MARILLION - MARBLES
This album remains one of my favourites of all time - perhaps in my top three. Dripping with emotion and exceptional musicianship, this album more than any other puts lie to the accusation that Hogarth-era Marillion had no intensity compared to Mr Dick.
This is the finest work this band have produced, and, if I had a choice, would deserve 10 out of five stars for its sheer breath-taking brilliance and audacity. This album is a work of sheer genius and even makes Brave (another masterpiece) pale into insignificance.
The LP is bookmarked by two of the finest progressive rock tracks ever to grace the scene - Invisible Man & Neverland, which I feel represents this band's finest moment. The former commences slowly and builds to a crescendo with Trewavas and Rothery especially adding to a sense of menace that Hogarth places on the tale.
The album is stated by the band not to be a concept album, but the theme is certainly linked by Hogarth's childhood memories of playing, and losing, his marbles!
Your Gone continues the band's fine tradition of great singles, and this charted at number 7 upon release. Prompted by some fine guitar work by Rothery and excellent rhythm drum work by Mosley, it is an uplifting piece considering the subject matter - it is basically a fine pop song.
Angelina is basically a great blues number, with Hogarth recounting sad blokes ringing a phone number for solace in the dead of night. Rothery's guitar sings to us throughout, and the song simply must be played in the dark, loud, and preferably after more than a few beers.
Don't Hurt Yourself is another fine pop/rock single, but what follows is simply stunning. Fantastic Place features Hogarth soulfully recounting a beautiful island accompanied by Rothery playing a guitar solo in the middle that simply could have been written in heaven itself. I will never, ever, tire of hearing this song, and it is even better played live.
Drilling Holes is a fun track, which some would describe as a filler (literally!), but its pace keeps the listener intently concentrated upon the LP. And.. so to Neverland.
I love Suppers Ready. I love Thick As A Brick, Close to the Edge & etc. But none of them compare to this song. It is simply nearly 12 minutes of prog heaven. It is, without doubt, Rothery's finest moment. From the first moment of his guitar burst, the hairs on the back of the neck stand up, and his accompaniment to Hogarth's incredible conclusion of vocals is simply stunning. Words alone cannot possibly do justice to this track.
All Hogarth era LPs led up to this moment, and they really have been in a fine vein of form with this and subsequent LPs. This is the bees’ knees. Essential for any discerning progressive music fan.
The follow up to the impressive debut Revolutions, this is another concept work by British prog outfit Magenta, this time dealing with the relatively simplistic (!) seven deadly sins. Except for Anger, all songs clock in more than ten minutes, so there is a fair amount of patience required to settle in and enjoy this album.
As has been mentioned in previous reviews, this is a band that very openly pays homage to their inspirations, so, for example, on the first bars of opener Gluttony, you must check very carefully to see if you have put Yes on by mistake. There are also distinct signs of Hackett in Chris Fry's guitar work, with Genesis also being evident as a source of much that is played. Furthermore, the comparisons between Christina Booth's vocals and Annie Haslam are not misplaced, and I would say that this is not to the band's detriment. Christina is at the centre of proceedings, and the band sound exceptionally rich because of it. She has a lovely voice.
However, despite the obvious nods and inspirations from the past, this is not a mere copycat album, and stands together very strongly in its own right. It's an extremely melodic album, with strong folk passages amongst the more "traditional" symphonic ones. For no better example, check out Envy, where the vocals are exceptional and weave a lush, rural, pastiche prior to the symphonic instrumental taking over. This is a highlight of a very solid album, and special mention should go to Rob Reed's lush keyboard work on this, albeit strongly influenced by Close To The edge period Yes and guitar work that transports to Trick of The Tail era Genesis at the same time. His guitar solo at the close, though, is wholly original and a joy to listen to.
There is, also, marvellous input by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra on the excellent Lust for those of you who enjoy the more classical input into your symphonic rock. The track itself is very tightly played with a very upbeat and cheery tempo to back perfectly the innuendo laden vocals.
How to rate this? Well, it doesn't attain masterpiece status in my opinion, because too much of it is too knowing of its influences and cohesion is occasionally lost. It is, however, an excellent prog rock album from a band who are amongst the leading lights of the new wave of female fronted bands popping up, and a band who, hopefully, have many years of great music and development ahead of them.
