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Seven
“Seven” is only the second album of Magenta, but it’s a concept
album about the seven deadly sins. Now that we’ve sorted out the
numbers, we can talk about the music and if you know their previous
album “Revolutions”, you know you’re in for a treat.
I
know they say that every female vocalist in progressive rock reviews
is compared with Annie Haslam, but with Christina, I don’t have any
other option. She just sounds so much like her. She has the same
crystal clear, pure sound. She sings as if it’s the easiest thing in
the world. Her voice has an incredible reach and is never out of
pitch. She’s a real natural born singer.
The production of this album is one of the best I’ve ever heard.
Every instrument is perfectly in balance with the rest. Every detail
is audible. The use of a real symphonic orchestra also adds up to
the perfection of the sound.
You can hear references to a lot of other bands in their music, but
that’s what they want. The liner notes in the booklet of their first
album “Revolutions” said: “Any similarities or coincidences with any
bands past or present is entirely intentional!” So you can’t blame
them if you say that pieces of Envy remind you of the ending of
“Entangled” by Genesis, that some of the vocal harmonies really
sound like Yes on “90125”, that you clearly hear references to other
bands like IQ, Spock’s Beard and others and that the opening of
“Sloth” gives the same feeling as “The Division Bell “ of Pink
Floyd.
There are some differences with “Revolutions”. First of all, Rob
Reed does only backing vocals. On the previous album he also did
some of the lead vocals, but it must be difficult to compete with a
singer as Christine, and he’s not a top notch singer (although he
was allright during the live show I attended). So Christina is the
only lead singer now, but you can hardly call that a punishment. The
tracks are shorter than on “Revolutions” (well, most of them still
last longer than ten minutes), where the tracks lasted more than 20
minutes and were a collage of shorter pieces. On “Seven”, the tracks
are easier to get into, less complex.
So, with top quality vocals, skilled musicians and very strong
tracks, I can only say, three out of three ain’t bad, is it?
I
prefer “Seven”, but I think every progressive rock fan will want
both of them. And if you don’t have enough yet there’s an extra EP
“Broken”.
Broken
Rob
Reed: keyboards, Christina: Vocals, Chris
Fry: Guitars, Martin Rosser: Guitars, Matthew
Cohen: Bass, Allan Mason-Jones: Drums
Tracklist:
Broken (4’03”)
Call me (4’56”)
Lemminkainen’s Lament (2004 Celtic Remix)(4’18”)
Opus 3 (2’33”)
Sloth (String Mix) (10’10”)
If you order “Seven” on-line on the site of F2 music, you get a
special offer for “Seven” and an extra EP “Broken” of which the
official release is only for June 1st.
For the first time, Magenta appears as a complete band on a disc.
Rob Reed played most of the instruments on “Seven” but here you can
hear the band that’s announced on their website. The title track is
a very accessible song, with a hook that stays in your mind. “Call
me” is a great ballad, with, as in every Magenta track, an awesome
instrumental piece. “Lemminkainen’s Lament” was originally intended
for a Finnish compilation, but they gave it a Celtic touch with a
uillean pipe sound, again a great ballad. “Opus 3” is Rob Reed on
church organ stepping in the footsteps of Rick Wakeman. “Sloth” is
the same track as on “Seven” but the guitar part is played by the
strings. This single is a fine bonus if you take the special offer
from F2music, but I hope it will get to the shops when it’s released
later this year. |
