THE SINGLES

Given the fact that this is a compilation album simply entitled The Singles, it is pretty obvious both what it contains and that it emphasizes the more commercial and less progressive side of Magenta's repertoire. The track list contains the full contents (but the versions found here are apparently re-recorded ones) of all of the band's EPs and singles released between 2004 and 2007. Magenta released two EPs in 2004 called Broken and I'm Alive respectively and a single in 2006 called Night And Day and then another single in 2007 called Speechless. Everything from these releases is here, b-sides and all.

With the exception of the three bonus tracks, all the songs found on this compilation are between four and six minutes in length and seem to be more or less tailored for being played on the radio and television. As such these songs are among the least progressive ones in the Magenta output overall.

The band's debut album, Revolutions, is represented here by Sunshine Saviour, which is a snippet of the multi-part epic Children Of The Sun. Seven is represented by three tracks in Anger, Pride and Sloth. The latter two are found among the bonus tracks and are alternative versions of the original album tracks. The extended version of Pride is the highlight of this compilation - it is a mystery why they chose not to include this version on Seven at the expense of some of the overlong tracks on that album. All of the rest of the songs featured here are strictly non-album tracks. The band's 2006 studio album Home is thus not represented at all.

Taken for what it is, this is a nice compilation for fans of the band and it really makes life easier for collectors. But, by its very nature, this is a release primarily for those fans and collectors. Any Prog fan is advised to start with the regular studio albums.

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