Magnus, Nick - Inhaling Green


Year of Release: 1999
Label: Centaur Discs
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 51:36:00

Opening track "Velociraptor" sounds very accessible and I note it down in my little black book on the same height as Paul Hardcastle's "19," also a song which in fact didn't have a big hit potential but which nevertheless made it to number one. Yet "Free The Spirit" is the kind of music which makes me weak at the knees, the hands pointing at the sky to the almighty to thank us for this unknown "power" which creates this spectacular music. I'm also impressed by the strong symphonic content and the strong melody in "The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea." And then the adoration for Enigma (and the commercial implication?) strikes us by means of the song "Cantus" where Gregorian chants find their way onto a Pet Shop Boys rhythm. A kind of bolero-rhythm forms the backbone for "Conquistador" which, due to the use of choir, gets very near to the main theme from Vangelis' "1492."

Nick Magnus is one of the very few who can create a real orchestra out of his synths. If you can place a magnificent piano on these great sounding violins, then you may release an album every week! The playful "Dixon Hill" could easily become a tune for a TV-series. Simply heaven is "Veil Of Sighs" with again a highlight for the flute of John Hackett, who sounds like a cross between Thijs Van Leer and Chris Hinze. A strange song on this album surely is "Theme One," written by the legendary Beatles producer George Martin and now added to with a dance beat. Very obstinate surely is the long "Inhaling Green" where Nick Magnus also shows us his psychological side with his own view on life: "one person's blood cells could circle the earth four times, but the hearts of lovers might still be broken." Again the "strings" are the absolute highlights and now and then the name The Enid springs to mind. Brainteasers placed on top of wonderful music: "the brain has fifteen thousand million cells; the galaxy has as many stars," and "a walnut provides an admirable model of the human skull and brain."

It is impossible to put Inhaling Green under one label and maybe there lies the key into appreciating this album as a whole? Like with a classical composition you are drawn from one mood into the other by the constant flow of professionally thought about music. Now open your lungs for some "inhaling green!"


Tracklisting:
Velociraptor (4:11) / Free The Spirit (5:40) / The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (5:58) / Cantus (5:07) / Conquistador (4:31) / Dixon Hill (3:15) / Veil Of Sighs (4:06) / Theme One (3:50) / Inhaling Green (16:18) (Part One - Anatomy Of The Mind Part Two - Stripping Of The Flesh Part Three - Weighing Of The Souls)

Musicians:
Nick Magnus - all instruments
John Hackett - alto and concerto flutes
Geoff Whitehorn - guitar
Clare Brigstocke - soprano voice

Discography:
Straight On Till Morning (1993)
Inhaling Green (1999)
Hexameron (2004)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin UK

Added: January 1st 2000
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: www.magnus-music.com/
Hits: 2253
Language: english

  

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