Author: Peter Podbrežnik, Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Magnum
Label: SPV Records
Released: 2007
Runtime: 62:35
Rating: 3.5/5
review no. 2 by: Peter Podbrežnik (5.11.2016)
English art rock champions Magnum kept their successful return to the music scene rolling with »Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow«, a comeback that started with the ‘reunion” album »Breath of Life« (2002) and continued with »Brand New Morning« (2004). »Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow« was another step in the right direction, as the AOR/art rock greats went back even more thoroughly, inspiration-wise, to their best era (the eighties). That’s obvious from the superb cover too, which was designed for the first time in ages by longtime collaborator and renowned graphic artist Rodney Matthews. He made sure the sleeve of the new record wasn’t some computer-generated abomination, which was pretty typical of the covers of a good number of rock acts in the early 21st century.
The album has the faint beginnings of a concept, as its more-than-unusual title and cover were inspired by a children’s fairy tale, ‘Princess Alice’, to which guitar master, producer and songwriter Tony Clarkin has certain personal ties. According to singer Bob Catley, the broken arrow in Princess Alice’s hands is supposed to symbolize the end of hatred and a truce with the wicked fox sitting on the opposite side of the table. The fox has children locked up in the background, and the naive girl hopes to free them through the truce. But of course, the cunning fox has completely different plans.
According to Catley, it’s also meant as a metaphor for how white conquerors always cheated the Native Americans when they signed peace treaties with them, and in the end grabbed all of their land. Musically, »Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow« is an even more obvious return to the classic Magnum sound of the eighties, with an emphasis on melodic rock and some prog rock elements, but with Clarkin’s modern production and a lot more sentimentality, which has grown in direct proportion to the band members’ age. It’s also their only album with drummer Jimmy Copley, who briefly stood in for Gary ‘Harry’ James. James was away at the time because of commitments to his ‘home’ band Thunder, but he made a successful return to the Magnum fold on the next album.
The opener »When We Were Younger« is decent but unspectacular and a bit drawn out. Built in classic Magnum style, it has a nostalgic lyric, a determined guitar riff, a decent melodic rock chorus and rich arrangements, and if nothing else, it manages to keep the listener interested for the rest of the album. »Eyes Wide Open« turns out a bit better, with a spectacular symphonic arrangement from keyboardist Mark Stanway and an epic chorus delivered in Catley’s typically charismatic way. In 2006 his voice wasn’t yet as worn out as in later years, when it became a pretty pressing problem at gigs. »Like Brothers We Stand«, a track with Clarkin’s typical pacifist lyrics and an emphasis on backing vocals, doesn’t stand out in any way. It sounds like a good number of Magnum songs from the classic era, but it lacks that real fire the eighties classics were made with. The punchy »Out of Shadows« is among the stronger cuts on the album, with a hard rock guitar line backed up by epic keyboard textures and Catley’s mighty vocal performance.
The epic, pompous »Dragons Are Real«, with its fantasy atmosphere and ‘fairy-tale’ lyrics and a solemn arrangement up front, is one of the album’s better moments. »Inside Your Head« is a power ballad built around piano arrangements, an awakening chorus and a dramatic plot twist, of the kind Magnum have turned out quite a few of in their long career. The rather basic melodic hard rocker »Be Strong« is one of the less inspired moments on the album, especially with its somewhat ill-fitting love lyric that doesn’t sit well with the punchy nature of this very average song, by Magnum standards. »Thank You For the Day« is yet another dramatic power ballad that doesn’t leave any deeper impression either. The energetic cross between melodic and hard rock, »Your Lies«, turns out a bit more interesting, boasting a pompous keyboard arrangement, ragged guitar passages and a melodramatic vocal performance from the indestructible Catley. »Desperate Times« is also seriously solid, with a nicely gradual build-up of melodic rock drama, even though the mostly slow tempo makes you think at the start that it’s just another ballad. Magnum really outdid themselves on the closer, »You’ll Never Sleep«, which is among the album’s best moments thanks to its greater emphasis on Stanway’s symphonic arrangements and more complex time changes.
On the more-than-solid »Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow«, Magnum once again put a bit more emphasis on the art rock elements that defined some of their most beloved achievements in the eighties. But the album lacks that real creative fire and drive from their younger years, which is sorely missed here for the most part. It’s a good album, but you couldn’t possibly count it among the peaks of their career. Still, with it Magnum kept up their successful return to the path of ‘old glory’, and for most of their followers that was more than enough to give »Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow« a warm welcome, while slowly starting to get a bit more attention again on home turf in England too.
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review no. 1 by: Aleš Podbrežnik (26.3.2007)
Magnum are a band whose name always commands a certain amount of respect. Mention it and ears instantly prick up and the excitement level goes up a notch. Yep. Magnum are those famous venerable professors who gave us the majestic AOR albums “Wings Of Heaven”, “Vigilante” and of course the album that belongs in everyone’s collection, “On A Storyteller’s Night”. Those three albums made Magnum the kings of AOR, and the songs on them are all classics in their own right. Three superbly polished albums released back to back only confirmed that these guys were in top form back then. That Magnum material really served up juicy soul food for every fan of this kind of music.
