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The brotherhood of Gardner strikes again! Their second album for
InsideOut is a real cracker. Real genuine progressive rock as not
many bands can produce it, nowadays. It’s only the sixth album of
Magellan in 15 years, but the frequency of album releases seems to
increase, now Trent has put aside his many side-projects, well, I
think he did. (Although he’s still working with James Labrie, Steve
Walsh and Tony Levin.)
The record opens with a perfect track to start off a live gig. A
real symphonic overture, that’s perfect to give the right tension
while the musicians take their positions on the dark stage while
smoke is blowing from behind them. After 3 minutes of this sparkling
opening, they kick off with “Why Water Weeds?”, a progressive rock
song with lots of variation and also some quieter moments, which I
was searching in vain on their previous album. You have to get used
to the voice of Trent and especially to his style of singing with
his unusual vocal lines, but that’s just what gives their music an
original touch. The next track, “Wisdom” is even a ballad, quite
enjoyable.
“Cranium Reef Suite”, an epic track of 18 minutes, shows you what
progressive rock is all about, complex rhythms and changes of
themes, what we are used from this band, but this track is a bit too
long to keep my attention. Maybe it needs some more time to settle
down.
Just as on the previous album, “Impossible Figures”, Stephen Imbler
plays a classical piece on the piano, a short track, which doesn’t
really fit in between the other tracks, but it’s a welcome break in
this oasis of complex progressive rock.
“Doctor Concoctor”, the heaviest track of this album, is a very
catchy short track, which should even appeal to progrock fans who
don’t like the heavier music. The album ends with another real
progressive, complex song, with a lot of keyboards, which were
omnipresent during the whole album. Especially the rhythmic Hammond
on the background gives this track a special drive.
The music on this album is darker than usual for a Magellan album,
but the real darkness is hidden in the lyrics. A few examples: “Why
Water Weeds”, ‘the idea of a God so disgusted with mankind that he
threw earth like a basketball sky high to see it fall just because
he was sick of it all’. The melodic ballad deals with ‘wisdom’,
‘what is called wisdom in our world often is nothing else than
senseless information.’
I
didn’t particularly like “Impossible Figures”, but this “Symphony
for a Misanthrope’ is my favourite Magellan album so far and it
deserves a place between the better real progressive rock albums of
this year. |
