MAGNUM - Brand New Morning

9 songs
55:25 minutes
***
Steamhammer / SPV

Bandpage

I have never been a fan of Magnum, even not back in the Eighties when I first discovered them when they were at their creative peak. Brand New Morning will definitely not change my opinion. The good news first: if you're an avid Magnum fan, you will most certainly like their new album. Although it's still a conservative mix of melodic hard rock and AOR, it's not that (if at all) different from what they did in the past. And compared to a lot of newcomers, you get at least a certain amount of routine, with probably not that bad songwriting if you're into that metal ballad thing. The cover artwork is not as tolkienesque as in the past (it's even quite aesthetic). I only wonder why they come up in the end with a ten minutes song (The Scarecrow) when there's hardly any progressive elements in it. But then Magnum always looked like proggies but surely never were. For Magnum fans only!