Magni is an Icelandic rocker. He’s probably best known outside his home country for his participation in Rock Band: Supernova on television. This album, though, showcases a rocker with an interesting style. He knows how to blend various influences into something that’s all his own – and yet not that far removed from other sounds. This is a disc that should please many without offending any. It’s just good entertainment.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2010 Volume 4 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
If I Promised You the World
This is a pretty (but rather sad in terms of texture) pop rock ballad.
Play With Me This is a more rocking tune that’s based in a singer songwriter style. It’s a good tune, but still not a hard rocker.
When the Time Comes Here we get a real hard rocking tune. There’s an alternative rock meets emo meets singer songwriter music element here. This one is a real screamer, putting it in sharp contrast to the pieces that have come before.
Addicted This one’s cool. It’s kind of a cross between the last couple tracks and has a lot more dynamic range than anything we’ve heard so far. It’s got a lot of blues in the mix.
You Say A powerful cut, this is rooted in modern rock with a singer songwriter element. It’s evocative and one my favorites on the set.
Let Me in the Dark Although the format isn’t changed a lot from the previous piece, this is another killer number. There is a little air of progressive rock here, as there was on the last tune.
See You Tonight An acoustic guitar driven ballad, this is emotional and tasty.
Alone Melodic modern rock, this piece works quite well. There’s a killer acoustic guitar solo on this track. It’s another that has a bit of a progressive rock element built into it.
Words Unspoken More of a pop rock, almost power pop, texture pervades this number.
Tear Us Apart A more balladic number, this is a modern pop rock song with a singer songwriter edge to it. It’s quite a melodic piece.
World Alone I love this track. It’s a ballad with some definite progressive rock overtones. This is emotional and powerful and very pretty. It’s definitely my favorite on show here.
The Dolphins Cry Here we get a live recording. This melodic tune is a cover of the hit from Live. That makes it a live Live song – sorry, couldn’t resist. In any event, this is a good tune and a nice way to end the set.Although, in a rather annoying turn they include a couple minutes of just crowd noise at the end.
