IMPOSSIBLE FIGURES

Now on their fifth album, it is often hard when listening to Magellan to realise that apart from a guest drummer, this is a two man band. Trent Gardner provides the vocals and keyboards while his brother Wayne provides all of the guitars. The music they create will be extremely familiar to all fans of Kansas, and it is of no surprise that Trent has worked with Steve Walsh in the past. The album starts with a small instrumental interlude, quaintly titled "Gorilla With A Pitchfork". The keyboards build and the music takes on a more dramatic, driving edge. This fades out to be replaced with "Killer Of Edge" ? treated vocals give way to the guitar and gradually the song builds more and more, becoming a progressive rocker. This is the longest song on the album, at just over ten minutes and is succeeded by a piano/organ piece, "Bach 16" which in some ways sounds out of place yet also very much at home.

Dramatic and frantic drumming heralds the start of "Late For Church", which is again followed by another instrumental. This move from instrumental to song then back again provides a deal of emphasis, and the highly vocal "Hymn For A Heathen" is a joy with great vocal harmonies. Overall there are nine songs, and at no time can the listener even contemplate moving away or playing something else instead. This is a prog album that has its' roots very much in a similar vein to Kansas while trying to do something new, and any fans of one will enjoy very much the music of the other. Yet another extremely solid album from the Gardner brothers.

Originally appeared in Feedback #78, April 2004