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Progressive glam rock band Ruby Topaz strikes again with a tweaked remaster of Mark Bram / Ruby Topaz Again 23rd Anniversary Remaster.
Progressive glam rock band Ruby Topaz strikes again with a tweaked remaster of Mark Bram / Ruby Topaz Again 23rd Anniversary Remaster. Topaz Again demonstrates decades of mastery—a diverse journey of styles—across 11 tracks, and 3 bonus tracks, refreshed with a high-quality digital remaster. Mixing glam with influences ranging from Queen to Zeppelin, the sound of Ruby Topaz spans generations, genres, and worldwide appeal.
Ruby Topaz features Mark Bram on vocals, guitars, guitar synth, bass, keyboards, and drums, and Steve D’Andrea on drums and backing vocals. Mark Bram / Ruby Topaz Again was also produced by Mark Bram and mastered by Christian Wright at Abbey Road Studios in London. Chris Hallam, honorary band member and longtime friend, is credited on “Live Band Two.”
Mark Bram, otherwise known as
“Ruby Topaz” is a self-proclaimed “gear head” with more than 120 guitars and basses in his collection. The lead rocker is also a reliable historian of the band’s many faces and chapters over the years. But first, it all started with a young boy watching the Ed Sullivan show.
From the second that six-year-old Mark Bram saw Paul McCartney of The Beatles play the Ed Sullivan show, he knew he, too, would become a musician. By age 11, Bram having learned to play bass, sang and played in a band, beginning his journey to stardom. Over the next few years, the young musician immersed himself in the sounds of emerging acts of the times, including Led Zeppelin. Amazed by the sounds they produced via vocals and guitar, Bram’s determination grew even stronger.
Mark Bram was always self-taught. From bass to guitar to drums, he not only learned (and mastered) the skills but passed his knowledge on to future bandmates. As a young stage actor, Mark Bram often found himself exploring instruments. When the band he was playing bass with had gone home for the night, he used their instruments to learn to play guitar. What began with finding and playing simple notes became the development of his own musical style. “I loved painting pictures with sound. They exist for a moment, and then they’re gone.”
Joined by his friend Steve, who lived on the next street over, Bram launched a band dubbed “Shir” at the time. “It’s Hebrew for music,” shares Mark Bram. “But it also holds a double meaning of being see-through, like plastic.” As world-class acts from Black Sabbath to David Bowie to Queen took the stage, Ruby Topaz continued blending new sounds into their act, while simultaneously remaining loyal to 60s pop. “A good pop song is really important,” Bram adds.
Ruby Topaz knew the tide was turning in his favor when someone mentioned they heard his band on the radio. “My band?” he answered, knowing they weren’t focused on radio plays at the moment. “Yes, it’s you!” said the person. “I know your voice and style.” While the band in question wasn’t Ruby Topaz, it did happen to be another distinguished band: Rush.
From there, Ruby Topaz consistently walked hand-in-hand with fame. The band was reviewed alongside Metallica and The Rolling Stones in a magazine featuring the well-known Phil Collins. Ruby Topaz garnered accolades for its release. “The first Side A sounded like Rush, and the second Side B resembled Led Zeppelin.” Between powerful lyricism, a memorable voice, and masterful guitar playing, who could argue that Ruby Topaz didn’t belong alongside the greats?
Over the years, Ruby Topaz would survive through member changes, distractions, and life’s many demands. Through it all, Mark Bram stayed loyal to the vision. Returning to recording in 2001, Ruby Topaz produced its first album outside of a major studio. The tracks were performed live and later mixed by Bram. Steve, who was recovering from a back injury, wasn’t able to play the drums, so Bram took over the role for the entire production.
To round out the album, Ruby Topaz incorporated four songs with Steve (now 6, with the added bonus tracks), recorded during a session a few years prior. The album was mastered at Abbey Road in London.
One track in particular speaks to Mark Bram. “Loneliness” is my “Bohemian Rhapsody,” he explains. The song was written when he was around 16 years old and captures a symphony of big band, swing, and jazz to create a larger-than-life sound. This large-scale production comes naturally to Bram. “When I write music, I sit down and harmonize. Then I’ll write the words. In my head, I hear the whole production. When technology came around finally in 2001, I realized the song was perfectly formed and I could finally create it.”
What most listeners don’t know about Mark Bram is that he’s not just a multitalented musician—he’s also a master of martial arts. In the late 70s, the musician took a delivery job with routine stops to a Chinese restaurant. It was there that his reliance and dedication proved to the owner—and Kung Fu and Tai Chi master—that Mark Bram was interested and very capable of learning martial arts, too. No matter what task the master threw at him, Bram refused to back down. For the next 12 years, Bram learned the art in the back of the restaurant. He would go on to create the Internal Chinese Martial Arts studio he continues to run, 45 years later.
How does Mark Bram extend his learnings in Tai Chi to music and everyday life? “It improves everything,” he explains. “When you learn to exist in the moment, you worry less about things. If you worry about things, you’re so stressed from worrying that you can’t deal with the things that do come to life. Being present is being aware of your options while living in the moment. The byproduct is being happy.”
Music is another instrument for happiness. There is no truer demonstration of a lifelong love affair than the many impassioned productions of Ruby Topaz. Be sure to listen to their latest remaster across streaming platforms.
Make sure to stay connected to Ruby Topaz on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
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