![]() This pastoral vibe gets a little Trick-of-the-Tail-heavy later on, but who are we to complain? Chris Fry wraps things up with another slow bending solo that captures the heart and the gut. The vocal melodies are exquisite and get a further boost from John Mitchell on harmony vocals. Fittingly, it is Booth’s best performance on this recording, her voice beautifully intertwining with the opening harp strings and oboe. One of the clear highlights of the album, “A Gift from God” revolves around Christopher Lee’s longing to be known as more than an actor…but rather as an opera singer. What’s not to love? Still, with the closing words of “The end”, the piece finishes with such a satisfying conclusion that it might have made a better album closer than opener. ![]() Booth gets to sing Legosi’s biography over-top fantastic Fry solos and Reed symphonic layering. This opening track, with a symphonic violin entrance that captures the essence of Legosi’s face in candlelight, is a strong mini-epic that finds Magenta at home in their power, making their compositional and musical skills appear deceptively easy. This rhythm section is a delight throughout the recording, adding to the melodic cadence of the material. ![]() It only takes opening track “Bela” to establish that Dan Nelson’s active bass playing and Jiffy Griffiths’ solid drumming are more than up to the task of matching the skill of the founding trio. The core of Magenta has always been the formidable trio of Reed – who writes the music and covers guitars, backing vocals and all keyboards – celebrated vocalist Christina Booth and nimble guitarist Chris Fry whose chameleon skills can take on Howe/Hackett/Latimer/Gilmour without blinking. #Art of illusion band crack#Aside from a crack of thunder at the end of Lon Chaney Jr.’s story, there’s hardly a tell-tale sign of the genre at hand: no wolf-man howling, no witch cackling, no screams of agony. While horror movies might be the one element that ties these historical figures together, the tales that are sung could be relating to most any profession. Each piece is an exploration of the arc of the actor’s career, which is often fraught with longing, disillusion or even tragedy. While images of vampires and haunted mansions might jump to mind as likely lyrical content, the only ghosts present are those which haunt the real-life actors’ minds (as opposed to their reel-life). Apparently this is a shared love of the Reed brothers: Rob and brother Steve who writes all of the lyrics and shapes the thematic approach. ![]() The musical approach isn’t the only old-school element to the album: the lyrical content revolves around the stars of classic horror films of the early-to-mid-20th Century. In other words, going back to the spirit of their debut “Revolutions” or acclaimed follow-up “Seven”. However, after having played with some different colors over the years including 2017’s fine “We Are Legend” which included some more elements of electronics, Reed decided that it was time for a return-to-form album and dive into everything that makes classic progressive rock so compelling. Not that they’ve ever strayed that far beyond prog’s traditional borders to begin with…mastermind Rob Reed has plenty of other projects to satisfy that itch (see Chimpan A’s latest “ The Empathy Machine” or Kiama for a taster). Twenty years into their career finds Magenta returning to their roots. ![]()
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