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Magenta - 2006 - "Home"

(168 min 2CD, F2)


******

Prolusion. The history of this Welsh outfit begins in 2001 when multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Rob Read recorded his first solo album "Revolutions", but released it under the moniker of MAGENTA, soon after which the one-man project got configured into a quintet, having become a fully-fledged band using any opportunity to play live. "Home" can be regarded as a follow-up to their second full-length studio album, "Seven" (2004), although their general discography includes three EPs, one live CD and one DVD, "The Gathering". I haven't heard Magenta until now.

Disc 1 - "Home" (68 min)
*****+

TRACK LIST:

1.  This Life 2:30 
2.  Hurt 5:35 
3.  Moving On 6:02 
4.  My Home Town 3:56 
5.  Brave New Land 1:02 
6.  The Journey 6:21 
7.  Towers of Hope 2:10 
8.  Demons 5:16 
9.  Morning Sunlight 2:43 
10. Joe 11:14 
11. A Dream 1:11
12. The Visionary 6:00 
13. Journey's End 7:41 
14. The Travellers Lament 1:15 
15. Home 4:13

LINEUP:

Rob Reed - keyboards; bass, guitars, recorder; vocals
Christina Booth - lead vocals
Chris Fry - guitars 
Dan Fry - bass
Martin Rosser - guitar
Allan Mason-Jones - drums 
With:
Troy Donockley - Uilleann pipes, whistles
Lee Goodall - tenor saxophone 
Lorrain King - backing vocals
Mal Pope - backing vocals
& more 

Analysis. It's still Bob Reed who penned all the music for "Home", while the lyrics are credited to Steve Reed. This is a concept album, telling a story of a young woman from Liverpool who, burning with the desire to 'find herself', leaves her homeland to travel across the United States. To be brief, having had her share of grief there, she comes to a realization of the values common to all mankind and returns home. In the end, there is much common ground between this plot and that of Marillion's "Brave". On the musical plane however, Magenta and Marillion are hardly consonant matters, the only exception to this rule to be mentioned in due time. So, the first disc is made up of 15 tracks, and I'll begin with the shorter ones, with your permission. This Life and Towers of Hope are soft piano- and strings-laden ballads, as also is Morning Sunlight (whose 'key' words are "I hide my love"), though it is acoustic guitar and bass that most often back up Christina's singing this time around. While having for the most part a full-band sound, the title track is not devoid of a ballad-like feeling too. In fact, it is obvious everywhere except for the piano postlude and the mid instrumental section, in which can be heard some fine whistle solos from Iona's Troy Donockley. The only instrumental opus, The Travellers Lament, is at the same time the only track on the album that doesn't have any magenta shades in its color palette, sounding not unlike Troy's solo numbers on Uilleann pipes, in which is no surprise since this piece is a kind of benefit performance for him. The best of the shorter tracks would be the heroine's lament for the capital of Rock music (why not?), My Home Town, which is largely instrumental though. Rob Reed performs most of the instrumental parts here, shining with equal resourcefulness when playing acoustic guitar, mandolin, bass and pianos. Now I have to note that with the exception of The Travellers Lament, all the said tracks are among some of the band's greatest achievements in the field of originality, though on the other hand it's clear Magenta just didn't set out not to sound like anybody else, and it seems they never intended to hide the fact that they have numerous teachers in absentia, Elton John included. Well, instead of enumerating the artists Magenta themselves list as their benefactors, I'll better mention only those whose echoes I've caught personally. The remaining two shorter pieces can't be viewed outside of the context of their follow-ups. Brave New Land is just the introductory theme of The Journey, which in its turn is the only heavily derivative track among the longer ones, the music now evoking classic Yes (think the eponymous Anderson-Bruford-Wakeman-Howe album), now strongly resembling "Big Generator" - especially often in the parts with a choir singing and in guitar riffs. On the other compositions the group with ease play fully original music whenever they want to, at times intermixing their style with others', the influences of Yes and Pink Floyd being prevalent in such cases. Hurt begins and unfolds as academic symphonic Art-Rock, which yet doesn't arouse any associations. Somewhere in the middle - right after a classical-like interlude - appears a landscape typical of the "Dark Side of the Moon", while the finale is the only place on the recording which brings to mind Marillion. While Moving On, the heroine complains "I'm Falling Down", the composition as such developing similarly to the preceding piece (save the finale for sure), though this one is richer in chamber-like movements. The song Demons starts off in a style that reminds me of Jacuzzi from Steve Hackett's "Defector", later on the group playing either original organ- and guitar-laden stuff with edgy textures or entering yet again the territory of Pink Floyd. These three are good in all senses, often creating vivid metaphorical pictures in the mind of yours truly. However, the best of all pieces on the first disc would be the longest three, Joe, The Visionary (with A Dream as its intro) and Journey's End, following one another, most being notable for inventive string arrangements, though these are one of the hallmarks of the entire recording. While some echoes of Yes and Pink Floyd (plus those of Genesis on the former) can still be heard, most of the music on each is just Magenta and is mainly classic Art-Rock with numerous instrumental sections featuring enough twists and turns to please anybody into this genre.

