LEGENDS REMAIN

MAGRATHEA are a two-men project formed in the 90's by multi-instrumentalists Glenn Alexander and Gary Gordon.Lovers of the classic progressive rock sound established by Genesis,Yes,E.L.P. and King Crimson,they released two rare albums in the 90's,''Underclouds'' in 1998 and ''Entropy'' in 1999.A 5-year pause would follow,before the duo hit again with their most well-known work ''Legends'' in 2004.Leftovers of this work would consist the follow-up EP ''Legends remain''.

This is a very good 5-track work and it is noticeable that it has a very 80's feeling in it.MAGRATHEA sound a lot like early-IQ with a touch of MARILLLION and even GENESIS,delivering melodic symphonic progressive rock with superb STEVE HACKETT-like guitars and a strong amount of synths creating a very deep atmosphere.The vocals are absolutely ethereal with an evident resemblence to Pete Nichols of IQ or Fish and the final combination of the melodic musicianship and the vocals' performance is an album filled with lush sounds and memorable moments.Not even a weak track in here,''Legends remain'' comes as a lost-like example of melodic lush neo/symph prog of the early-80's and is followed by my strongest recommendations for a careful spin.

About an year after releasing the Legends CD, Magrathea puts out this EP, that seems to include some tracks that didn´t make to the final cut of that album. The first songs, When Legends Com Alive and Man In The Shade are pure classic Genesis with lots of Tony Banks-like synth tuns and mellotron choir waves. Excellent stuff, specially if you´re into 70´s, Peter Gabriel era Genesis. The remaining tunes are more simple and melodic, but in the same symphonic prog style anyway. And of great quality, if you don´t mind a little lack of originality.

The production is here is a little superior of that on Legends (at least is superior than the copy I own). In fact I ended up liking this EP even more than the original Legends CD. The songwriting is also better, the guitars are more up front and the overall sound is more focused. This english duo worked very well! 3,5 stars for this one.