably a deft kid-gloving of heavy and light through the free 'n'
easy juxtaposition of all the delicate hits with about a third of the
band's acerbic noiseniks. I look into my crystal ball and pronounce that
Max Webster will forever find a welcome home on Canadian classic rock
airwaves, the band's sparkling arch-Canuck observations possessing the
ability to reveal new hopeful possibilities for advancing waves of
generations inexorably drawn to the fringes.
|