Marillion - An Hour Before It’s Dark

That we are, after some 40 years of this magnificent band's existence, debating whether the 2022 opus is the finest of their career (to date) is a remarkable commentary on not merely the staying power of Marillion, but the capacity the band have to constantly push not only the boundaries of rock music, but, more to the point, themselves. Not for this collective sitting on comforting laurels, and the fact that this album jumped in straight at number two on the UK album charts upon release shows that they continue to excite and delight a growing audience of younger rock fans. Not all of our kids groove to corporate garbage reality shows.

An Hour Before It's Dark is a work which demands some careful and patient listening before it finally "hits you" and you are left knowing that you are in the company of something pretty special. To coin a well worn phrase from Marillion days of yore, play it loud with the lights out. Repeatedly.

FEAR on release was lauded as an album of its time. Well, judging by recent tragic events, especially with regard to obscenely rich oligarchs soaked in blood milking this country dry, it was truly ahead of its time. With regard to Hogarth's lyrics here dealing with his well travelled commentaries on climate change, let us hope that his fears are misplaced.

Some commentators have stated that this album is a retread of FEAR, except with more "upbeat" and "sunny" music lifting the gloom. Well, up to a point, Gracie. There is most certainly an urgency to much of the music here, interspersed with some gorgeous lilting symphonic movements which do take long term fans back quite a few years, particularly the unsung period between This Strange Engine and Anoraknophobia. The very welcome addition of choral soundscapes and Our Friends from the Orchestra add a lustre which takes this album beyond a mere rock journey.

It should also be pointed out that whilst much of the album was influenced heavily by COVID and climate disaster, as is always the case with Hogarth, the whole is far more nuanced. We have here a wonderful tribute to Leonard Cohen, a fable about finding a rare diamond in Sierra Leone, and even on the most glaring COVID track, Care, much of it is, in fact, a paean to a friend dying of cancer. The genius of Hogarth is to intersperse such lyrics into a coherent whole which demand that the listener takes his/her personal relationship with the meaning.

As with FEAR, the band split the longer tracks into separate movements, but as with all complex structured music, the album needs to be heard as a whole piece, as opposed to random entries on some digital playlist.

The urgency hits us straight between the eyes with album opener, Be Hard On Yourself. Hogarth excels himself lyrically on this, and it is a set of words which already is proving itself prescient in a short time when it calls on us all to rein in our greed, our rampant consumerism, our planet destroying selfishness. If nothing else, the economic pain being inflicted by COVID and Putin might well leave us with no choice but to reassess our lifestyle in the face of hyper inflation and global shortages. Let us hope we are all "in it together", eh? Don't hold your breath, though.

On this album, there are three bona fide Marillion classics. Murder Machines, the single, is a cracking track which races along at a fair old pace, with some pulsating riffs by the ensemble, and the emotion of the music matches the plaintive cries of h putting his arms around her. Urgent and emotional rock music at its best.

A short comment here about the rather lovely short instrumental which precedes this magnificent track, namely Only A Kiss built on a Trewavas bass line and Kelly chords, I wish this could have been extended. It is far too short, and an extended piece by a band not known for instrumentals would have added a lot of value, I feel.

The Crow and the Nightingale is quoted as Rothery's favourite track on the album, and careful listening has confirmed it for me. A lovely choral intro building into an ethereal piece prompts the wonderful In Praise of Folly adding classical textures to Hogarth's lovely tribute to Cohen. Mid-section, the piece simply soars, especially with the soundscapes built by Choir Noir. It rather takes the breath away, as does Rothery with a guitar solo dripping with emotion and taking the ensemble to a place few of us are lucky enough to be talented enough to write and perform. This is one of the finest tracks ever recorded by the band and is almost too beautiful for words.

The third in this venerable list is the album's closing suite, Care. This is split into four distinct mini-sections. Maintenance Drugs opens with a vicious bass line backed by some clever drums and guest bongos, shakers, and cowbell by Luis Jardim, and features another thundering, yet emotional, Rothery riff. It's actually pretty funky at its core.

An Hour Before It's Dark revisits the album theme and especially that of the opening track. Deceptively simple, it is led by a wonderful Mark Kelly performance, who is at the heart of much of the inspiration and playing on the album as a whole.

It is his piano which leads us into Every Cell, which is such a sublime tribute to life, love, death, and a nod to the real message of Sierra Leone, that is there is far more to us than wealth and material possessions. At the end of the day, it is our core humanity which matters. The piece ends with a guitar solo which reaches into you and transports you into a higher plain. Mosley and Trewavas back this up with a huge noise. It is Kelly who brings us back down to Earth and leads us into what many, rightly, feel is just about the pinnacle of this wonderful band's long career.

Angels on Earth is beautiful. It is lyrically wonderful. It is musically thoughtful and mood stirring. It refers to the frontline workers who took the brunt of the pandemic, and there is an evocative picture which inspired it with the physical album. These people were angels, and they are not on the walls of churches or glib halls of fame. It does not matter what one's politics or attitudes towards the official response to the pandemic are or were, the sentiments expressed here are a universal truth dealing, again, with our core humanity. The guitar solo is incredible, Kelly creates a huge symphonic background, the rhythm section thunders, and that choir again. But the last word to h, because the closing vocals are enough to bring the coldest hearted person to tears. Staggering, what a performance.

And so to the rest. As mentioned above, the opener fairly races along, and is a belter of a track. Reprogram The Gene is another climate crisis inspired piece and following an initial pause continues the pace of the album opener, but is, perhaps, a wee bit too disjointed in parts to be wholly effective. The band don't half rip through it, though, especially on the final part, A Cure For Us, which roars along.

I love the story behind Sierra Leone, that of a man finding a priceless diamond, but refusing to sell it. There are some wonderful musical segments in this, sensitive in part, and thrilling in others. This is the other track on the album which demanded repeated listens prior to setting out my review, because on initial listening, I really did not like it. My opinion has changed, and it is now appreciated as an important element of a wonderful album, albeit with the caveat that in parts I still find it a little bit too wordy, and wish that the music had been allowed to breathe a wee bit stronger, for example the closing segment of The Diamond and the opening of The Blue Warm Air, where Rothery and Kelly especially bring some warmth to proceedings. Sometimes less can be more. I do, though, love the pace, urgency, and lyrical urgency of the closing segment, More Than Treasure.

These, though, are minor quibbles. So, to the burning question amongst fans raging for the past couple of weeks since release. Is it their best? My opinion is no, but there are caveats to that opinion as well. The first is that that we are even talking about such a thing after a career spanning in excess of 40 years is a testament to the genius of Marillion. The second is that the best of their career is a pretty high bar given the likes of Brave, Marbles, and FEAR. What we have here is an excellent album, right up there with the best of them. It is an important album which deserves praise, and demands attention.