An excellent addition to any prog rock collection.
As with all the band's releases, the one thing you can expect is an album packed with extremely accomplished musicianship.
Adam & Eve opens with a fantastic epic track, Love Supreme, clocking in at over 19 minutes long. It never once loses the listener's attention. Stolt's voice has, to me, never sounded better, and there is a glorious mix of guitars and, especially, bass from Reingold. As with much of their best symphonic works, the track is deeply reminiscent of Yes' glory days, and, again, this is very much meant as a compliment. The mellotron passages are amongst the best you will hear. Epic in scope and execution, this is a highly pleasing start.
Cosmic Circus is a lovely melodic short three-minute song, with again some nice mellotron and keyboard work backed by acoustic guitar. I find this a deeply uplifting song, the sort you would play when you really need a fillip from life's worries.
Babylon is even shorter at under three minutes, this is another uplifting track, but presented as an instrumental. The keyboard playing by Bodin really is beautiful and is accompanied by some lovely acoustic guitar work. Not all accomplished symphonic rock has to be epic in length, and this is no filler.
A Vampire's View comes in at just under nine minutes, and this is my least favourite track on the album. Brooding and, unfortunately, sounding lyrically and vocally like something you would expect to see & hear in a London West End musical theatre production, there are, nonetheless, some redeeming features, especially again the keyboard waves that feature during the chorus. This track, though, is simply far too melodramatic to work very effectively.
Days Gone By clocks in at a mere 1:14 minutes long, and, thankfully, brings a lighter tone to the album again with a very solid and pleasant piano solo. Yes, it's a filler, but it is a good one.
The title track itself is next. This is a far harder and darker affair, but, thankfully, it doesn't fall into the same melodramatic trap as A Vampire's View. Whilst much of what preceded this track is recognisably symphonic, this track most certainly moves into heavy prog territory, and Reingold simply takes the breath away with the most fantastic bass line.
Starlight Man reverts to the gentler feel of the album, and really should have been a hit single for the band if there were any justice and musical taste in the world. I love Stolt's sunny vocals on this track, and he is backed by yet another incredible bass guitar melody by Reingold. A fantastic track.
Timelines opening passage takes us back to a very dark and menacing place, with wild keyboards, guitars, drums, and bass all competing manically for control. However, very quickly, it reverts to a Stolt lyric backed by acoustic guitar. Midway through, there is a lovely, almost jammy, and jazzy instrumental passage with organ & guitar competing. The song then becomes far more manic again. This is not a bad piece of music, quite the opposite, but it is very disjointed, almost like a jigsaw puzzle being put together, and I think a bit more coherence in the musical themes would have helped.
Driver’s Seat is the second epic track on the album, and this one clocks in at 18 and a half minutes. Firmly placing the album back into grandiose symphonic prog, the track has many mood changes, and is, to my mind, right up there with the finest of the many epic tracks the band has produced. Some have criticised it for being somewhat bitty, but certainly, to me, it flows far better than the predecessor track. Think Yes in the Fragile era, updated to 2004, and you will be somewhere near the mark. I must also say, following on from that, that Squire himself rarely sounded better than Reingold does here. The man is an incredible bassist. At 11 minutes in, the track comes to a complete halt before slowly building up to its closing phases. Incredibly, it works, as the whimsical guitar gives way to the main event. The final instrumental to close the track is as good as you will ever hear in the entire genre.
The album closes with The Blade of Cain. A wonderful atmospheric track, and a great way to close a very strong album. There really is some lovely and haunting guitar work on this piece of music.
This is an album which is very highly recommended. The album avoids falling into the trap that the band sometimes fall into, that of making an album that is simply too long and sometimes meandering to hold the attention. Except for A Vampire's View, there is not a weak and forgettable track included.
Hey, I’m going back to Massachusetts…….
A stinker – end of. Avoid at all costs
Having a few spare minutes, I decided to have a look through the list of albums registered on the site (PA), but without a review. I didn't really expect to have any of them, so was quite surprised when I came across this, a live concert in Massachusetts from 1983 released on CD some 11 years later. I picked it up from a market stall in Swansea, and honestly thought that I had picked up a bootleg CD - apparently not, although the quality of the production still leads me to think it is a bootleg, it is that bad!
