SEVEN

If you've ever had the desperate need to hear a competent - if slightly unadventurous - Prog band be fronted by Dolly Parton's less talented sister, you're definitely in luck here. There are solid instrumental sections and backings galore on Seven, but they really don't matter much when paired with a vocalist with such mainstream leanings. The lowest common denominator melodies are bad enough, but their flat, lifeless delivery is what really makes the album unlistenable.

Sadly, Magenta seem think that the vocal sections can - and maybe even should - sound like Light Rock, while instrumental sections are free to be more melodically and harmonically adventurous. It's not an uncommon malaise in modern Prog, but it makes for a strange disconnect when the still fairly innovative (if somewhat derivative) sections sit right next to material that wouldn't be out of place in a hotel elevator.

Evidently, this style is very popular - in Prog terms at least. Maybe it's because it combines the familiar territory of the catchy, simple and repetitive with enough flash and technical prowess to let the listener feel superior to the unwashed masses. However, if you believe that Prog should transcend cliché in as many aspects as possible - not just arrangement, timbre and structure - Seven is unlikely to impress.