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Keyboardist / producer Nick Magnus is one of CDS Towers biggest selling artists, and this album (feat. Steve Hackett) was our # 1 Prog album of 2010!
Nick Magnus served his musical apprenticeship in the 70’s with pseudo-classical rock band: The ENID.
Following that he played on eleven Steve Hackett albums, from ‘Spectral Mornings’ onwards, and was also a member of the touring band for many years. During the 80's and 90's he was involved with many other high profile music projects and masterminded several platinum, gold and silver status albums, two of which were the huge selling ‘Project D’ releases. His first solo CD: ‘Straight On 'Till Morning’ was very good, but only hinted at the high standards that was to follow in the form of the 1999 ‘Inhaling Green’ album. On this amazing CD Magnus successfully combined a wide range of musical influences, starting at 'Rock' and moving right across the musical spectrum to filmic synth orchestral stylings. In 2004 he released his first totally progressive album, the critically acclaimed: ‘Hexameron’ which, not only featured Steve Hackett on guitar, but also several other guest musicians and vocalists. Then in 2010 he has made: ‘Children Of Another God’, a concept album, or an epic, audio only, symphonic rock sci-fi blockbuster!
The music if filled with the sounds of synthesizers, Mellotrons, Organ, electric guitars, flute, bass, drums and percussion, and runs the gamut of mighty to majestic and moving to melodramatic, with a brilliant production quality to give it real dynamics, plus a selection of quality vocalists to deliver Dick Foster’s magical lyrics.
On he first play of ‘Children Of Another God’, I was left a bit dumbstruck at the enormity of what I’d just heard!
This is definitely not your average Symphonic Prog album – Someone like Nick Magnus does not put years of work into a project like this and come out with something second rate or indifferent – This is as good as it gets!
As always “musicality” is uppermost in everything this man does. His selection of vocalists and musicians is first rate… Steve Hackett (guitar), John Hackett (flute), Tony Patterson (vocals), Pete Hicks (vocals), Linda John-Pierre (vocals), Andy Neve (vocals) and Glenn Tollett (bass) - everything else you hear is Magnus!
‘Children Of Another God’ is a complete work of performance art – A fifty-minute Symphonic Progressive musical masterpiece that’s the audio equivalent of your blockbuster sci-fi movie or show that draws its audience back for repeat performances time and time again - A work of pure genius in all departments!
‘Children Of Another God’ track-by-track…
The opening futuristic ethereal soundscape of sombre Mellotron strings and choirs sends shivers up the spine and then Tony Patterson (of REGENESIS) delivers an inspired vocal performance, all backed up by Hackett-inspired dynamic keyboard & electric guitar work built to thrill fans of his 70’s symphonic prog. You can check out the video for this magnificent eight-minute title track by clicking on the Video link at the top of this page.
‘Doctor Prometheus’ is an outstanding production that sounds like it was inspired by ZEPPELIN’s epic: ‘Kashmir’. Ex-Steve Hackett band vocalist Pete Hicks gives a strong performance to this catchy song with an excellent chorus that has the same feel as some of the most popular tracks from the early Alan Parsons Project albums like ‘Tales Of Mystery & Imagination’ & ‘I Robot’. The closing two minutes of the track forms an extended instrumental break where you’ll marvel at guitars, keyboards and percussion all building into a heady symphonic Eastern theme.
‘Twenty Summers’ is a purely instrumental track and there’s a jaunty Rick Wakeman-like flair to it where synths, organ, bass, drums, distant Mellotron choirs and deep bass pedal effects all form an early GENESIS / Hackett-esque instrumental - quite brilliant!
‘Identity Theft’ brings a Magnus vocal performance – and a good one that doesn’t sound too far away from someone like Chris Rainbow perhaps? The song is a soft, candid work with lilting, chiming keyboard sounds, lovely upright bass (from fellow ex-ENID member Glenn Tollett), brushed drum strokes, waves of dreamy backing vocals and cascading, celestial synth strings that bathe the background with a hazy, relaxed, atmospheric quality.
