Hour of Restoration Review by Gary Hill Magellan really seem to have a knack here for rapid-fire changes. As some have described the weather in the Midwest, if you don't like it, just wait a little while, it will change.
More...
Hundred Year Flood Review by Gary Hill Taking their name from the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, one should see this group as wanting to take us on a musical journey of exploration.
More...
Impending Ascension Review by Gary Hill Fans of classic prog rejoice, Magellan has foretold the Impending Ascension. More...
Impossible Figures Review by Steve Alspach Free of label problems, the fifth album by Magellan, Impossible Figures, is a welcome sight for fans of progressive rock's Bee Gees - Brothers Gardner.
More...
Innocent God Review by Gary Hill I've always really enjoyed Magellan. This band, in many ways, is the quintessential neo-prog band. Certainly they've always put a lot of old-school progressive rock into their mix of sounds.
More...
Symphony for a Misanthrope Review by Steve Alspach I've seen pictures of the Gardner brothers, the backbone of Magellan, and if I didn't know any better I'd have sworn that I opened up a 401k with them.
More...
Interviews
Magellan Interview by Gary Hill Interview with Magellan's Trent Gardner from 2003
More...
Magellan Interview by Gary Hill Interview with Magellan's Trent Gardner from 1999
Audio of this interview is in our members area More...
Related Articles
Explorer's Club - Age of Impact Review by Gary Hill This album could well be the most important progressive disc of the decade for two reasons. Firstly, by the sheer magnitude of performers on this CD.
More...
Various Artists - Drum Nation Vol. 2 Review by Gary Hill The concept is simple but unique: put together a number of tracks from various artists showcasing influential and potent drummers. This was the concept for Magna Carta's first drum nation CD, and they continue it here - why mess up a good thing?
More...
Various Artists - Encores, Legends and Paradoxes Review by Gary Hill With a cast of players that reads like a prog "who`s who", this ELP tribute takes the classics and makes them fresh and new again. The result is an incredibly listenable piece of music that really entertains.
Steve Walsh - Glossolalia Review by Gary Hill One of the more recognizable voices in '70's rock, Steve Walsh is both the most well-known voice of Kansas and their keyboardist. He is joined on this solo release by Trent Gardner (Explorer's Club), Virgil Donati (Planet X), Page Waldron, Jim Roberts, Mike Slamer and Billy Greer.
More...
Various Artists - Leonardo The Absolute Man Review by Gary Hill This is a rock opera based on the life of Leonardo da Vinci. Although this album says "original cast recording" and I have (as does Magna Carta on their website) listed it here as by "Various Artists", it is probably closer to the truth to say that it is by Trent Gardner and friends.
More...
Various Artists - Magna Carta Guitar Greats – Volume I Review by Grant Hill These Magna Carta sampler discs serve as a great way for people to sample a number of their releases without having to shell out the cash for each and every one of them. I'd have to say that as these things go, this is one of the better ones – and they are all quite good.
More...
Mike Portnoy - Prime Cuts Review by Gary Hill Mike Portnoy now has his own entry in the Magna Carta Prime Cuts collection. This disc, as the rest of the series, features selected tracks from albums that the artist has contributed to, presented here as sort of a slice of some of the best of the work from him.
More...
Billy Sheehan - Prime Cuts Review by Steve Alspach Ever play a bass guitar? "Strings" are a misnomer - they use great big, fat, wires. You have to work up some muscle in your fingers to aptly play a bass.
More...
Jack Foster III - Raptorgnosis Review by Gary Hill While I don't think this entire album truly qualifies as progressive rock, much of it does. Add to that fact the presence of prog rockers Trent Gardner and Robert Berry and it should be obvious why I put the disc into that category.
More...
Vapourspace - Sonic Residue from Vapourspace Review by Steve Alspach Here's an interesting concept - take songs from various releases from a progressive rock record label and let the music be transformed by a techno mix until it's nearly unrecognizable from the original source.
More...
Various Artists - Subdivisions - A Tribute To Rush Review by Gary Hill Subdivisions is a new Tribute album devoted to the music of Rush from Magna Carta Records. Those paying close attention and with a good memory, may be saying now; "didn't they do one before?"
More...
Various Artists - Supper`s Ready Review by Gary Hill A tribute album devoted to the music of Genesis, Supper`s Ready is a strong work. The renditions here stay more true to the original performances than on some similar albums, but this does not take away from the relevance of the CD.
More...
Various Artists - Tales From Yesterday Review by Gary Hill A tribute to the music of Yes, Tales From Yesterday, features some very fine renditions of Yessongs performed by a variety of artists (including several past and present members of Yes). This is a mixed bag. Some of the tracks are quite faithful to the original, while others represent major reworkings.
More...
Jack Foster III - Tame Until Hungry Review by Gary Hill Jack Foster III is building up quite a catalog of killer hard-edged modern progressive rock. Tame Until Hungry is his latest, and as in the past he’s joined by (among others) Trent Gardner and Robert Berry on this.
More...
Various Artists - The Moon Revisited Review by Gary Hill Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon was more than likely not only the best selling prog album of all time, but definitely the album, of all albums (not just prog) to stay on the charts the longest. From that point of view this tribute disc makes sense.
More...
Various Artists - To Cry You A Song: A Collection of Tull Tales Review by Gary Hill One of the first tribute albums ever done by Magna Carta, this one includes some intriguing arrangements of Jethro Tull songs. There are some definite winners here (witness Aqualung, To Cry You a Song, and Locomotive Breath) and no real losers.
More...
Various Artists - Working Man Review by Gary Hill One of the early Magna Carta tribute CD's, this one is definitely not one of their finest. It does have some strong points, though, and the main area in which it is lacking is vocals.
More...
You'll find an audio interview of this artist in the Music Street Journal members area.
