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Mages

by Color Theory

supported by
Zen Frazier
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Zen Frazier Thought-provoking lyrics, catchy songs, and multi-layered tracks which leads to a new discovery on repeat listens. CT at his best! Favorite track: The Next Thing.
Angela B
Angela B thumbnail
Angela B It’s such a brilliant album!! You get lost in its songs, it creates a dimension of totally different feelings. No words can describe the wonders for each one of this album’s tracks. Thank you very much for all these vibes, they truly magical.

Favorite track: Straightaway 🤍
AlanS
AlanS thumbnail
AlanS I wasn't into D&D as a child, but this is not a requirement to enjoy Mages. This is another high quality Color Theory album - catchy tunes, great lyrics, earworms aplenty! Favorite track: The Outset.
Suitehome
Suitehome thumbnail
Suitehome Beautiful synthwave/synthpop album, full of melancholia. Pristine production, fat basslines and thoughtful lyrics and harmony vocals. This is quality all over. Can't wait to have the CD album. Favorite track: This Whole Nothing.
joachimbb
joachimbb thumbnail
joachimbb An album full of catchy songs. Definitely one of my favourites :) Favorite track: The Limit.
more...
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  • Five of my CDs are out of print, and a sixth will be soon. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. Until then, get the remaining 8 Color Theory CDs at a very special price!

    Includes Underneath These Dying Stars (individually signed and numbered), Mages, Lucky Ago, The Majesty of Our Broken Past, Color Theory presents Depeche Mode, Something Beautiful, Perfect Tears, Sketches in Grey
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  • Get my five latest albums in matching matte Digipaks. Includes Underneath These Dying Stars (individually signed and numbered), Mages, Lucky Ago, The Majesty of Our Broken Past, Color Theory presents Depeche Mode
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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 36 Color Theory releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Disappear, Thoughts Can't Hurt You, Underneath These Dying Stars, Underneath These Dying Stars Remixes, Ghosts Again, Death of You, Just an Echo, Outside the Lines, Vol. 3, and 28 more. , and , .

