BENEATH THE WAVES

Rob Reed of Magenta draws together a real who's who of the prog scene to perform this special concept album of his, inspired by the sad tale of an Irish man who disappeared in 1902 following the deaths of his wife and daughter. Musically, it combines Reed's usual neo-prog compositional style with influences from Celtic folk, and in particular the sort of folk-New Age mashup often found in much of Mike Oldfield's latter-day work, with a few influences here and there from Kate Bush circa Hounds of Love.

With his bandmates in Magenta joining in as well as the likes of Steve Hackett, Nick Barrett, Mel Collins, and a range of other prog stalwarts from every decade from the 1960s onwards, this excellent album is an interesting listen that is enough of a departure from the tried-and-true Magenta approach to feel like a distinctive project on its own, but meanders a little too much here and there to be a true classic.