MAGNUM – Brand New Morning [remastered] (taken from 5 Original Albums In 1 Box)

After the new MAGNUM album one of you requested one of the band’s best records; “Brand New Morning“, in its remastered form.
Not so long ago Steamhammer / SPV put out a great Magnum box set titled ‘5 Original Albums In 1 Box’ including all the past decade studio albums with them from the British band.
In the box the 5 CD are packed in card sleeves replicating the original artwork and sold at the price of one CD (a steal), but since then the box has become pretty hard to find – deleted at Steamhammer / SPV website – and listed at retail stores for over $ 150.

‘5 Original Albums In 1 Box’ include all the Magnum albums with Steamhammer / SPV, namely Breath Of Life (2002), Brand New Morning (2004), Princess Alice And The Broken Arrow (2007) and Into The Valley Of The Moon King (2009), plus the solid 2011 The Visitation.
The first two have been remastered, so here it is “Brand New Morning”.

“Brand New Morning” is, in my opinion, is one of Magnum’s best efforts and one of the most underrated / unheard by the overall public. This is, perhaps, the band’s more pure Melodic Hard Rock album of all their career.
There’s powerful midtempo rockers driven by Tony Clarkin’s sharp guitar work over the pumping and steady drum / bass tandem by Harry James and Al Barrow with the typical bounce of the genre, interspersed with a couple of slower AOR numbers where Mark Stanway’s delicate keyboards find more room to shine.
Bob Catley is in his usual immaculate vocal form here, even more melodic than ever before.

The album opens with title track “Brand New Morning”, a powerful song that has to be played loud. It features a typically Magnum grand intro, with the guitar tone of the album quickly set. The band set out to rock and the very first track does that in fine melodic style, with a good chorus to sing along to.
“It’s Time To Come Together” is one of the best tracks on the CD. It’s an uptempo, feel good rocker with some fine piano and a crunchy guitar fueled chorus. Bob Catley sounds great and the added layers around his voice is trademark Magnum.

“We All Run” brings down the tempo a bit, with a strong melodic line yet somehow dark and mysterious. The verse lightens up, which gives the memorable chorus further impact.
“The Blue And The Grey” is a melancholic, haunting ballad that gives further personality to the mood of the whole album. There’s a really good of combination of acoustic and electric guitars and a solid chorus.

The fifth cut “I’d Breathe For You” lifts the pace again, but in an AOR way. A slow enjoyable verse that features a strong Catley vocal leads into a melodious chorus, with Stanway’s piano playing a prominent role. The track gets more intense and almost orchestral towards the end. Another highlight for me.
“The Last Goodbye” smolders along until bursting to life during the chorus, which really lifts the spirit and the tempo of the album. A feel good anthem, shrouded in mood and mystique. Only Magnum could do something majestic like this.

Almost every song on this album has something that is recognizable. The rocking “Immigrant Son” has this on the main riff, as well as “Hard Road”, which while the verses are a little stripped back, during the chorus rocks, with keys, guitars and Catley’s leads into a power delivery. One of the more traditional sounding Magnum tracks of the album.

The CD ends with classy Magnum; “The Scarecrow” is an epic, almost ten minute composition which builds in intensity as it rocks along. It’s in the mould of past gems from the band but with an updated melodic hard rock sound.
But as always with Mangum, the guys never seem to duplicate themselves and this is another original grandiose track by this talented band.

As said, “Brand New Morning” is, in my opinion, is one of Magnum’s best albums – my favorite from their 21st century era – and one of the most underrated / unheard by the overall public.
A Melodic Hard Rock album with bite, luxury melodies and a punchy production that somehow needed a remastering because there was some little hiss on the original release.
HIGHLY Recommended

1 – Brand New Morning
2 – It’s Time To Come Together
3 – We All Run
4 – The Blue And The Grey
5 – I’d Breathe For You
6 – The Last Goodbye
7 – Immigrant Son
8 – Hard Road
9 – The Scarecrow

Bob Catley – lead and backing vocals
Tony Clarkin – guitars, backing vocals
Al Barrow – bass, backing vocals
Mark Stanway – keyboards, backing vocals
Harry James – drums

BUY IT !
www.amazon.co.uk/Original-Albums-In-Box-5cd/dp/B00D4ABSLI
.