AFRAID OF SUNLIGHT

Although Brave is Marillion's tour-de-force, Afraid of Sunlight has some of its most fabulous compositions and arrangements, and some of Hogarth's best vocal work. Gazpacho opens the album in grand style, moving quickly into the Beach-Boys-on-acid Cannibal Surf Babe. Beautiful is just that: one of the most moving ballads in prog-rock, and an easy match for any of Genesis' ballads. Both versions of Afraid of Sunrise are haunting, with the rockier one being slightly better. In all senses, this is one of Marillion's best overall, and a must-have for prog-rock fans.

Did I miss something here? As I read the other reviews on this album we must not have heard the same album . For me only the King track stops this from sinking as I could hardly listen to the rest . I will give another listen to this if someday my busy schedule allows it. Needless to say that according to my memories from it , this is not a priority, though!

Best avoided.

How dare I be so beautiful?

For me, "Afraid of sunlight" is probably the best of the post Fish Marillion releases.

All the tracks here are melodic, well written, and beautifully produced. The sound is much softer than that of the Fish era, and of the early Hogarth era albums. The title track is the best of the lot being a soft verse/loud chorus song with an awesome keyboards section, including bass notes to shiver your timbers . The song finds the band back on their ecological bandwagon, along the lines of "Season's end", with which the track has a fair bit in common.

"Cannibal surf babe" is a Beach Boys inspired (almost) pop song, which endeavours to show that Marillion do in fact have a sense of humour. It's certainly a well constructed parody, complete with subtle vocal harmonies. "Beautiful" is descriptive both of itself and of the following "Afraid of sunrise". The latter is a fragile piece with a similar theme and structure to the title track, for which it is virtually a guide vocal.

Two of the tracks are about people who died before they should have. "Out of this world" pays tribute to Donald Campbell who died attempting to beat the world water speed record, while "King" is (obviously) about Elvis. Both are sympathetically written, and musically superb, with Hogarth in particular contributing heartfelt vocals.

An inspired album which deserved a far greater audience than it ultimately gained.

This is the kind of album you will get to love and yet you will get to hate too. Through "Afraid of Sunlight" we can perceive that at the time Steve HOGARTH wrote most of the lyrics for this album (John HELMER wrote some of them too), he could've been in the middle of a feelings crossroad and got himself caught in the eye of the hurricane, and that we can confirm in such cheesy yet irreverent lyrics in songs such as "Beautiful", "Beyond You" and "Afraid of Sunlight" itself. That you can explain, but I think the rest of this record is plagued of vague "cutting edge" musical experiments beyond what we could've expected from Steve back then when he gave the prog world fine, polished works like "Season's End" or "Holidays In Eden".

This is one of a kind album, one of those MARILLION records you can completely dedicate to a chick you're endlessly in love with or it could be useful to give it to listen to a friend that's got nothing to do with prog rock and stereotype this genre whatsoever and never want to listen to anything related to it again.

To sum it up, listen to this album at your own risk whether you're a MARILLION fan so you can understand the real meaning and intention of its creation in the depths of it, or not, so you can realize that progressive rock could be ungrateful and inexplicable sometimes but you never gotta give up listening to it. Corny, outrageous, unpredictable, boring, outstanding, French speaking preludes to "Beautiful" and last but not least important, cover photography by Paul COX.

Marillion - Afraid of Sunlight

This album more or less consists of leftovers from their previous masterpiece Brave. In that way, that the album was knocked out and only released within a few months after Brave. It's a bit conceptual, as is Brave, and it deals with fame and the demise that follows upon that fame.

The album's first track is the song Gazpacho, the song is about a boxer (forgot his name right now) who supposed to hurt his wife. The name of the song refers to domestic violence and the fact that Hogarth (marillion's singer) connects spilt gazpacho soup (which is red) with blood on the woman's clothing from the wounds caused by the beating by her husband. The song starts with an announcement at the beginning of a boxing match, this really sets the mood for me. The song takes us through various moods. It starts of quite happy but during the song the atmosphere kind of changes and at the end it's all very dark with sound samples of helicopters and comments by a reporter on a car chasing. There isn't a single outstanding member of the band on this song (neither is on the whole album) but I always found that Hogarth's vocals are very good.

The album's second song is called Cannibal Surf Babe and is actually a parody on the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. When I first heard the song I really found it very annoying, but after hearing it a couple of times I really began enjoying listening to it. It's a nice upbeat song with some typical Beach Boys-like synthesizer sounds. The connection between the music and Beach Boys front man Brian Wilson is even made more clearly in the lyrics where Hogarth sings about him in the chorus. The song has nice groovy bass lines and the spooky sounding keyboards are something I'm very fond of.

Beautiful is a wonderful ballad about the fact that everyone is beautiful etc etc. I know not so original since almost every pop artist has about the same lyrics, but still it's a nice tune, a bit too long at more than 5 minutes, but not bad.

Afraid of Sunrise is an acoustic piece which I quite like, but hardly ever listen to. Halfway through there's a nice change of atmosphere for about half a minute, it gets 'darker' than. I really dig that part of the track.

