The first reason for doing the album was to get definitive versions of the songs recorded. We’d been playing some of the songs live for 3 years and we now had Dan on bass, and he’d brought his own character to the songs as they’d developed. Also, the original versions had been recorded quite quickly and we wanted to get high quality versions of the songs down, as we’d done with Speechless. It was great to take a bit more time with them and record them properly. Also a lot of Prog fans don’t like buying singles, they’d much rather have the album format, and at 79 minutes we certainly have an albums worth of material. We can delete the singles now.

When we recorded them the first time around, it was all quite rushed. We’d write a song and record it straight away, and people would learn their parts as we were recording. Now we’ve done these versions and I’m really pleased with the way they’ve come out. We’ve always done shorter tunes, so it’s been great to do an album of shorter songs. We were doing the Speechless track for the single, and that inspired us to go back and look at the other songs, particularly as we had some new gear – new microphones, for instance, and new drums, so we had a great sound. We finished the Speechless songs, then we recorded the rest of the album over about 3 weeks. It was a bit of a rush, as is usual in the Magenta camp and I gave myself a ridiculous deadline of one of the gigs to get it all finished. We’d rehearse the live set then I’d grab people to do various bits while we were having a tea break. Some of the songs do contain parts of the original recordings, though. I kept a few of the best bits, but the drums, bass, vocals and keyboards are all pretty much completely re-done.

We’ve bent over backwards to make sure the album stands up on its own. A lot of work has gone into giving people value for money, and making sure the new versions were as good as possible without being total rehashes of the previous version. Looking back at it now, I think it actually sounds like a band album in its own right, so I’m very happy with it.

Speechless

We wrote Speechless about 12 years ago. Christina and I were in a band called Trippa. We were quite an angry band, playing quite commercial songs, with strong cinematic, proggy elements, but over short songs. Being in the band was brilliant, but dealing with record companies was a nightmare, and the whole thing was a bit of a horrible experience. Speechless was one of those times when we knew we had a great song as soon as we recorded the demo. It was going to be the second single, but it never got released. In the end we just decided we’d had enough of being told what to do by people who had no enthusiasm for the music business, so the song just sat on the shelf.

We were still getting asked about it, and the band was constantly asking me about trying it. One day in rehearsals, I gave in and showed everyone the chords and we tried it. Everyone’s jaws just dropped. The power of it with the guitars and Tina singing it was just amazing, especially as she’d written the words and it had a special meaning for her. We rewrote the middle section and made it a bit more Magenta-ish, and then we had the mad idea of doing the single, and it all tied in nicely.

The original version has a lot of samples and drum loops. It’s a lot more electronic. A bit more Depeche Mode. The Magenta version has that big, heavy middle section and goes right over the top at the end, which is something we developed in rehearsal. Now I think we have the definitive version.

Anger

It’s the third live arrangement of the song. I always felt there was more that could be done with it and it has always been my favourite track on Seven. We were messing around in rehearsal, and we tried taking it up a notch by adding drums, and putting a key change on the end. It is a chance for everyone to shine and for Martin to have a solo spot. There are 3 solos – the first is me(though Martin plays it live), the second is Martin and the third, after the key change is Chris. Chris replaced the harp on the original version with his classical guitar, and now I think it works much better live. Hopefully that’s the definitive version, cos I’m not recording it again.

Broken

It’s not drastically different, but with the bass and drums recorded properly, the song is transformed. The sound of the drums (not the playing) is awful on the original version, and if that happens the whole track can sound a bit flat. I tightened up the strings as well.

Lemminkainen’s Lament

It’s a very different version and it’s the third time I’ve recorded that track. The first time was for the Finnish Colossus project, and it was one of the first things Tina sang on, and she didn’t really know it. I’ve also actually got a drum machine on it. The second time was for the single, and again there were no real drums on it, so this time it was great to do a new arrangement. Christina re-sang it, and I added orchestration, new piano, a new guitar solo (by me) and real drums. It’s turned out to be one of my favourite tracks on the album.

I’m Alive

I’d had another look at the track last year for a different reason, so in that case it was just a case of tweaks. But I’m Alive, Broken and King of the Skies were the main reasons for doing the album in the first place, because I wanted to improve them sonically. On I’m Alive I put in a few treated vocals and drum loops, which may raise a few eyebrows, but I think these things are fine as long as they benefit the track. Oh the whole, I just wanted to get a better vibe, so the arrangement stayed the same.

Cold

That’s the gem of the album. It’s the track I love playing most as it sounds so fresh. The song must be about 16 years old. It was originally intended for the second Cyan album. Christina came in and did backing vocals on Pictures from the Otherside, and I didn’t really know her. But she came in at the time and wrote the lyrics and the vocal melody for the song. The original version doesn’t sound that great, and you can’t really hear the quality of song that well. Chris and Tina had played it at a gig they did recently – just the two of them – and I thought it sounded great, so at the last minute I asked Chris to record the guitar at home, Christina sang it in one take, I mixed it on the Monday and the album went off for pressing on the Tuesday!

King of the Skies

I always thought of that as being a bit of a Led Zeppelin track, and the original version has a lot of guitar. On the new version I brought the acoustic guitar right up. We redid the vocals, as Tina knew the track a lot better.

Call me

It’s not especially different, but we redid the drums as before Allan didn’t really know it and we did it in a bit of a hurry on the back of another session. We’ve cleaned up all the guitars and rerecorded a lot particularly the end of the track, though we’ve used Christina’s original vocal on that one. The mix is better, as I had a bit more time to work on it.

Night and Day

That track has been a nightmare to record. I’ve recorded and remixed it so many times! This version is the one that’s closest to the definitive one, but the drums, for instance, I’ve recorded five or six times! Except for Troy Donockley, everything’s been rerecorded. It’s still very hard for me to say “it’s finished” but I think it’s done now. For Annie Haslam to sing it originally was a huge moment, she’s such a heroine. Without her there would be no Magenta, and Renaissance were my original blueprint for the project. But with Tina’s vocal, you can tell that it's her song and her vocal melody. It’s a great version, but there was something special about having Annie sing it, because I’m such a fan.

Essence of Love

I love that bit of music. It’s very Mike Oldfield - influenced. I wouldn’t mind doing an instrumental album one day – to get it out of my system. The music itself is as it appears on the Night and Day single.

Sunshine saviour

That’s the one part of Revolutions I wanted to re-record because I’m singing on it! Originally it was the wrong key for Tina, so I sang it, but more recently we’ve sung it live as a duet, and it sounded a lot better. Of all the tracks it’s got the biggest change in arrangement. I thought it would make a nice little song in its own right, especially at it’s the one part of Revolutions where I wasn’t happy with the mix. We redid all the instruments and Tina did a new vocal, then a friend of mine, a local singer, Stephan Rhys Williams did the harmony vocal, and it sounded great. Part of me would love to go back and do that on the whole album!

Opus 3

This track puts fear into the band, because it’s our intro music, so we all associate it with being back stage and feeling pre-gig nerves.

Pride (Full Version)

Pride was originally written with that “Directors cut” opening, but I didn’t like it, so I took it off. Later I found it on a rough demo, and quite liked it so I worked it up and put it on the single. Actually, there’s also another version of Pride with a completely different opening!

Sloth (Orchestral Mix)

This is one of quite a few different mixes from Seven I’ve done, most of which haven’t seen the light of day. I think it stands up very well with just piano and vocal, which is how it was written.