CHILDREN OF ANOTHER GOD

I didn´t remember who Nick magnus was when I saw this album on the store shelf. It was only later that I remebered he was the keyboards player with ex Genesis guitarrist Steve Hackett in the late 70´s. Also I came to know he was also a member of The Enid at the very beginning, but he left before that group had released their first LP (I recently read that some early recordings did appear on the market as an mini CD, more than 20 years later). I was glad to see that Hackett, algong with his brother John, were playing in this CD. That spurred my curiosity.

Children Of Another God is a concept album criticizing today´s techonologycal way towards massification and conformism. As a whole I found it to be very interesting and varied, although, like on most concept albums, the flow is a bit uneven on some parts as the music has to follow the lyrics. However, there are great moments too, with a lot of guitar playing here, something not very common concerning keyboardists solo effords. Not surprisingly there are several moments when the music sounds like Steve Hackett´s works (Spectral Mornings and Defector specially), with a sort fo mid 70´s Genesis thrown in for good measure (beautiful mellotrons on the first two tracks). On the other side, the vocals and a few of the arrangements reminds me a lot of Alan Parsons Project around the time of I Robot and Eve.

Production is top notch and the musicianship is simply excellent. The cover is bad, but I can live with that.

All in all I found this album extremely pleasant and charming, even if the last segment of the CD is not as captivating as the first and middle parts. A great find and if you´re a fan of Steve Hackett, Genesis and Alan Parsons, you should check this out. You won´t be disappointed. My rating keeps shifting form 3,5 to 4 stars when I listen to this record. I´ll give it four since it is more than just good.