Disc 2 - "The New York Suite" (40 min)
******

TRACK LIST: 

1.  Arrival 10:58
2.  Home From Home 8:07
3.  White Lies 8:43 
4.  Truth 10:52 
5.  This Life Reprise 1:21

LINEUP:

Rob Reed - keyboards; bass, guitars; vocals
Christina Booth - lead vocals
Martin Rosser - guitars
Chris Fry - guitars 
Dan Fry - bass
Allan Mason-Jones - drums 

Analysis. I assume the second part of "Home" received its individual title, "The New York Suite", because its lyrical storyline is focused on the 'New York' period of the heroine's adventures in America. In that way, and also considering that the CD's total time exceeds 40 minutes (which is enough for a full-length album), it should, or perhaps even must be reviewed out of the context of the complete project. Besides, "The New York Suite" better suits my sense of a fully-fledged concept creation since not only the lyrics are all subsumed to the same topic, but also most of the music is stylistically uniform. The entire content of Disc II possesses some inner axis, which, consequently, touches each of the five tracks that form it. All four of the long songs are quite similar in structure, while the first three are done within a totally unified style, all being notable for the arrangements where profoundness and attractiveness come hand in hand. Arrival, Home From Home and White Lies each represents a really moving admixture of vintage symphonic Art-Rock and Neo Progressive, plus there are also chamber-like interludes and large-scaled string arrangements, the latter evolving regardless of whether or not there are vocals concurrent, though Christina Booth's voice acrobatics are just astonishing. Her singing here is actually so impressive that the compositions would have lost some of their spell without it, despite all their intrinsic musical greatness. The most memorable chamber-like movements include the intro to Arrival, which sounds as if it's played by a violin quartet, and the long interlude on White Lies involving acoustic guitar, bass and string ensemble, the 'contrabass' pizzicatos imparting a flavor of Classical music. By the way, there is not even the slightest trace of anyone's influences on the said three, each brightly reflecting Magenta's ability to make music which is unique from head to toe, without borrowing anything from their famous predecessors in the field of Symphonic Progressive, yet having kept all of the genre's most significant values. The last track, This Life Reprise, although short and featuring only piano and vocals, is also both original and impressive, sounding like a truly apt conclusion to the disc, as well as the entire album. As to the fourth epic, Truth, the truth is that it strongly resembles Yes - this time out Machine Messiah from "Drama" and, once and over again, much more often in the vocal-based arrangements than in the instrumental sections. I've also noticed that Rob Reed pays much attention to his acoustic guitar this time out, both extensively and effectively applying it almost throughout the Suite. Overall, Disc 2 operates more powerfully on my emotions than the first one. While I had to specify the highlights of Disc 1, "The New York Suite" is in many ways a constant high point, the first three compositions being masterworks and the set's best tracks in general.

Conclusion. I'm told this double-CD version of "Home" is released as a limited edition and that its main release will come without the second disc. If so, it's a pity. I can't imagine "Home" in isolation from "The New York Suite". Well, it's beyond my power to influence the situation. All I can do is to say this is one of the most impressive Rock Operas to come out from Albion since "Subterranea" by IQ. Recommended with no age or sex:-) limitations, but the connoisseurs of academic Symphonic Progressive should take good note of the essence of this paragraph.

VM: October 4 & 5, 2006


Related Links:

Magenta
F2 Music
Progrock UK


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