CIRCUS OF LIFE

I seem to attract to releases which have really long pieces of music. Magic Pie, with Circus of Life, obviously do in the five piece suite. 45 minutes of prog! Can it get any better? Well, unfortunately, it really ends up being a case of less is more. I don't mind excess, in moderation. It's a personal choice, and I guess personal taste. Some kinds of music does well with excess, and that includes a lot of prog, but some prog just doesn't really have any need to be as huge and massive as it is without appearing to just end up being noodling.

That isn't to say it's bad noodling, of course not. You can see from the other reviews that there's a bit of a divide in this albums reputation. Sure, I disregard the songs that follow the suite as unnessersary additions, but the suite itself is where I find the real problems. There doesn't seem to be enough to push it to the miracle mile, or indeed distingush it from many other suites of its symphonic ilk.

It's all competent musically, lyrically, it doesn't seem to be of the same standard (but is still decent). There's some to recommend, some to disregard. I was impressed on the first spin of this CD, but the next times I found it to be grating and overlong. Maybe you'll love it? Well, you'll have to see for yourself, no?

3/5