Magentalane (...It Feels So Good) - Klaatu, Tome, Dino
Never before released on CD anywhere in the world. Long out of print and considered rare 'Magenta Lane' has benn digitally remasterd. The publicity shy band were originally rumored to be all or part of the Beatles and this... more » album marks the first time names and photographs of the band have appeared in a U.S. release. Originally released in 1981, featuring a tribute to John Lennon, 'December Dream'. 1995 release. Standard jewel case.« less
Never before released on CD anywhere in the world. Long out of print and considered rare 'Magenta Lane' has benn digitally remasterd. The publicity shy band were originally rumored to be all or part of the Beatles and this album marks the first time names and photographs of the band have appeared in a U.S. release. Originally released in 1981, featuring a tribute to John Lennon, 'December Dream'. 1995 release. Standard jewel case.
Larry T. (brainburst) from BRONX, NY Reviewed on 10/10/2010...
I am so tired of reviewers knocking this band. They just don't get the. their not a serious band laying serious music. It's lightweight fun pop. The only problem if anything is overly squeaky-clean tight production. It sounds like everything was overdubbed. (Which of course it was..)
Klaatu to me is really the worlds greatest kids rock band. The second half of this album is delightful. Listen to it with your kids today.
1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
CD Reviews
Inventive and thoroughly enjoyable - has aged very well!
muunrakr | 06/05/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This swansong for Klaatu, released in 1981, signaled the death of melodic/introspective/fun progressive music. Not going out with a whimper, Klaatu put together a magnificent collection of tunes in Magentalane. Its not quite up to the splendor of Hope, but its damn close!Magentalane moves a bit away from the progressive overtones of the band's previous releases, but the songs are nonetheless powerful. I can remember being "a million miles away" in school; the opening track of this LP is very reminiscent of those times. "Love of a Woman" and "I don't want to go home" are straight out of the Beatles catalog without being penned by Lennon/McCartney; they are absolute gems."Magentalane" and "Maybe I'll move to mars" recall the band's fixation with interstellar travel. No doubt they'll have their ashes spread in space, the way Gene Roddenberry did.High water mark on this album is "Mrs. Toad's Cookies". Maquerading as a child's tune, this song has a message no less important than that of the song "Hope", the title track of a previous LP. For Mrs. Toad's cookies are good...really good! And Mr. Toad can't keep his hands off em. But too much of a good thing can be bad for you indeed. Unfortunately, so can not enough of a good thing, which is the problem with Klaatu. Magentalane tells us this band had the staying power to write truly wonderful music. Too bad the years have intervened and we ponder their post-Magentalane discography in a fit of wishful thinking...Questions? Email me at muunrakr@wf.net"
Lights Out for A Terrific Band
Michael E Williams | Morrisville, NC United States | 06/14/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The production is a notch down from prior Klaatu albums which was always one of their strong points. The songs sound a bit tired and probably due to the fact that the band knew this was the end. Some songs like a Million Miles Away are sappy 80's sounding material and some like Magentalane, Blue Smoke, Mrs. Toad's Cookies and the Paul McCartney sounding I Don't Want to Go Home, offer a glimmer of what the band was about in the past. Overall a pretty good album and for die hard Klaatu fans a must for the collection."
Bittersweet finale to a brief but brilliant band
Wesle Dymoke (ao780@osfn.org) | New England, USA | 07/21/1998
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Though not as strong as Klaatu's first two albums, Magentalane is more cohesive and enjoyable overall than the second two, and seems almost a self-conscious sigh of raptured resignation at the end of this astoundingly creative band's all-too-brief but absolutely brilliant career. The title track and reprise especially convey a sense of homecoming and comfort therein. The quirky "Mrs. Toad's Cookies" hints at entire realms left unexplored by the closure of this band's efforts, and leaves us to ponder what might have been, given a more nurturing music environment. Meanwhile, the forgivably sentimental "Maybe I'll Move to Mars" hearkens back to the band's earliest days, when they made their mark blending early space-art rock with neogothic and sometimes quirky themes that one can almost envision, like master paintings on black velvet. A whimsical and affectionate closing statement from a band who deserved better than they got."
At First Disappointing...
Walter Grimace | Toronto | 10/24/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"...but even the most mediocre efforts on this album are excellent early 80s songs, if not good Klaatu. The thing is, I listened to their first album first. This set me up for disappointment, and at first I was. However, then I discovered that half of the songs are vintage Klaatu and the other ones... well, I had to keep my mind open. And so I have. It's definitely worth examining this album. Magentalane is laden with metaphors for the band's demise, most notably in their swan song Magentalane. Here they simply state that it "feels so good" to be back in Canada, and in their hometown Toronto. The reason why Klaatu broke up, I think, was simply that the "bad ol' world" treated them shabbily. This band simply deserved better, and the songs on the lower rung of this album are proof of that: they got burned, and they burned out.
What happened to Klaatu is, in all of rock and pop history, the saddest and most unfortunate ending for a band. In the end though they controlled their own destiny, and ended their music careers with a bittersweet cry out against the world."
"Klaatu had a short-lived existence, but they were one of the best Canadian bands in history. During the band's life they were compared to the Beatles - also one of my favorite bands.This CD is the band's last. It was a departure from their earlier efforts, which were also quite varied. Their early efforts were more "spacey", and had a harder edge.This is definitely one of their better CDs, but not to everyone's taste. Many critic reviews said that this album was too mellow compared to their previous albums.My opinion is that if you like Klaatu, you'll like this album. It's a great closure to the band's existance.- Ron Manke"