I love Asia, and do not mind the pop slant of much of the classic line-up. Indeed, when I get round to reviewing Phoenix, I will probably award it an “excellent” status.
However, not this, and will not even bother to go through the full track listing. Many of my favourite tracks are on the concert, such as Wildest Dreams, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes. The obligatory The Clap is there, plus a 10 minute plus Palmer drum solo. It just sounds awful, with production sounding as if it was recorded in a London phone box in the middle of a rush hour.
Don't be tempted as I was to get this. It just isn't worth it.
On the right hand side of this text box, there is a video which is twenty four and a half minutes long. Harvest of Souls is a classic, and if you have never heard this wonderful piece of music, please get yourself a cup of coffee, or a pint of real ale, sit back, crank up the volume, and enjoy.
IQ – Dark Matter
Whilst looking forward to getting Frequency when it is out on general release, I thought it was about time that I reviewed its predecessor, and a fine work it is too.
IQ are one of the leading lights of the second wave of British Prog. I still regard Marillion as being at the forefront of this wave, but, by Heaven, IQ can't be that far behind.
The album starts with Sacred Sound, a track that comes in at over 11 minutes, and features huge organ playing by Martin Orford, combined with stunning Nicholls vocals and Holmes textured guitars. Grandiose in conception and execution, it is a fine way to start any LP.
Red Dust Shadow commences in a thoughtful manner. Nicholls is on fine form throughout the whole LP, but I especially enjoy the quiet keyboard and acoustic guitar led backdrop to his story regarding an absent father, which is very touching, whilst the track then explodes in a huge symphonic noise of all band members expressing the outrage of the leaving. This is a sad song, but with the best of sad songs, leaves the listener emotionally charged. Some great mellotron work at the end, too.
You Never Will starts off in what I regard as a Floydian vein, with the clock ticking and pulsating bass, before Nicholls and the band explode again in a huge soundscape that tells another downbeat story. Orford's organ playing dominates, and I am really interested in seeing and hearing how the band manage without his huge influence. This track is one for our times. Listen to "I keep hoping that you'll do something real" - it is almost a eulogy to the disillusion felt in the UK with the crooks that run our country. Holmes' guitar solo also brings home how talented he is. This track is not a filler - it is essential as a running part of the LP.
Born Brilliant follows, which, again, has a dark, almost Floydian, sense to it, reminding me of Wish You Were Here in the bass and keyboard background. Jowitt's bass absolutely thunders in his backdrop to the riff and keyboard main lead. Again, not a filler, but a continuation of the dark and brooding theme of the album.
Harvest Of Souls is the epic track on this album. Starting with a quite exquisite vocal to an acoustic guitar backdrop, this leads into one of the finest neo prog tracks ever written and performed. I have never been a supporter of the neo liberal politics of American Republican leaders in recent times, and this track absolutely encapsulates the despair that many like me feel how a great and brave nation can descend into such imperialistic egocentric tendencies. It is a great protest song, but also a great song for those (many) who have no political leanings at all. Because, some four minutes in, Nicholls blasts out his America "chorus", accompanied by quite the most exceptional keyboard and guitar leads you will ever hear. And Who Would Not Defend America, indeed. Progressive rock and protest fused at its finest.
We Will Shoot You Where You Stand leads into the epic riff and passage very reminiscent of early Crimson. It is very atmospheric, and, again, the band play together very tightly, with especially Holmes shining in his guitar work.
At times thoughtful, at times blistering, at times mixing originality with a huge nod to prog's founding fathers, this is an immense track, and one I have had a great deal of pleasure listening to. A great way to end an album, the pace never relents, even in its quieter moments.
For those reading this who are looking forward to Frequency, you are not alone, and revisiting this LP is well worth the time. For those of you who have never heard IQ's work, by God you are missing a huge treat. I am still listening in amazement to Holmes, Orford, Jowitt, and Cook producing such a huge sound to accompany one of the finest vocalists the UK has ever produced. Epic in thought, epic in production, and epic in execution, this is an essential piece of modern progressive rock.