|
HOME ( + New York Suite - Special Edition only)
Tracklist: This Life; Hurt; Moving On; My HomeTown(Far Away); Brave; New Land; The Journey; Towers Of Hope; Demons; Morning Sunlight; Joe; The Dream; The Visionary; Journeys End; The Travellers Lament; Home
Magenta's third studio album sees the band unwilling to rest on their laurels, and determined to strive for a somewhat different sound and feel to the previous albums.
Having heard some of the Home material played live for close on year now, initially I was a little concerned that nothing seemed to really jump out at me, I didn't hear a Gluttony, or a Pride, or a
White Witch - I liked the material and it was always excellently performed, but at the time I didn't feel the material was as strong as previous releases.
However, as time went on the songs did take shape and attained a comfortable familiarity about them (bear in mind that the songs were still in their embryonic state back then) - and now that the album is
here those fears are gone.
Home is a more mature, contemporary work than the previous releases - the album cover and design jumps out at you straight away and at first glance nothing about it says progressive - and that's just an
observation, not a detrimental comment. But as I said earlier, it's symptomatic of the bands determination to keep fans on their toes and not play things safe. It certainly got my attention.
I would describe the theme of the album as a contemporary story set to music - I am not going to use the word concept because I don't believe that's how this album should be described, and also because of
the occasional negative connotations that word often conjures up within the genre. It is simply a collection of songs to illustrate a story.
The story itself revolves around a troubled young girl who leaves Liverpool, England in the hope of finding a better life in New York and then travelling across the US on a voyage of discovery.
What she discovers over there is not quite what she expected, and the songs detail her thoughts, experiences and the eventual realisations she comes to about her life. In fact, the emphasis is very
much on the songs and lyrics here. Though the instrumentation and musicianship is as good as ever, the songs are given room to breathe thanks to the excellent production on the album - there is sometimes a
pleasingly economical feel to the instrumentation, the band feeling no need to bathe the songs in keyboard washes or unnescessary solo's to keep things interesting. This is a band who have the confidence to let the
songs stand on their own.
New to the mix this time are some excellent contributions from Troy Donockley on Uillllean pipes and whistles, and a touch of saxaphone from Lee Goodall as well.
Christina's performance on this album is nothing short of extraordinary - lyrically this is very dense and she is almost like an actor who has to appear in every scene of a movie, but her vocal performance
elicits a very comforting, emotional and often heart-wrenching reaction.
Up until now I have concentrated on the songs and lyrics, but lets not forget that Magenta are a very cohesive unit, their musicianship having been honed to perfection through their many live performances
over the past 4 years - and they still know how to rock. After the gentle opening of This Life, Hurt soon kicks the album off in classic Magenta style, and the aforementioned notion of keeping the instumentation
reasonably sparse and simple means that the bass and drums have a real force behind them, breathing life into the songs and carrying them along on a very powerful rhythm section.
Guitar work on the album is excellent always, especially that twin guitar attack opening on Demons, and everything is propelled along by that very formidable rythym section. I like how the keyboard
work is largely understated on the album, perfectly complimenting the songs but never overused. It's as a composer and producer that Rob Reed really shines here, and there's certainly no questioning Rob's musical
dexterity.
This is an album that may not at first jump out at you, may not initially provoke an emotional response due to the occasional changes in style and direction,but like a lot of albums that stand the test of
time once you become familiar with the songs and various themes, those consistently strong melodies and hooks start to work their magic. Music of this nature that challenges and surprises you will always stand the
test of time, music that does not indulge in musical parlour tricks or derivative instrumental noodling.
Testament to the assured longevity of the Home material was evident at the recent launch gig for the album in Rotherham UK, where the new material came across as immensely powerful and assured, and at no
point did you feel shortchanged by some of the older material being moved aside to make way for the new.
So, a large step forward for Magenta, illustrating that there is more to them than meets the eye and an album that is very much worthy of your attention.
NEW YORK SUITE
Tracklist: Arrival; Home From Home; White Lies; Truth;
This Life (reprise)
A little bit of explanation called for here...originally Home was planned as a double CD, but as the completion date neared, the band debated whether such a large chunk of music may be considered a little
too indigestible and a single album would be a better option.
(We all know examples of bands who have recorded two cd's worth of material and put the whole thing out as a double when a lot of the material is simply not strong enough. Often this additional
material is considered "filler", and the album could happily have been released as a single, concise, well-paced album of music.)
The reaction to the news that the cd would be a single provokes a somewhat paradoxical response though - whereas the majority of people, including myself, agreed with the decision and thought the band had
done the right thing, some might also think "Yes, I agree, but what about the songs we will never get to hear, wonder what they were like?"
So to that end the band decided to make the additional material available on a second CD together with the original (with just the single album still being available for those that want it of course).
Now there's another trap bands fall into with this scenario - namely taking a load of tracks that were frankly just not good enough to make the main album and releasing a bonus CD version for a few
extra bucks, knowing that hard core fans will surely go for that version.
Happy to report that this is not the case here. The New York Suite is essentially the central section of the main story, where the young girl arrives in New York and details her experiences there before
moving off on her journey across the US. It's an integral part of the main album and a companion piece, so to speak.
Musically this feels to me to be closer to the Magenta of old, with a more progressive feel to it and more emphasis on instrumentation than there is on the main album, but still with that superb production
and beefier sound. Keyboards take a more prominent role on this disc, and there are some pleasing nods to Floyd and Yes on some of the tracks - especially White Lies and Truth.
In fact, with the length of the 4 main tracks ranging between 8 - 11 minutes this almost feels like a mini Revolutions album, especially with those aforementioned influences.
The band are stretching out a little more here and enjoying themselves. Mention should also be made of the complex but very appealing and melodic vocal work, not just from Christina but from Rob and the
rest of the band too.
So basically, as a package you have the best of both worlds here with the newer, more mature and challenging material of the main cd coupled with the somewhat more traditional, progressive flavoured nature
of the New York Suite.
As a fan of the band my reaction to the album is obvious, but I have always made it clear I will never give the band an easy ride; if I think they have erred or put out an absolute stinker they know I
would be the first to tell them, and I keep saying I am still waiting from them to put a foot wrong somewhere along the line.
Ain't happened yet!!!
John Morley 24/05/06
|