Out of this World is one of my favourite Marillion songs. It's about Donald Campbell, a man who tried to break the world speed record on water, but sadly crashed while making an attempt and died because of that. The song is very dark and definitely one of the darkest Marillion songs up to this moment. The song's intro is superb. It starts with very low and dramatic keyboard sounds accompanied by effected guitar licks. Hogarth's vocals really blend in with this dark atmosphere. After about 2 minutes in there is a bit of a breakdown, but not such a breakdown that tends to lose your attention. Then an amazing, but very slow, guitar solo kicks off, which is one of my favourites. After the solo finishes, it is directly followed by a beautiful part which has the dark atmosphere but also has very nice piano on the foreground. Hogarth sings one of his best parts in Marillion history I think. "What did she say? I know the pain. etc, etc". After 5 minutes the song's first half ends and the second half starts. This half consists of mainly very dark synthesizer sounds together with radio samples of Donald Campbell's last words before he crashed. Hogarth sings another part with a very nice but haunting voice.

Afraid of Sunrise's twin Afraid of Sunlight has a couple of lyrics which are identical to Afraid of Sunrise. The chorus is almost identical, but it's sung in a totally different way and features two extra lines. Where its counterpart was a quite acoustic piece, this is a up-tempo rock ballad. Hogarth - again - is well present and that's a positive thing on this cd. There's a bit a lack of Steven Rothery's guitar, but he fills this lack up towards the end of the song with a nice, but very brief, guitar solo. My favourite part of the song is where the vocal melody is taken over by Mark Kelly's keyboard.

The next song is Beyond you. This is a very romantic and emotional song. It took me a while to actually like it, but when the song really touched me, I really loved it to pieces. This isn't a song I can tell much about, it's more an experience.

The closing track King is - I guess - about Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Elvis Presley. It's one of Marillion's most agressive songs and a real killer when played live. It starts with an amazing guitarlicks which only last about 5 seconds and then we hear a lot of radio samples about the death of Elvis the KING and other well known persons that in a while became a victim of their own succes. The verses in this song are all very quiet and accompanied by a very subtile and simple guitar chord. But when the verses end there are these amazingly heavy outbursts. The first one consists of a very nice synthesizer parts with in the background heavy guitar riffs. The second one consists of a highly energetic and aggressive sounding guitarsolo. 3/4 in the song the song stops and quietly begins to build-up again with all instruments quietly coming in to the picture again, resulting in an amazingly heavy climax to this already amazing album. When hearing this song live the amps are definitely wide open. The abrupt ending of the song really gives you shivers.

The Afraid of Sunlight album as a whole is maybe Marillion's most coherent album up to now. It has it all, the emotions, the complexity, the great lyrics, nice instrumentation and nice ambiences. I always like to recommend it to people who are new to Marillion, since it's quite easy accessible, but is also very representative for their music.

I'm giving it 4 stars because it is not as good as Brave -which I gave a 5 stars rating - but really, believe me, buying this one won't disappoint.

"How long can you stand? Living under the lens. The kiss of success The ensuing, all consuming, mess ." - Marillion "King"

Thanks God for showing me the hill and helping me widen my mind to fully enjoy the music of Marillion regardless who is the singer. Oh yes, the fact is that the band has already in my life since their "So here I am once more" thing was first released in 1983 and since then they had influenced me in my personal as well as professional life. Yes, they are my hero. Their music has sparked the lights and energy for my day-to-day activities. Credits should also go to my prog mates George Surjopurnomo and Adler Siahaan (Icann). Why? George helped open the gate in my mind in accepting any forms of music marillion is offering. I know that George was a die-hard fan of early Marillion and he is also member of the Front-Row Club (Marillion fans club). He simply said to me (during our prog dinner in Bakmi Kuningan two years ago, approx.) : "Put it this way, Gatot. We have already been "in" with their music. So, why not stay? Let's support the band.". Icann gave me advise: "Don't let your ego drive the musicians, let the musicians' ego drive you and enjoy the music!". What a wise word man!

So, let's talk our business now: to review this album. I purchased this CD sometime in 2000 because there was a small CD store that was about to close. So they put their CDs on sale. I paid only USD 6 for the single CD version. It was just for memorabilia for me because I did not open the plastic cover for a long time. I started enjoying their music by a new paradigm: just enjoy the music and don' compare it with others first. How do I feel. It's a good stuff. Hogarth's singing is terrific for this kind of music. Sometime in 2003, my prog-mate Rikon advised me that I should by the remaster version with 2 CD and 24-bit recording technology because there is an excellent track "Mirages" at disc two. I did. So my review is based on the remaster version.

