The 1981 Listening Post - Klaatu - Magentalane

 Klaatu - Magentalane

474

October 7 1981

Klaatu

Magentalane

Genre: Wannabeatles

3 out of 5

Highlights:

A Million Miles Away

I always thought Klaatu was a pure prog band but they really belong in that Supertramp category, don’t they? This is really poppy and kind of ear candy. I’ve been down this road before and with this (final) record they wear their McCartney on their sleeve. 

They really really really want to be latter day Beatles and we are past that as a society, guys. By this time, The Beatles are become “oldies” and trafficking in their style is not going to get you on the top of the charts. Of course, “Maybe I’ll Move to Mars” has the stench of 1973 Bowie all over it. And, you know what? We don’t need an album that appropriates this sound. 

These guys are good songwriters don’t get me wrong. Tracks like “I Don’t Wanna Go Home” and the title track are just lovely and I would be happy to have them come on at any time I’ve lit up some patchouli oil and gotten into the hot tub with an Aperol Spritz. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/magentalane/843438900

The 1980 Listening Post - Klaatu - Endangered Species

Klaatu - Endangered Species

#234

June 1980

Klaatu

Endangered Species

Genre: Disappointing rock

2.25 out of 5

Highlights:

All Good Things

Now we get to a band that, for me, is a big disappointment. First off, they are Canadian. Which means, as we all have come to know (or if you read ahead) as an exporter of music with some special sauce that seems to elevate even the most mundane to higher echelon with sheen or substance or something else. 

Secondly, their name is the first word spoken by Gort the Robot in The Day the Earth Stood Still. And that has me yearning for New Wave-iness but instead what we get is second rate Beach Boys/Beatles tunes (which, let’s be honest, means Badfinger) and has me yearning for all those other bands. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/endangered-species/1443755275