The partnership of Tony Clarkin (guitar) and Bob Catley (vocals) is one of the most important ingredients in creating that unique, recognizable sound that’s all Magnum’s own.
The band broke up, stopped playing, and then, to the great joy of their fans, re-emerged, first with the “comeback” album “Breath Of Life”, followed by the very similar but more convincing “Brand New Morning”. “Princess Alice And The Broken Arrow” is the third album since the reunion. Of the three, it has the most complex textures, the classic Magnum trademark of grandiosity, which has been more clearly emphasized again since the reunion. The album is a step forward as far as production goes, compared to the last three albums (though that doesn’t go for the new ideas, but more on that below). And here are the standards you simply can’t do without. First and foremost, Bob Catley’s extraordinary singing, which lives up to the reputation of a good old wine whose quality only improves with the years. We’ve got a classic Magnum cover again too, courtesy of Rodney Matthews. Magnum also sport a new logo, which is utterly gorgeous!
I spun the album quite a few times before I sat down to type and dissect it analytically, and I have to admit that it always warms me up and cools me down in equal measure. You simply set the bar higher for a band that’s been on the scene for thirty years and more. My first remark is that all three Magnum albums since the reunion are very similar to each other. They all follow a certain mold with no real variety. The album doesn’t have the right dynamics. When you listen to it, you realize the songs don’t deviate much, especially in their basic tempos. It’s hard to tell an uptempo rocker from a song that’s supposed to be a ballad. Something very important that you can’t imagine a real Magnum without is big choruses. They’re simply not there (anymore). Sure, Magnum can still put together a quality melodic chorus, but lately you get the feeling they either don’t pay much attention to it anymore, or they simply don’t have the ideas that would bring that familiar moment of high elation that sends shivers down your spine. The cherry on top is missing. So you don’t get the highly atmospheric moment of the classic Magnum AOR albums. The guys also somewhat missed the point with the track order. The album opens with the drawn-out, boring, orthodoxly slowed-down When We Were Younger, where your jaw hits the floor before the thing finally picks up rock-style in its chorus. Catley’s emotional side is undoubtedly highlighted in it, but it’s an unfortunate start for an album that calls for an anthemic march! Even more surprising is how the album carries on, as Eyes Wide Open, Like Brothers We Stand and Out Of The Shadows don’t bring a dynamic turnaround either. The thing gets drier by the minute. This is an album that, in Magnum’s career, has never needed such a long warm-up before it “rocked” into a proper tempo and Clarkin’s riff-chopping. Only the fifth track in a row, Dragons Are Real, airs the album out for the first time, the way it should. A song that would have made an ideal start to the record! The rest of the album follows a typical ballad/punchy rocker order, repeated three times. The album drowns in a yawning stupor, which, like opium, comes from the band’s decision to subordinate the album to slow rhythms. So here’s Inside Your Head again, followed by Be Strong, which rocks things up again. If only there were more of these moments on the record! That one drags up the stuff captured on Magnum’s “Sleepwalkers” album. And then back to the ballad Thank You For The Day., which brings the mood closer to sleep again. You do perk up at Your Lies, this time purely because it’s taken at a faster tempo. And then it’s another ballad, Desperate Times, followed by You’ll Never Sleep, one of the most finely carved songs on the album, which at least makes for an impressive finale, even if the start is so limp and bland.
It’s a good album and it’ll easily hook the band’s fans. But given the reputation and stature the band has built up over the decades, and given their classic opus of three undisputedly great rock albums mentioned above, you simply can’t stay indifferent to “Princess Alice And The Broken Arrow”. The guys have aged, gone soft, and their biorhythms today, and their metabolism too, obviously demand more sleep and surrendering to dreams. The new songs simply don’t create dynamics, and the album doesn’t have any creative freshness either. Everything on it is very predictable. At the same time, we mustn’t forget that this is a Magnum album from head to toe in this case too, one that only Magnum know how to put together and nobody else. The skillfully chosen keyboard arrangements are a factor on the new album that at least partly breaks the usual monotony and softens the lack of dynamics and freshness. Don’t get me wrong. At its core the album has the quality that only Magnum can create, and so it contains a few excellent moments. But it lacks that spark. The spark the guys once knew how to conjure up. A spark that came from naivety and the hunger to prove themselves. Routine and experience alone can’t fix a lack of creative drive. But for fans of the band, this album is definitely worth a spot in the collection too. Magnum, though, need a proper kick up the backside today, one that would put some balls back in them!
Lineup
Bob Catley – vocals
Tony Clarkin – guitar
Mark Stanway – keyboards
Al Barrrow – bass
Jimmy Copley – drums
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Jim Lea – violin on “You’ll Never Sleep”
Production
Tony Clarkin
Track list
1. When We Were Younger
2. Eyes Wide Open
3. Like Brothers We Stand
4. Out Of The Shadows
5. Dragons Are Real
6. Inside Your Head
7. Be Strong
8. Thank You For The Day
9. Your Lies
10. Desperate Times
11. You’ll Never Sleep
