Artist: Coast
Release Year: 1998
Description: A mixtape of longing, lust, and learning — the album that started it all.
Fallen Heroes is where the musical story of Magnus Lassila truly begins.
Written, recorded, and assembled across ADAT, 4-track tape, and an Atari 1040 with Cubase, it’s more than an album — it’s a coming-of-age ritual disguised as a record.
The production is raw, the emotions are real, and the genre? Well... undefined.
These songs are sketches and stories — personal, playful, and painfully honest. It’s a map of a young artist figuring out how to write feelings into form, one gut punch and sarcastic chorus at a time.
Highlights? You bet:
“Fallen Heroes” – A slightly scorched ELO/Jeff Lynne lovechild with big heart and bigger harmonies.
“Hey, Wonderful Day” – Britpop brilliance with unreciprocated love and impeccable comedic timing.
“Southern Cross” – Breakups hurt. Guilt in excess. Kiwi heartbreak never sounded so melodic.
“If I” – Possibly the funniest song Magnus has ever written. Bitterness delivered with a wink and a hand grenade.
“If I Can’t Have You” – A teen idol ballad gone turbo, with a face-melting guitar solo recorded from the control room. complete with mix catastrophes.
“Surf Kiss” – Fully improvised fusion jam. From drums to synths to chaos, it’s creation at full tilt.
“The Rain (Live)” – Spoiler: it’s not live. But it’s alive with sincerity and solid singer-songwriter bones.
“The Preacher” – Banjo, dobro, and a drum machine walk into a bar. Somehow it works.
And through it all: love songs, breakup songs, bitterness, regret, and enough musical ideas to power a decade of side projects.
Final thought:
It’s messy. It’s brilliant. It’s the sound of trying everything to see what sticks.
And somehow, it all does.
Welcome to where it began.