Album: N'monix (2014)
Genre: Prog Rock (Symphonic Prog) / UK
Nick Magnus is most well known for the 11 years he spent working with Steve Hackett, but before that he was also briefly a member of The Enid and the prog rock group Autumn whose mini CD of material recorded way back in 1976 is well worth a listen. Since 1989, when his tenure as Hackett's keyboard player ended, he has remained active in many different musical spheres (some quite surprising, check out his web site for full details) but has kept in the public eye by releasing four solo albums, albeit with an average of five years between each one. Since his last release was four years ago, he duly delivers his fifth solo release, n'monix released on the Esoteric Antenna label. The name is a phonetical spelling of 'mnemonic', a system or device for aiding memory. The album is mostly a true solo album, musically at least, as Magnus plays everything on his keyboards with the exception of guitar on three tracks, performed by Steve Hackett (who else could it have been?!), and soprano sax and flute on one song played by Rob Townsend, a long-time member of Hackett's touring band. It is in the vocal department where Magnus relinquishes control and a variety of guests are featured - James Reeves, Kate Faber, Andy Neve, Pete Hicks and Tim Bowness all sing on one track each and Tony Patterson, who fronts Genesis tribute band ReGenesis, gets to add his larynx to two numbers. All lyrics were written by Dick Foster. Things kick off in a very dramatic fashion with Time, a driving song with a heavy beat and plenty to grab the attention of the prog fan. Magnus' skill in making his keyboards sound like a full band is very impressive and one would be hard pushed on hearing this song to discern that everything is generated by the keyboards. The drums, in particular, are very impressive. Patterson takes the vocal and does a splendid job with, as one would suspect, some similarities with Peter Gabriel in his delivery. Transitioning directly into Memory we head into more classical territory with a very pastoral melody accompanied by the fantastic vocals of soprano Kate Faber. The keyboard orchestrations are fab and the final mass choir is breathtakingly beautiful. From the serious to the somewhat sillier with Kombat Kid featuring the second Patterson vocal. The tale of a child's addiction to a video game where the game eventually overtakes the boy has cleverly written lyrics which are most amusing, a chorus that insinuates itself into the brain and won't let go and, particularly apt, is the mnemonic used as the final line of the song. However, one can't help but think that Nick is doing Townsend out of a job by playing the flute line on his keyboards! Headcase offers a rather quirky musical intro and coda which is straight out of the Gentle Giant style of song writing. There is a definite quirkiness to the lyrics as well, I mean, how can you top lines such as "It sounds fantastical that folks geriatrical should snack on arachnid 'cos their diet's so hackneyed"? Nick himself takes vocals on this song and does a very good job, so much so that I am somewhat surprised that he doesn't sing more, although his use of guest vocalists does offer a degree of variety to his songs and it has to be said he does have a knack of finding vocalists that suit the song perfectly. A good example of this is on Eminent Victorians which sees the reuniting of Magnus with vocalist Peter Hicks who was, of course, singer on the early Hackett albums. The reunion is made more complete by Hackett playing guitar. Indeed, the song itself would fit quite well on Please Don't Touch for example, so if you are familiar with that album (and if you are not, you should be!) you will know what to expect. The guitar solo is Hackett at his best - also, check out the great video for this number:- No-Man vocalist Tim Bowness sings on Broken and his mellifluous style naturally imbues this ballad with a very No-Man feel. Townsend's sax and flute add an extra dimension to the music and Hackett also contributes a brief solo on an arpeggio guitar, whatever that may be. Ethereal layers of vocals provide the backing on the album's only instrumental, Shadowlands. Although fairly short, is just perfect mainly down to Hackett's inspired performance, playing a prominent guitar line that is in complete harmony with the tone and texture provided by the vocalists. Simple and sublime. Final song, and vocalist, is Entropy with James Reeves (and Andy Neeve providing backing vocals, a task he also performs on Eminent Victorians). A perfectly nice song which suffers somewhat from not being particularly memorable. It is much more low key than other tracks on the album, has a long instrumental introduction and a skilled keyboard derived 'guitar' solo with everything slotting neatly into place. It will no doubt be one of those numbers that, in time, becomes a classic and whose delights take time to be appreciated but at this stage of my relationship with the piece I am struggling to find anything enlightening to write about it (which should be interpreted as my limitations as a writer rather than Nick's as a composer!). I did wonder if it was perhaps out of sequence and should perhaps have appeared earlier in the album, but on further consideration decided that it was the best way to end proceedings. Magnus is not the most prolific of writers, at least not of his solo material, but one has to say that he never scrimps on quality. The music on n'monix is accomplished, polished and expertly performed and matches Foster's lyrics perfectly. Esoteric have a great reputation for quality re-releases and it looks as if they are maintaining those quality standards in their series of new music releases under the Antenna banner. As with all of Magnus' albums, this one is worth listening to. Review by "Mark Hughes" (www.dprp.net).
RATING: 8.25 / 10
.
