Sleepwalking is the ninth studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by British

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 melodic rock band

Band (music)

In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

 Magnum

Magnum (band)

Magnum are a British progressive rock band from Birmingham, England. Formed as a four piece by Tony Clarkin , Bob Catley , Kex Gorin and Bob Doyle in order to appear as the resident band at The Rum Runner night club Birmingham...

, released in 1992.

Following the decision to leave Polydor, Sleepwalking was recorded within six months, and is the first self-produced album by Magnum since The Eleventh Hour

The Eleventh Hour (Magnum album)

-Cover Sleeve:The cover art was designed by Rodney Matthews."The Eleventh Hour illustration was mostly the brain child of Magnum's Tony Clarkin, a likable 'brummy' of eccentric appearance. He came to my studio where we listened to lyrics and he scribbled out a little sketch indicating the figure...

. Tony Clarkin

Tony Clarkin

Tony Clarkin is a British musician, best known as the guitarist of the rock band Magnum...

 was much happier acting as producer, following his working relationship with Keith Olsen

Keith Olsen

Keith Olsen is one of the most prolific and successful music producers in the industry.-Career:With over 120 albums produced netting a 1 in 4 Gold or better ratio, of which more than 24 are Platinum or better, and more than 14 are multi-Platinum, sales from Keith Olsen’s work exceeds 110 million...

 on Goodnight L.A.

Goodnight L.A.

-Singles:Rockin' Chair 7" #"Rockin' Chair" [LP Version] — 4:10#"Mama" [LP Version] — 4:34Rockin' Chair 12" #"Rockin' Chair" [LP Version] — 4:10...

. Learning from Keith Olsen

Keith Olsen

Keith Olsen is one of the most prolific and successful music producers in the industry.-Career:With over 120 albums produced netting a 1 in 4 Gold or better ratio, of which more than 24 are Platinum or better, and more than 14 are multi-Platinum, sales from Keith Olsen’s work exceeds 110 million...

, Tony had enough experience to produce Magnum's records on his own, also being the best option to cut production costs for future albums.

"Only In America" was lifted as a single, but following poor sales figures, the second single, "You're The One" was cancelled.

Track listing

Cover Sleeve

The cover art was designed by Rodney Matthews

Rodney Matthews

Rodney Matthews is a fantasy artist and illustrator.In 1978, he published Yendor: The Journey of a Junior Adventurer, a hard-back picture book featuring his distinctive paintings of "The Wild Country", a fantasy world seen through the eyes of young Yendor, named after his son...

.

"In true Magnum tradition, Tony Clarkin sketched out the essence of what he wanted for the Sleepwalking album, and in true Matthews tradition I made a few additions. The mirror shows Tony shaven headed as he is now, besides a wig to remind people of how he used to look. The suggestion that he ever did wear a wig is purely my own little joke. Other of my inclusions are the jets from The Eleventh Hour

, the bag and stick from On A Storyteller's Night

On A Storyteller's Night

On a Storyteller's Night is the fifth studio album by British melodic rock band Magnum, released in 1985 on FM Records. The album is widely considered as Magnum's breakthrough album. This album features one of the Tony Clarkin's most thoughtful songs, "Les Morts Dansant" — a simple song in that...

, certain book titles, the Lord's Prayer scroll, Birmingham City football socks and the nose boil ointment as used by Bob Catley when we discussed the cover (sorry Bob).

"I seem to remember this illustration taking me twenty-six days and, while this is not typical of my style of illustration, it was a challenge I enjoyed. Also enjoyable were the several trips made to the Magnum studio where I was able to hear some of the tracks being laid down. This and the Aqua album [by Asia

] were among the last of my designs to appear on the LP format." — Rodney Matthews

Rodney Matthews

Rodney Matthews is a fantasy artist and illustrator.In 1978, he published Yendor: The Journey of a Junior Adventurer, a hard-back picture book featuring his distinctive paintings of "The Wild Country", a fantasy world seen through the eyes of young Yendor, named after his son...

"Until the eleventh hour the Sleepwalking album was to be called Nightwatch, which was the title given it in my calendar in 1993. A section of the design was isolated for the single Only In America, my favourite track on the album." — Rodney Matthews

Singles

Only In America 7" (1992)

1. "Only In America" [LP Version] — 4:01
2. "Sleepwalking" [LP Version] — 5:39
3. "Just A Little Bit" [B-Side] — 3:59

Only In America 12" (1992)

1. "Only In America" [LP Version] — 4:01
2. "Sleepwalking" [LP Version] — 5:39
3. "Just A Little Bit" [B-Side] — 3:59
4. "Caught In Love" [B-Side] — 3:50

Only In America CD (1992)

1. "Only In America" [LP Version] — 4:01
2. "Sleepwalking" [LP Version] — 5:39
3. "Just A Little Bit" [B-Side] — 3:59
4. "Caught In Love" [B-Side] — 3:50

Personnel

• Tony Clarkin — Guitar
• Bob Catley — Vocals
• Wally Lowe — Bass
• Mark Stanway — Keyboards
• Mickey Barker — Drums

Additional Musicians

• York Gibson — Keyboard Programming
• Wesley Magoogan — Saxophone on "Every Woman, Every Man" and "The Long Ride"
• Pritam Singh — Tabla on "Prayer For A Stranger"
• Gary Sanders — Harmonica on "The Long Ride"

External links

• www.magnumonline.co.uk — Official Magnum site
• Record Covers — at rodneymatthews.com