| The
Review |
Magrathea is apparently the name of a planet with a very
rich and successful culture, described in the "Hitchhikers
Guide To The Galaxy". Magrathea is also the name of a brilliant
new band from the U.K. I recently received a copy of their
latest release, Legends, for review and I guess I will tip
my hand right away and say that I can only hope that Magrathea,
the band, gets as rich and well known as the fictional planet
for which they are named.***
If there's anything that I love, its good old fashioned,
70's style, retro-prog. When I hear any new music that captures
that glorious era it gives me hope for the future. This release
from Magrathea certainly does that, and it does it with great
skill and feeling. It does it with wonderful musical virtuosity,
mature writing and arranging, with distinctive vocals and
fine lyrics. This is an album of very well conceived and performed
music, music that darn near perfectly blends the feel and
spirit of traditional symphonic progressive with today's neo-progressive
zeitgeist.***
This Magrathea project is actually the work of only two
men, Glen Alexander who tackles the keyboards and drum kit
as well as handling all the vocals, and Gary Gordon on guitars
and bass. If you're thinking "hmm…..kind of like Fred Schendel
and Steve Babb" well, then you're right, for these two have
every indication of being the next Glass Hammer. I don't mean
that they sound anything like Glass Hammer, only that Magrathea
produces work of the same quality and vision. Magrathea's
music sounds to me like the result of having listened very
carefully to Genesis from The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway on
through And Then There Were Three. I hear some similarities
to Marillion, IQ and even Ultravox, but this is a duo that
seems as much at home with their late 70's Genesis sound as
the afore mentioned Glass Hammer is with their Yes/Kansas
style. Both of these musicians are very good indeed, and it
may come as no surprise that Alexander sound very much like
Tony Banks and that Gordon plays quite a bit like Steve Hackett.
This music is chock full of 7/8 time signatures, well developed
musical themes, very satisfying interplay between the instruments,
and of course, tons of splendid keyboard work.***
Starting with track one, "Reunion" which will remind the
listener of "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" to the final
track "Dreamscape", this release bears many similarities to
familiar Genesis songs. I hear references to "Eleventh Earl
Of Mar", "All In A Mouse's Night", "Squonk" and "Dance On
A Volcano" all over this fine release. Gary Gordon's guitar
playing is sometimes heavier and more distorted than that
of Steve Hackett but he does a great job of keeping the music
marching along with a powerful stride. Glenn Alexander's keyboard
work is active and intricate, lush and consistently beautiful.***
There is not a bad track on this release, and I think
the first four tracks are the finest material on this disc,
but track four, "The Man Who Loved Flowers" keeps calling
me back, with its multiple themes, challenging meter and Gordon's
crunching guitar work. It also features Alexander's best vocal
track and more of his fine keyboard performance. I must also
note that Alexander is a very impressive drummer as well,
handling the frequent changes of time signature with ease
and propelling the music forward with great skill.***
This disc from Magrathea certainly deserves a listen
from all of you and, moreover, this disc shows a band that
is worthy of some support and commitment from a label that
can give this album the distribution and promotion it warrants.
I recommend that you all look up Magrathea's website and order
yourselves a copy of Legends. If you are a lover of good 70's
style symphonic rock, or if you liked the early recordings
of the Collins era Genesis, then you will want to have this
disc in your collection.***
RATING: 4.5/5***
©Thomas Karr Sept 10, 2004
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