One of Birmingham's biggest Rock monsters, Magnum, is back! Just when I thought that the only thing able to refresh my boiling brain (because of the unbearable temperatures) was the sea (oh and my air-condition).
For all you who probably don't know who Magnum are, let me make a short introduction. We're talking about a band which was formed back in the mid 70s by Tony Clarkin (guitars) and Bob Catley (vocals). A band which debuted with "Kingdom Of Madness in 1978 and supported Judas Priest, Whitesnake and Def Leppard on tour.
A band which went through one hell of a lot of lineup changes during the 80s (and did release a couple of albums), fell into inactivity for a certain time but managed to withhold in the end and here they (still) are! Magnum's true comeback was in 2001 with their renewed appetite to pump out more unique melodies, entitled "Breath Of Life.
"Brand New Morning is their new album's title and Melodic Rock is what's inside this CD. Melodic Rock in Magnum's truly remarkable way. These guys are simply restless, getting better as the decades fly by (instead of getting tired or anything like that) and I think this simply outlines the fact that some people really have what it takes to progress in music. For example, how could Bob Catley not have what it takes to go on when this guy was about to join Black Sabbath back in the mid 80s! When you'll listen to his voice, you'll probably understand why Black Sabbath were in discussions with him. What a unique voice! Not to mention that Mark Stanway (keyboards) had joined Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott in 1983 (for a while). They're all outstanding musicians (Magnum) and this might even be their most mature, best work ever!
The album starts off with a mind blower like "Brand New Day which certainly heralds the band's "brand new beginning in a melodic way that'll nail you to your chairs! "It's Time To Come Together is a quite cheerful track which I'm sure would get a lot of airplay back in the 80s when the majority of radio stations used to play Melodic Rock (or AOR, whatever you wanna call it) all the time (but nowadays the radio is full of crap...). "Immigrant Song is a more straightforward song (in terms of not being that cheerful as the one I just mentioned) and "We All Run has a certain mellowness between it's seemingly happy tunes.
There's also "The Blue And The Grey which in my opinion is quite softer than all the other tracks and walks through beautiful blues patterns. "The Last Goodbye and "I'd Breath For You simply have the Melodic Rock aroma desired by all the genre's fans. "Hard Road is a song which really brings out your most troubled feelings and through Catley's outstanding voice you take a melodic drive, one step before the end (of the album). "The Scarecrow is the album's last track yet full of melody (Al Barrow's bass is so smooth, damn!), full of what I'd like to hear, done in the best way a band could possibly do it.
Need I say anything more about an album (of course, the cover artwork rocks!) which I'd certainly vote as one of the best Melodic Rock albums of the last 10 years (at least)? I simply bow in humbleness before these Rock giants...