THE TWENTY SEVEN CLUB

This is a decent album from some incredibly talented musicians who are, unfortunately, stuck in Drama-era YES, Duke/ABACAB-era GENESIS, and Please Don't Touch-era STEVE HACKETT. As a matter of fact, I can think of no more talented group of musicians, top to bottom, than Magenta; it's just a shame how unoriginal their music and sounds have become. But what mires this group in absolute mediocrity, in my opinion, is the banal, nebulous lyrics. I mean, were it not for the song titles, who would these songs refer to? The lyrics certainly don't make it obvious. Given some more poetic, meaningful lyrics it would be a wonder what Christina Booth could deliver. Given a severence from their 1979 musical mother, what wonders of originality could these virtuosic musicians create?

Four star songs: "The Devil at The Crossroads," "The Gift," "Pearl," and "Stoned."

A 3.5 star album rated down because it truly fits the "Good, but not essential" description.