REVOLUTIONS

Rob Reed's talent was already known through his works with his first band CYAN,which leaned towards a Pendragon-like style.However,as Reed himself has admitted,he wanted someday to create a full-blown prog disc comparable to the likes of YES' ''Tales from topographic oceans'' or GENESIS ''The lamb lies down on broadway''.His idea came true with the formation of MAGENTA,a personal project,for which he was helped by Christina Murphy on vocals and various musicians.On their first attempt ''Revolutions'' it is Reed who handles all keys,basses and most of electric and acoustic guitars.The grandiose album consists of four 20-min. epics,reflecting on progressive rock history from its early days till today.

Opening number of the first CD ''Children of the sun'' is,in my opinion, the best track of all.Fully GENESIS-oriented with lots of vintage keys,dramatic interplays,fantastic guitar work and an atmosphere travelling the listener to prog rock's early glorious days.This is definitely a masterpiece,which I can't stop listening.After a short break with classic guitars,borrowing a theme from the previous epic,''Opus 1'' comes next.This is another composition influenced by the 70's,where GENESIS meets RENNAISANCE meets YES.Delicate Hammond organ,moog synth acrobatics,nice guitar breaks but also mellow vocal-led crystalline moments create a track based somewhere in mid-70's UK.Excellent.

Second CD starts with ''Man made machine'',where Reed's past with CYAN is more than obvious.The track is based mainly on catchy energetic grooves,inspired emotional solos and lots of digital keys recalling MARILLION's Mark Kelly and also some tambourine parts reminding of MIKE OLDFIELD's works,but parts of it are also influenced by mid-90's SPOCKS BEARD with alternating climates and distorted muti-vocal parts.Not a highlight but a pleasant track nevertheless.Another short classic guitar-based intro leads the listener to the closer ''Genetesis''.The revival has been completed.Not leaving the GENESIS-influence behind,''Genetesis'' blends the modern and vintage approach of SPOCK'S BEARD and THE FLOWER KINGS,presenting constantly changing moods and tempos mixed with the ethereal Annie Haslam-like voice of Murphy,while instrumentally the track is a winner with complicated interplays leaving their place to melodic passages all the time.

Some have called ''Revolutions'' the modern progressive rock masterpiece,others say Reed tried to copy the music of the 70's prog giants,offering nothing new...I will say that ''Revolutions'' is certainly a succesful attempt and tribute to progressive rock music with tons of enjoyable moments,which I cannot rate higher or lower than 4 stars.What does this mean?Some fantastic music in here,which lacks originality...but if you are a fan of glorious 70's prog rock (and I think 95% of the people who read this review are),then ''Revolutions'' is your thing!