AFRAID OF SUNLIGHT

This is my favorite Marillion album and one of my favorites of all time. The production is so glossy. The guitar sounds are spacy and so very smooth. The ambient keyboards swoop and hover. Hogarth's voice soars angelically over the magnificence, that is this album. It is one of the best-sounding albums among I own.

There is not a poor track to be found here. There is a concept of sorts running through many of the songs, that being the darkness that often underlies seeming sunny perfection. Several of the songs concern people of fame and achievement who seemingly have everything but whose stories turn dark, for nothing is ever perfect and no one can ever have everything they want. These stories are hinted at both in the lyrics and in the clever musical motifs introduced into the compositions.

This is the theme of Gazpacho, which brings directly to mind the story of boxer Jake LaMotta. This seemingly jaunty tune with its chiming guitars tells a horrible story of murder and of fame gone wrong, floating along on a deceptively cheery melody and some great hooks. Also features the best Pete Trewavas bass lines I have ever heard. The fun and silly stomp of Cannibal Surf Babe recalls sixties surf music and features some awesome Beach Boys pastiches. After Cannibal Surf Babe we have the melodic ballad Beautiful. It is wonderfully heartfelt and there is an important lyrical theme, that of the way introverts with much to offer are disregarded in a boisterous, outgoing society that values aggression over everything else. More of us can identify with this song than we would care to admit. Out of this World is one of my favorite Marillion songs. It is about Donald Campbell, a man who tried to break the world speed record on water, but sadly crashed while trying and died because of that. The song is very dark and one of the darkest Marillion songs. Hogarth's vocals really blend in with this dark atmosphere and tone of the music. After 5 minutes the song's first half ends, and the second half starts. The second half consists mainly of a very dark synthesizer sounds, mixed with radio samples of Donald Campbell's last words before he crashed. Hogarth's vocals are very haunting on this song. The title track is possibly my favorite on the album, again a slow ballad, but this time tranquil and reflective. very, very beautiful. The beginning united with the end of Out of This World is just angelic. Great Chorus, brilliant instrumental interlude... One of the highlights of the album. The next song is Beyond you. This is a very romantic and emotional song. It took me a while to like it, but when the song really touched me, I really loved it to pieces. This isn't a song I can talk much about, it's more an experience. The album concludes with King, bringing all the threads together in a contemplation on attention-seeking, as Hogarth declares to our unhappy fame-ridden protagonist, "I hope for your sake / You've got what it takes / To be spoiled to death". The album concludes with a gloriously noisy, soaring build-up.

Rating-96%

Recommended Tracks: Gazpacho, Beautiful, Out Of This World, Afraid Of Sunlight & King