‘The Colony Is King’ brings the tones of John Hackett’s flute and an air of majestic beauty as this huge orchestral panoramic view opens before you. The track goes wide-screen to the sounds of massed Mellotron choirs and the arrival of Steve Hackett’s soaring electric guitar set over a massive wall of bass-pedal effects and Mellotron strings. As the multi-tracked army of Tron voices gather, Hackett’s guitar cries out to the heavens through the gigantic wall of sound, and the sheer power and grandeur of it all takes you back to the heady days of the ‘Voyage Of The Acolyte’, ‘Spectral Mornings’ and ‘Defector’ albums, with a good helping of the ENID at their most symphonic getting a look in as well, and you WILL marvel at the sonic orchestrations that Magnus has created for this track!
Without a nano-second of a break, it’s straight into ‘Crimewave Monkeys’, a song that opens with an awesome instrumental passage of percussion and keyboards that will just blow you away. With Magnus’s instruments in full-flow, Pete Hicks’ delivers his 2nd vocal on the album, but this time he has to compete with a much denser backing of electric instrumentation and percussion, and he really nails it! Just over four minutes in, there’s a synth solo to absolutely die for, and it’s a real spine tingler that tops off an already amazing cinematic production that will test the sturdiness of your speakers for sure!
A sombre keyboard refrain opens: ‘The Others’, a very beautiful song with a fantastic vocal performance from the amazing Linda John Pierre, who takes on the heart-wrenching show-stopper with real conviction amid a stunning synth orchestral arrangement from Magnus. The track reaches its climax with a guitar synth melody that soars to the skies over a vast sea of Mellotron strings, capped off by soft organ and flute textures – This has all the hallmarks of a true classic!
It’s back to rock for ‘Babel Tower’, where Tony Paterson’s voice returns to do battle with bending, twisted synth melodies, thick organ chords, wadges of huge Mellotron sounds, bass and drums. This track would work on any Steve Hackett album, with Magnus excelling on Hammond and the old Tron! The final two minutes of this track are instrumental and reprise the title track’s main melody line, only this time it’s much expanded, with added guitars and even more keyboard layers. It’s a bit of a ‘Los Endos’ style builder, and I can even hear The ENID (think ‘Fand’ finale) filtering in alongside Steve Hackett’s band in symphonic mode - Magnus was a member of both!
This is Symphonic Prog to be relished and enjoyed to the full, as the lush layers extend the theme up into this huge cinematic, grandiose climax full of all the sounds that all us Prog fans know love, and as they slowly fade into the distance, you are left with that feeling of longing for more of the same!
Magnus brings ‘Children Of Another God’ to a close with the quiet and reflective: ‘Howl The Stars Down’, where, after an initial wave of sombre, melodic, atmospheric synth textures, a poignant, enchanting vocal performance from Tony Patterson floats over a simple piano / string-synth backdrop and brings the album to it’s thought provoking, final conclusion in the most peaceful of settings.
Also available by NICK MAGNUS …
CATHARSIS (2019 6th Album ft. Steve Hackett & more / Ltd CD+DVD Media-Book) CDMB – Stock # 2146247
HEXAMERON (2004 3rd Prog Album featuring Steve Hackett) CD – Stock # 653675
INHALING GREEN (2020 Remastered / 2 Bonus Tracks / Mini-LP style Card Sleeve) CCCD – Stock # 2204891
N’MONIX (2014 5th Prog Album featuring Steve Hackett / Digi-Pak) CD – Stock # 1674070
NICK MAGNUS: CHILDREN OF ANOTHER GOD Track List:
01. Children Of Another God (8:27)
02. Doctor Prometheus (6:42)
03. Twenty Summers (4:07)
04. Identity Theft (3:47)
05. The Colony Is King (7:25)
06. Crimewave Monkeys (5:33)
07. The Others (5:28)
08. Babel Tower (4:54)
09. Howl The Stars Down (3:50)
TPT – 50:15