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1.
It flickers in the empty space It sparkles in the air When nothing’s really there I take this moment as a gift Exactly as it is And feel a subtle shift This whole nothing is mine Sometimes silence is fine It’s fine I lost myself a million times To craving and to fear Forgot why I was here The voice you hear inside your mind Is it really you? Who are you talking to? This whole nothing is the place where We all live and it all happens Sometimes silence is the answer To the question are you happy
2.
Both eyes on my goal To be truly happy I’ll devote my heart and soul Through the thick and thin Herald my arrival Life can finally begin Fully satisfied For fifteen minutes Sunlight on my face The reaching of a dream Then the bitter taste The lack of purpose Something else to do I cross it off and move on to The next thing Anxious and depressed Reckless and relentless Will life ever let me rest? Stop and catch my breath Take some to wonder why I’m Racing to my death
3.
Dungeons 04:24
Absorbing damage Is the name of the game From the claws of monsters Or the heat from a ball of flame Our strength in numbers Is a roll of the dice Played a thousand hours And I think that I died just once Or maybe twice I live in dungeons, always did I live in dungeons, like a kid Dungeons, caves and halls I live in dungeons, pits and falls I’m well-respected As a lord of the blade Got a dozen guildmates Always up for a late-night raid Though I wouldn’t know them By a name or a face We fight like brothers In a war with the Dark Elf race In a dying age I rolled a 10 in Wisdom 18 in Constitution Fully immune to poison But weak to Holy magic So now you know why I’m glued to my chair And what you call real life Just doesn’t compare I bear no grudges I live in dungeons
4.
The Outset 04:32
Twisting in nature's beauty You glide along so smoothly When your blades are sharp I watched you figure skating But soon got tired of waiting In the cold and dark So I sent you straight to voicemail When you called me on the phone Another fifteen-minute message There are things I wish I'd known At the outset I’ve got my share of baggage Sometimes it's hard to manage But I’m getting by You were the perfect bandage A lifetime’s wisdom packaged In a stable mind But apply the slightest pressure And the cracks begin to show You take delight in self-deception There are things I wish I'd known At the outset I believe that people can change But there are some traits set in stone We are all victim to our habits There are things I wish I'd known At the outset
5.
Rogues 04:21
In times of poverty, hunger, or distress My virtue recedes And noble purposes must be set aside For practical needs With cunning and a bit of stealth We'll multiply our meager wealth I promise not to break the law Or risk our health Will we cling to broken social codes In a world where anything goes? Take what's ours or dress in friar's robes? Bleed like saints or smile like rogues? I tend to hold myself unaccountable For thoughts in my head And if a bright idea suddenly appears I'll follow that thread Focus on this and nothing else Do what necessity compels And when this life comes to an end Forgive yourself
6.
Juggernaut 04:41
A candid shot A juggernaut Crack a smile just to thicken the plot Bet you wouldn’t hang around with Someone you didn’t think was cool But ice will melt And blood will pool A parking lot A juggernaut Tie my tongue in a half-Windsor knot Every night you're groping in the dark For a promise I won’t make It feels so warm Can’t stay awake I know I failed you, but I… I know I left you to die I should have screamed at the sky That this is all I need That this is good enough A heavy thought A juggernaut Camping out on our burial plot So I wrote a song to celebrate What I didn't see back then Dead to rights Born again
7.
Another stupid lovesong In which I do all my own stunts Such a disappointment It's like I'm running out of thoughts And you may say I've lost my touch But if you don't expect too much Here we go... Feeling strange but I like it Pouring out like a faucet Rushing forth to greet you Running red like a carpet Bleeding out open-hearted Wouldn't it be nice to I'm tired of feeling restless You draw the air out of my lungs A second adolescence Teenagers tripping on their tongues And you may say I've lost my mind But I'm content to leave it behind Give me a sign Give me a signal Want to be smart Want to be careful Now you're coming over Loneliness is a virtue Staying out after curfew I don't have the nerve to I hardly even know you I thought I'd cut my ties with the mob But now I'm back for one final job I hardly even know you Yes it's true
8.
Mages 04:25
A glowing staff And armor fashioned out of cloth Manipulating space and time With words and thoughts The marriage of knowledge and wisdom Arcane royalty queen of the kingdom Swear my loyalty this incantation Is a dedication to you Mages, mages Guiding light of the ages Make me real Tragic, tragic They don’t believe in your magic Make me real Some will dismiss you As a youthful fantasy I felt the same until you Showed yourself to me A door to another world opened With my faith in reality broken From the ramparts I fell to the ocean In slow motion I drown in you Mages, mages Turning history’s pages Make me real Tragic, tragic I believe in your magic Make me real
9.
Straightaway 04:06
Spent our lives in foreign lands Holding hands Passport pages running out Heads above the clouds Eyes toward the sun Having fun Testing luck and tempting fate Since our great escape Kept a journal on cassette No regrets I'm still grateful every day That you came my way Trivial concerns Hairpin turns Chasing the horizon's end Just around the bend We lived out our bucket lists And now here we are At the final stretch No more winding roads One long straightaway Death will pay all of our debts Time forgets Spread my ashes on the sea Should you outlive me Both feet on the ground Slowing down Chapter coming to a close Roosting with the crows I don’t want to scare you off But if you must fly I won’t clip your wings When the hour comes Tell me straightaway I don't want to tie you down And whether or not You choose to come back You will always be my señora So if you must go, sayonara When the hour comes Tell me straightaway
10.
The Limit 04:52
The fear of falling And the promise not to fail Pulling my worlds apart Hand on my heart Light the match And leave me for dead And everybody said Isn’t she nice? Sugar and spice Just let me go I'm stretched to the limit And bones are bound to break Is that what you want? A fight to the finish Will it satisfy the ache? I watch it happen I incriminate myself Flexible as a lie Reach for the sky Twisted arms And sadistic whims Dislocated limbs Picking a fight On a Saturday night What if I told you That it wasn’t meant to be? What if I told you I won’t be here for the ever after?

about

I wouldn’t say I played a lot of Dungeons & Dragons as a kid.

Still, ability scores and character classes provided a framework for how I thought about myself and others.

Was I a powerful fighter? No way. A dextrous rogue? Nope, stealing bad. A charismatic bard? Never was, never will be.

Instead, I’ve always thought of myself as an intelligence-based magic user. Because… magic!

In my decades of playing RPGs, including literally years of an early MMORPG called Everquest, I’ve always been a mage, or whatever class is closest.

Mages is a journey back to the worlds of my youth, celebrating the D&D nerd in all of us. 🪄

credits

released December 3, 2021

Color Theory is Brian Hazard

Written, performed, and produced by Brian Hazard (ASCAP) © 2021

Cover art by Sam Todhunter www.samtodhunterart.com
Mastered by Resonance Mastering www.resonancemastering.com

Special thanks to patrons Jonathan Albin, TheLeftExit, April Cuffley, Matt Mann, Bato, James Bloom, Burt Empson, Ernesto Peralta, Travis Murdock, Amy BuGoudi, Quietlaughter, Rachael Backas, Tom Martine, John Mondick, Page One Project, Neil Barnes, and Jeroen Visser.

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Color Theory Huntington Beach, California

Somehow I never outgrew the 80s.

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