Breath of Life (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Breath of Life
Type = Album
Artist = Magnum


Recorded = Mad Hat Studios, Wolverhampton United Kingdom 2001 — 2002
Released = February 2002
Genre = Rock Melodic Rock Progressive rock
Length = Regular: 58:49 Limited: 74:58 Disc 2: 00:00
Label = SPV
Producer = Tony Clarkin
Reviews = * Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusicguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jifyxqlaldke link]
* ProgArchives Rating|4|5 [http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=13747 link]
* MelodicRock.com rating-10|8 [http://www.melodicrock.com/reviews/magnum-breathoflife.p3 link]
Last album = "Days Of Wonder" (2000)
This album = "Breath of Life" (2002)
Next album = "Long Days, Black Nights" (2002)

"Breath of Life" is twelfth Studio Album by British Melodic Rock band Magnum, released in 2002 by SPV.

"Breath of Life" is Magnum's comeback album after a hiatus of over six years. The album marks the return of vocalist Bob Catley, guitarist Tony Clarkin, and keyboard player Mark Stanway. Tony Clarkin produced the album in summer 2001 at the Mad Hat Studios, Wolverhampton.

Clarkin comments: "The break since the middle of the Nineties was definitely necessary for me. Since the end of the Seventies, in fact since we embarked on the preparations for our debut recording "Kingdom Of Madness", not a single month had gone by in which I didn't work for Magnum, composed for the group, or at least thought of them permanently. For almost twenty years, all my thoughts had revolved around the band. I needed a break to clear my head and to be able to devote myself to the band again with renewed energy." [ [http://www.workhardpr.com/Archive/Magnum/magnum.html Magnum ] ] — Tony Clarkin, 2002

During his sabbatical, Clarkin worked as a producer, wrote songs for other artists and brought out two albums with Hard Rain together with Bob Catley. Both "Still" and "Dream About You" was demoed by Tony Clarkin and Sue McCloskey.

The album was originally intended to be a double CD release containing a free CD of old Magnum material, however SPV reduced the package to a limited edition version including 3 additional tracks on a single CD, to reduce costs. The double CD was released in Japan. [ [http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showinterview.php?id=91&lang=en Magnum | Interview | Lords Of Metal metal E-zine - Issue 14: March 2002 ] ]

All of the drum parts on the album are drum samples or played by Tony Clarkin. [ [http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showinterview.php?id=91&lang=en Magnum | Interview | Lords Of Metal metal E-zine - Issue 14: March 2002 ] ]

Track listing

All Tracks written by Tony Clarkin except where noted.

Disc 1

#"Cry" — 5:14
#"This Heart" — 4:03
#"Everyday" — 6:34
#"Still" (Tony Clarkin and Sue McCloskey) — 4:02
#"Dream About You" (Tony Clarkin and Sue McCloskey) — 4:15
#"Breath Of Life" — 4:48
#"After The Rain" — 4:03
#"That Holy Touch" — 5:11
#"Let Somebody In" — 4:19
#"The Face Of An Enemy" — 3:47
#"Just Like January" — 4:29
#"Night After Night" — 7:55

Limited Edition Bonus Tracks:

13. "The Flood (Red Clouds War)" [Live] — 6:30
14. "Back Street Kid" [Live] — 5:29
15. "We All Need To Be Loved" [Acoustic] — 4:21

Disc 2 (Japanese Release)

#"The Flood (Red Clouds War)" [Live] — 6:30
#"Back Street Kid" [Live] — 5:29
#"It Must Have Been Love" [Live] — 5:53
#"We All Need To Be Loved" [Acoustic] — 4:21
#"Only A Memory" [Live] — 6:12
#"Born To Be King" [Live] — 5:58

Additional Japanese Sleeve Notes

"The only information I can give you on these tracks is that every tour we recorded each night straight onto DAT at the desk so we could check later on the bus how we played and which song went down the best or died whatever the case maybe. We soon abandoned this idea because it drove us nuts but the sound engineer continued to record every show but without stating when or where we were at the time. I think he went nuts as well.

"'We All Need To Be Loved' was an acoustic session for the radio and 'Born To Be King', 'It Must Have Been Love' and 'Only A Memory' on these live versions are different to how we did them on the final albums.

"To leave you with one thought at the end of a tour we could have sixty or seventy DATs to listen to, we never did, so now it's up to you." [Clarkin, Tony (2002). Breath Of Life - Sleeve Notes. In "Breath Of Life [Japanese Edition] " (pp. 18) [CD liner notes] . Japan: Nippon Crown Co. Ltd.] — Tony Clarkin, 2002

Personnel

*Tony Clarkin — Guitar
*Bob Catley — Vocals
*Al Barrow — Bass
*Mark Stanway — Keyboards

Additional Musicians
*Wally Lowe — Bass (on Disc 2)
*Mickey Barker — Drums (on Disc 2)

References

External links

* [http://www.magnumonline.co.uk www.magnumonline.co.uk] — Official Magnum site
* [http://lyricwiki.org/Magnum:Breath_Of_Life_(2002) Breath Of Life (2002)] — lyrics from lyricwiki.org