BROKEN

Unfair. I don't find any other word to summarize the fact that Magenta seems almost unknown on this musical planet, prog or not. I mean, you have one incredible composer (Rob Reed), a bewitching female lead singer (Christina) and a bunch of talented musicians (Chris Fry and friends) and nobody cares ???

But it's never too late, is it ? If you want to discover the band, Broken can be a good place to start. This EP, about 25 minutes long, contains the five following songs :

"Broken", a light rocker where Christina sings the lament of vampires confronted to the angst of eternal life. Weird but brilliant.

"Call Me", an incredibly moving ballad about the lost of the man/woman beloved. The emotion goes crescendo, as Christina's voice, until the dazzling final solo.

"Lemminkainen's Lament", another fine ballad with celtic flavors.

"Opus 3", an organ driven instrumental. If I had to face the frightening experience of a church wedding, this is for sure the music I would like/need to be played to find the bravery to drag on to the table .

"Sloth", the third and last ballad of the EP, close to the version that features on the Pride album but with strings instead of guitars. The esoteric lyrics evoke, in a very poetic way, a native Indian prayer.

All in all, I don't know if the music here can be seen as prog rock and in which sub- category it should be put but it is flawless, really. So do yourself a favor, try Magenta before the lack of success sends them to the eternal night where they don't belong .