Artist: Newman
Label: Chrome Dome Music
Released: 2010
Length: 61:39
Rating: 3.8/5
The new Newman album keeps the consistent quality and continuity of their past work across the board, while also making it clear that the production has gone heavier again. The previous two albums already wore that stamp, and this direction obviously suits Steve Newman more than fine.
The follow-up to “Primitive Soul” (2007) doesn’t just have a nicer-looking cover. It also feels a touch more inspired and varied than its predecessor, which is great news. With seven studio releases, Newman long ago pretty much staked out the borders of his artistic development and musical vocabulary, so any deviation is welcome.
Under a lively production, where the guitars have real bite and a glowing sound, the trademark songwriting tricks of this kind of melodic rock naturally sparkle. If I pick out the album’s best moments, where the basic building blocks of British melodic rock heritage once again live together beautifully, it’s definitely The Miracle. It’s one of the longest tracks and also has one of the most polished lead chorus melodies, the kind that crawls under your skin in a heartbeat. Setting the listener up for that kind of ambience before The Miracle are two extremely tight yet fiery rockers, Endless and Edge Of The World.
The first real AOR moment is defined by the mellow Stay With Me. There’s noticeably more pop here than on the album’s first four tracks. Still, it’s a song where Newman sound incredibly assured, and that’s down to the rich experience of seasoned old foxes who know exactly how to serve things up in the studio. The keyboards get a bigger role here, standing on equal footing with the engraved guitar riffs and building a dynamic, richly layered picture of harmonized background. Newman haven’t forgotten the defining trait of every real melodic rock band. The multi-part vocal harmonies are once again superbly sculpted, so it goes without saying on this record too that the atmospheric peaks are the choruses. As if they’d heard me, right after Stay With Me the guys hit us with a similar new musical experience in Tumble Down.
The instrumental middle sections stir up the dynamics, take care of the necessary mood shifts, and are built so they never, not even for a second, break the tightness of the guitar verse-chorus relationship. The solos are shorter, expressive and condensed, with the clear shape of firmly grounded note sequences. Not a speck of excess. Everything sits right where it belongs. All of it serves tightness, melodicism and giving that an extra upgrade.
The second half again offers a somewhat heavier turn of events, and Wish You Well picks up the energy of The Miracle vividly and successfully. Find My Heart and Break It Again feel a touch too predictable in the chorus and don’t reach the atmospheric heights of the other tracks. The ballad Forever, on the other hand, does very well and is one of the album’s more successful songs. The album closes at a top level, with a track that doesn’t limp one bit behind the excellent The Miracle. It’s the upbeat, positive Stronger, where Newman once again masterfully showcase every element of the British melodic hard rock message in a way that casts a spell on all the true believers and defenders of the genre, no reservations.
I’d like to point out the very start of the album, which surprises with its punch. That’s Hero To Zero, which has the liveliest production of all, and Steve leans much harder into the gritty side of his vocal approach. This opening surprise is more than welcome, since it guarantees that this album stands out even more in terms of expression from the older Newman releases.
“The Art Of Balance” is exactly what the album title hints at. On it you’ll find the right doses of everything the traditional legacy of British hard rock has to offer. The album delivers some real top-notch moments, like the songs the Miracle and Stronger, plus a bunch of tight, melodically infectious tracks and the perfect ballad Forever, while the less interesting moments amount to just a pinch. One more thing. Newman are not, say, FM, since on their last three releases the AOR elements only come through in clearly defined spots. In other words, only occasionally. That’s a gap compared to the first albums, when you could count Newman as AOR without a second thought. “The Art Of Balance” is a high-quality record that will please everyone who swears by melodic completeness and perfection, boosted by an innate feel for creating (the necessary) drama. With this one, Newman stay in the top league of British acts who keep all the hard rock specifics of their island heritage.
Line-up
Steve Newman – vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass guitar
Rob McEwen – drums, percussion
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Mark Thompson-Smith – backing vocals on tracks 1 and 4
Geoff Wootton – backing vocals on tracks 1, 11 and 12
Production
Steve Newman
Track list
1. Hero To Zero
2. Edge Of The World
3. Endless
4. The Miracle
5. Stay With Me
6. Tumble Down
7. Wish You Well
8. Find My Heart
9. Your Surrender
10. Break It Again
11. Forever
12. Stronger
