Magentalane

Magentalane was the fifth and final album of new material by the Canadian progressive rock group Klaatu.

Magentalane
Studio album by Klaatu
Released	October 7, 1981[1]
Recorded	ESP Studios, Buttonville, Canada, April–July 1981[2]
Genre	Psychedelic pop[3] pop rock[4]
Length	34:11
Label	Daffodil
Producer	Klaatu
Klaatu chronology
Endangered Species (1980) Magentalane (1981) Klaatu Sampler (1981)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link

Recording

For their final album, Klaatu regained complete artistic control over the music, marking a return to their familiar psychedelic pop sound,[5] after their previous album Endangered Species was essentially a product of Capitol Records’ attempt to commercialise the band, and therefore featured outside musicians playing most of the instruments heard on the record.

The advance budget for Magentalane helped make E.S.P. Studios of Buttonville, Ontario, a professional studio in 1980. E.S.P. was owned by Klaatu member Dee Long and partner John Jones, who both went on to George Martin's AIR Studios in London in 1985.

Release

Since Capitol Records had terminated Klaatu, following the commercial failure of their previous album, Endangered Species, Magentalane was only released in Canada and Mexico, although it was reissued worldwide in 1995 on Compact Disc by Permanent Press Records.

The sound of a springing mousetrap is present on the album, followed by the sound of a mouse running away. According to John Woloschuk, this was intended to allow Klaatu's fanbase to know that Magentalane was likely to be Klaatu's last studio album.

Reception

In a positive retrospective account, PopMatters called the album “a retrospective on the past 20 years of psychedelic pop”.[5]

AllMusic, while giving the album only a lukewarm rating, praised the album for its songwriting, which it described as “vintage McCartney”.[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"A Million Miles Away"	John Woloschuk	3:39
2.	"The Love of a Woman"	Woloschuk	3:23
3.	"Blue Smoke"	Woloschuk, Dino Tome	4:41
4.	"I Don't Wanna Go Home"	Woloschuk	2:51
5.	"December Dream"	Woloschuk, Terry Draper	4:20
6.	"Magentalane"	Woloschuk, Tome	2:35
7.	"At the End of the Rainbow"	Dee Long	3:30
8.	"Mrs. Toad's Cookies"	Woloschuk, Tome	3:06
9.	"Maybe I'll Move to Mars"	Long	5:15
10.	"Magentalane (...it feels so good)"	Woloschuk, Tome	0:52
11.	"End"	N/A	0:05

Personnel

Klaatu[7]

• John Woloschuk - vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, keyboards, bass guitar, vibraphone, electric sitar, ocarina, glockenspiel
• Dee Long - vocals, electric guitar, mandolin, slide guitar, Korg synthesizer
• Terry Draper - drums, percussion, Polymoog synthesizer, trombone, tambourine, vocals

Additional musicians[7]

• John Johnson - saxophone solo on "The Love of a Woman"
• Memo Acevedo - conga on "The Love of a Woman"
• Adele, Paul and Dick Armin - strings on "The Love of a Woman", "December Dream" and "Maybe I'll Move to Mars"
• George Bertok - piano on "Blue Smoke"
• Lorne Grossman - tympani and chimes on "December Dream" and "Maybe I'll Move to Mars"
• Paul Irvine - trumpet and trombone on "December Dream" and "Maybe I'll Move to Mars
• Jill Vogel, Anna Draper and Linda Davies - backing vocals on "Mrs. Toad's Cookies"
• Frank Watt (drums), Ken Wannamaker (bass), Dave Kennedy (guitar) on At The End of the Rainbow.

References

1. "The Morning Sun - 4th Issue". Klaatu.org. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
2. "The Official Klaatu Homepage". Klaatu.org. Retrieved 2017-07-09.
3. "So Said the Lighthouse Keepers". PopMatters. Retrieved 2017-07-09.
4. AllMusic Review by Dave Sleger (1992-01-06). "Klaatu/Hope - Klaatu | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-07-09.
5. "PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
6. "Magentalane - Klaatu - Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
7. "The Official Klaatu Homepage". www.klaatu.org. Retrieved 28 April 2019.