MOTIONS OF DESIRE

Ten years has passed since the release of this album and still sounds great for me. Perhaps the listening after all this time includes another elements and comparisons, this promising debut still surprises with their fine work on keyboards and guitars, epic moments and the balance of 70's-00's mixtures in most of the tracks.

Starting with the 20+ minutes magnum opus 'Change' this Norwegian band still impresses me with their musical skills that turns into very nice symphonic sections without losing the tasty 70's flavour. There are a lot of reminiscences here (from Deep Purple to Dream Theater) and even with the contemporary Flower Kings and Echolyn but Magic Pie definitively has their own and particular proggy style.

The technical playing of guitars and keyboards, the bombastic moments and the ambitious epic sections (sometimes even pretentious) repeats along the album, but if I got to pick some real jewel here, I choose the optimistic 'Motions of Desire', the almost metal prog 'Without Knowing Why', maybe the only piece that escapes almost totally from the 70's influence perhaps the sound of the keyboards, and the complex rhythm of 'Dream Vision' which turns into a really nice proggy song at least in their instrumental parts.

Ten years has passed and still 'Motions of Desire' is a very enjoyable album and that's quiet an achievement for any band or musician. 3.5*