Genre: Prog Rock (Symphonic Prog) / UK
Nick Magnus is most well known for the 11 years he spent working with Steve Hackett, but before that he was also briefly a member of The Enid and the prog rock group Autumn whose mini CD of material recorded way back in 1976 is well worth a listen. Since 1989, when his tenure as Hackett's keyboard player ended, he has remained active in many different musical spheres (some quite surprising, check out his web site for full details) but has kept in the public eye by releasing four solo albums, albeit with an average of five years between each one. Since his last release was four years ago, he duly delivers his fifth solo release, n'monix released on the Esoteric Antenna label. The name is a phonetical spelling of 'mnemonic', a system or device for aiding memory. The album is mostly a true solo album, musically at least, as Magnus plays everything on his keyboards with the exception of guitar on three tracks, performed by Steve Hackett (who else could it have been?!), and soprano sax and flute on one song played by Rob Townsend, a long-time member of Hackett's touring band. It is in the vocal department where Magnus relinquishes control and a variety of guests are featured - James Reeves, Kate Faber, Andy Neve, Pete Hicks and Tim Bowness all sing on one track each and Tony Patterson, who fronts Genesis tribute band ReGenesis, gets to add his larynx to two numbers. All lyrics were written by Dick Foster. Things kick off in a very dramatic fashion with Time, a driving song with a heavy beat and plenty to grab the attention of the prog fan. Magnus' skill in making his keyboards sound like a full band is very impressive and one would be hard pushed on hearing this song to discern that everything is generated by the keyboards. The drums, in particular, are very impressive. Patterson takes the vocal and does a splendid job with, as one would suspect, some similarities with Peter Gabriel in his delivery. Transitioning directly into Memory we head into more classical territory with a very pastoral melody accompanied by the fantastic vocals of soprano Kate Faber. The keyboard orchestrations are fab and the final mass choir is breathtakingly beautiful. From the serious to the somewhat sillier with Kombat Kid featuring the second Patterson vocal. The tale of a child's addiction to a video game where the game eventually overtakes the boy has cleverly written lyrics which are most amusing, a chorus that insinuates itself into the brain and won't let go and, particularly apt, is the mnemonic used as the final line of the song. However, one can't help but think that Nick is doing Townsend out of a job by playing the flute line on his keyboards! Headcase offers a rather quirky musical intro and coda which is straight out of the Gentle Giant style of song writing. There is a definite quirkiness to the lyrics as well, I mean, how can you top lines such as "It sounds fantastical that folks geriatrical should snack on arachnid 'cos their diet's so hackneyed"? Nick himself takes vocals on this song and does a very good job, so much so that I am somewhat surprised that he doesn't sing more, although his use of guest vocalists does offer a degree of variety to his songs and it has to be said he does have a knack of finding vocalists that suit the song perfectly. A good example of this is on Eminent Victorians which sees the reuniting of Magnus with vocalist Peter Hicks who was, of course, singer on the early Hackett albums. The reunion is made more complete by Hackett playing guitar. Indeed, the song itself would fit quite well on Please Don't Touch for example, so if you are familiar with that album (and if you are not, you should be!) you will know what to expect. The guitar solo is Hackett at his best - also, check out the great video for this number:- No-Man vocalist Tim Bowness sings on Broken and his mellifluous style naturally imbues this ballad with a very No-Man feel. Townsend's sax and flute add an extra dimension to the music and Hackett also contributes a brief solo on an arpeggio guitar, whatever that may be. Ethereal layers of vocals provide the backing on the album's only instrumental, Shadowlands. Although fairly short, is just perfect mainly down to Hackett's inspired performance, playing a prominent guitar line that is in complete harmony with the tone and texture provided by the vocalists. Simple and sublime. Final song, and vocalist, is Entropy with James Reeves (and Andy Neeve providing backing vocals, a task he also performs on Eminent Victorians). A perfectly nice song which suffers somewhat from not being particularly memorable. It is much more low key than other tracks on the album, has a long instrumental introduction and a skilled keyboard derived 'guitar' solo with everything slotting neatly into place. It will no doubt be one of those numbers that, in time, becomes a classic and whose delights take time to be appreciated but at this stage of my relationship with the piece I am struggling to find anything enlightening to write about it (which should be interpreted as my limitations as a writer rather than Nick's as a composer!). I did wonder if it was perhaps out of sequence and should perhaps have appeared earlier in the album, but on further consideration decided that it was the best way to end proceedings. Magnus is not the most prolific of writers, at least not of his solo material, but one has to say that he never scrimps on quality. The music on n'monix is accomplished, polished and expertly performed and matches Foster's lyrics perfectly. Esoteric have a great reputation for quality re-releases and it looks as if they are maintaining those quality standards in their series of new music releases under the Antenna banner. As with all of Magnus' albums, this one is worth listening to. Review by "Mark Hughes" (www.dprp.net).
RATING: 8.25 / 10
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