Magnum - Brand New Morning

*=Staff's pick	Brand New Morning* It's Time To Come Together We All Run* The Blue And The Gray I'd Breathe For You* The Last Goodbye* Immigrant Son Hard Road The Scarecrow*

Genre	Melodic Hard Rock	Bob Catley	Vocals
Tracks	9	Tony Clarkin	Guitar
Runningtime	55 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	SPV	Al Barrow	Bass
Release	30 Aug. 2005	Harry James	Drums
Country	England	Mike Stanway	Keyboards
Similar artists	Bob Catley, TNT, some Led Zeppelin

Bob Catley has all reasons to be very proud and satisfied when regarding his current situation. His latest solo effort, When Empires Burn, is the best effort the man has ever released and Magnum are reunited and seem to be regaining much lost ground.. After the quite big selling success with the previous Breath Of Life, the British masters of melodic hard rock return to give us their latest full length studio recording, Brand New Morning, their 12th in their career. And with this release they also principle that the release of Breath of Life after almost eight years in hibernation was just the beginning of something that just might be a new and great Magnum epoch. That album was a good restart and a highly rejoiced comeback for the band but knowing what they're capable of, I had a very strong feeling that Brand New Morning would be even better, and gladly I was right.

This new disc from Catley, Clarkin and associates features a much more profiled and basic hard rock side that mostly combines their former albums Chase the Dragon, On A Storyteller's Night, Sleepwalking, Goodnight L.A and Rockart. There's a very strong Seventies vintage atmosphere that heavily breaths Chase the Dragon and much mysticism, inspiration and classy composition that owes a lot to On a Storyteller's Night. The overall guitar sound reminds a whole lot of Goodnight L.A, the background dominating keyboard settings are very Sleepwalking influenced and the intenseness and heaviness are mostly derived from Rockart. I know that Goodnight L.A and Rockart are albums not even remotely near Magnum in their most shining moments but the attributes gathered from them are the very best parts and what the band should have done with those ideas instead of what was delivered in those days.

Tony Clarkin's opening guitar riff of the album starter and title track is just another version of the one that opens Mama from Goodnight L.A but then some stoutly flavoured Kashmir (Led Zeppelin) inspired chords continue the show. This is a truly great Magnum track and definitely one of the better ones among the material of their latest albums. This main riff and the very hypnotic chorus are the main benefits of the song and Magnum's manner of adding that special touch of mysticism to their work is as always highly present.

The Led Zeppelin touches to the song of course also features a certain Seventies vibe and Whitesnake aren't that remote a comparison in those terms either. Huge sing along factor on this number. It's Time To Come Together opens with a piano seasoned keyboard intro and is a more traditional Magnum song. That still means that again a chorus that sticks is found and the song would not be totally misplaced on their Sleepwalking release. Especially the great keyboard/piano supported verse has much in common with numbers from that album that also can be said about the refrain where certain features traceable to those times are about.

When dealing with Magnum, we're also used to that the instruments are mostly just support in the choruses. In such environs before Tony Clarkin usually just stroke very simple background chords, but here we face an approach that's almost the other way round on many songs. The choruses of We All Run and The Last Goodbye are prime examples of tracks where they instead are based on atmospheric guitar/keyboard melodies in addition to Bob's singing and must therefore be considered as a somewhat new idea and the next development in Tony Clarkin's way of composing.

We All Run is a great rock hymn with classic spirited Magnum melody lines while The Last Goodbye facets darker keyboards, a heavier sound and more orchestration. Both of them assemble fantastic choruses where We All Run has the most atmospheric while the one on The Last Goodbye is a two parted work of wonder and the best on the album. These two are truly amazing tracks and are doubtlessly just as Brand New Morning numbers that belong among the greater ones over the years.

The Blue and the Gray is the ever present ballad of this release and it's actually also a very good one. The atmosphere continues to be very high and classy and Magnum's sense of melody is omnipresent. The almost gospel inspired refrain is perhaps a bit cheesy but the more mid tempo based pace that the song falls into in the middle part pushes it to a higher grade. The next track, I'd Breathe For You, again bears the Sleepwalking mark, this time also mixed with a little Goodnight L.A and opens with another hard rock edged riff from Tony Clarkin. This guitar melody then runs through the verse section while Mark Stanway continues to deliver great keyboard support to the spirited chorus again full of mystic undertones.

Immigrant Song is another quite heavily orchestrated song and for the second time of the album I sense touches of Led Zeppelin. Hard Road is a more atmospheric hard rock song with a very sing along friendly verse and a great instrumental finish. These two can be said to have most in common with the Rockart material and that kind of rock oriented edgy style but should they have been on that album, they certainly would have belonged among the better ones.

The Scarecrow is the epic album ender with closer to 10 minutes of disc space but this one is not the two-songs-in-one opus like Don't Wake the Lion or On Christmas Day. Instead it's a simpler mid tempo hard rock arranged piece of work, that once again displays a strong Seventies frame. Despite being different from the abovementioned epics though, it still easily meets the criteria of a great Magnum epos. Almost as good as all the trademarks of other longer band compositions of this kind are at hand. It bids another great chorus, further flirting with Led Zeppelin, longer instrumental parts and quite a few tempo changes.

It opens with a keyboard delivered melody similar to the one in the chorus of Maybe Tonight (bonus track on Wings of Heaven), only in slower pace, before the pace escalates into a mid tempo rhythmic velocity. Just as the entire album though, it requires more listening than other Magnum compositions and especially the jazzy middle part takes some spins before it's fully accepted and you can accredit it as the grand song and great way to end an album it truly is.

The production by architect Clarkin is just excellent, one of the better ones he ever managed and the fatter and rawer hard rock edged approach seems to have been the most important feature to bring out in the sonical setting by the master this time. Without loosing the traditional essence of their sound, the classic hard rock profile and mystic undertones kept in one piece, this just sounds much fuller and more atmospheric than ever. Imagine this newfound raw and powerful edge and you get what would emerge when Chase the Dragon gets mixed with Sleepwalking, Goodnight L.A and Rockart and on top of that recorded live with huge amounts of presence. Former Magnum albums have mostly been oriented around Bob Catley's voice, but here consequently the instruments have been much more tuned up and pushed forward to be more dominating in the mix.

The drums feel especially right to mention in these aspects as ex-Thunder drummer Harry James is a very fresh and energetic addition to this newer and rougher Magnum's resonance. His playing has added a new rhythmic dimension to the band and that's a great change compared to the drum-machine sounds Magnum has suffered too much of lately. I certainly hope he will stay as a permanent member in the band from now on. To his prominent and extraordinary efforts Tony has also given his own instrument more scope again and Mark Stanway's brilliant keyboard playing is also much further underscored. Basically I just love the sonical stage Clarkin has set this time!

Over the years Magnum have released an incredible amount of outstanding material and the loyal fans have of course stood by them despite that changes in the musical environments have proven them outgunned on several occasions. The tides however seem to have turned and Magnum finally begin to get the recognition they so rightly should have hade time and time ago. Brand New Morning gets very close to being a real classic and the material on it makes Magnum remain to be a top ranked act in the league of hard rock champions. Not quite rivalling their absolute best works but still a very respectable addition to the band's long and illustrious catalogue that should rally even more followers to their cause!

Production	Vocals	Compositions
9	8,5	8

Summary
8,5 chalices of 10 - Mat