The Album

The album opener "Gazpacho" (7:28) is medium tempo music with a straight forward structure. The combination of guitar work and inventive bass lines is excellent. This opening part is, I think, Pete Trewavas and Hogarth territory. Oh yes, Hogarth's voice is powerful here. Similarity-wise, this track is comparable with IQ music only that the vocal timbre between Hogarth and Peter Nicholls is really different. Title wise, this track has inspired the name of Marillion-influenced band from Norway: GAZPACHO. The other noticeable work is Ian Mosley dynamic drumming and symphonic keyboard work by Mark Kelly. "Cannibal Surf Babe" (5:46) is a happier track in terms of tempo compared to opening track. Again, Mr. Trewavas plays his bass guitar excellently here combined with keyboard. The song flows smoothly with relatively no tempo changes or with little variations. But it's still a good track.

"Beautiful" (5:13) is a very melancholic tune with touchy melody in a tempo which much slower than previous two tracks. The opening simple guitar work and its accompanying music sets an excellent entrance of Hogarth voice: "Everybody knows we live in a world where they give bad names to beautiful things .". Oh man . what a great entry here! The song moves nicely with excellent melody and the climax is when the lyrical part says "And the leaves turn from red to brown .". The next track "Afraid of Sunrise" (5:02) is to me like a ballad with an acoustic guitar based music in an unplugged style. The guitar and keyboard work in the middle of the track is very good. "Out of This World" (7:55) is a mellow track with an excellent melody. Hogarth seems really enjoy singing this track because it sounds like he sings through his heart. I also enjoy the guitar solo by Steve Rothery - it's so stunning!

"Afraid of Sunlight" (6:50) is in the same vein with the other "Afraid" but it's a bit different and again, I can see the voice quality delivered by Mr. Hogarth. "Beyond You" (6:11) continues the music in similar style. Individually, it's a good song, but as this track is positioned here - I can feel a sense of boring when it reaches this point. Lucky that at the end of the album the band offers a really excellent track that has become my favorite, i.e. "King" (7:04). It starts melodically with a combination of keyboard and guitar followed with a sudden break exploring people crowd. Hogarth voice enters softly: "How long can you stand. Tightening up. Avoiding the fight". It's a wonderful opening. At the end of first lyrical verse when Hogarth sings "I hope for your sake . Something gets in the way " and the music blasts in a rocking style with great keyboard and drumming. The melody of this song is really excellent. The song combines high and low points with tempo changes and transition in quieter passages. It's a wonderfully crafted composition that I have to admit.

Overall, even though I prefer "Brave" but this album deserves four stars rating: an excellent addition to any prog music collection. I recommend you to purchase the remaster edition as disc two contains previously unreleased tracks including an excellent one: "Mirages". Keep on proggin' ..!

Progressively yours, GW

Back in 1995, this album surprised me as being a decent and very enjoyable Marillion- album released only a year after the release of the previous album. "Brave" was a good attempt to re-visit musical adventurous territories but the album surely had some flaws as some parts clearly lacked inspiration. "Afraid of sunlight" is better, the melodies are more enjoyable, the compositions are solid and the keyboard parts have regained their substantial part in the sound of the band. This is a bit of a concept album but not in the traditional sense. There's some general idea's throughout the whole album and the lyric on every track shows another aspect of life that has something to do with the consequences of being a star like Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain or Brian Wilson but the songs stand pretty much on their own. On several points there seems to be excerpts from news bulletins which should give you a clue about the main characters who found themselves in the situation which the lyrics of this album try to describe. From a lyrical point of view there seems to be some references to an album like "Clutching at straws" where Fish also sings about the miserable lives of some great stars. Lyrically the opening track "Gazpacho" is the perfect opener. This is a traditional Marillion track that musically could also have been included on an album like "Seasons end". Same thing 'bout "Beautiful", a calm song with a simple, yet enjoyable, melody. No wonder this was released as a single. "Cannibal surf babe" must be the strangest song the band ever recorded. Kind of a mixture of prog, surf and grunge. This is quite an original song which I personally like a lot but it sounds totally different when compared to the rest of the tracks and I know some fans hate it. If this was an lp format I would especially recommend the B side. From "out of this world" on, musical greatness is beginning to show. Not much uplifting stuff tough and maybe this is the reason why I rarely give the album a spin during the last couple of years. The mood of the music must have been affected by the way Steve Hogarth felt at the time : miserable and confused after being used by the business. "Out of this world" is a great song, really old school Marillion stuff : paralysing keyboard driven atmospheres, delicate percussion, the traditional guitar solo interrupting on the right moment and a sad sounding Hogarth on top of all this. Especially the ending part is reminiscent to "Misplaced childhood but the atmosphere also has some new age elements. The chorus of "Afraid of sunlight" sounds dramatic. The music is highly symphonic, the arrangements delicate and once again, the vocal lines and lyrics are sounding sad but very romantic. A brilliant, moving track which deserves to be the title track. When you thought you had the most depressing track, the mood turns out to be even more sombre in "Beyond you". A very beautiful track with multi-coloured keyboard sounds. Here the band sounds a bit like TalkTalk mainly due to the wonderful vocal parts but on the whole "Marbles" comes to mind the most. "King" is the absolute highlight of the album. Here the influences of grunge are obvious which is noticeable by the meaty and rough guitar sounds. Soon this turns out to be another sad song. The quiet intimacy of Hogarths voice on top of a piano parts are combined to majestic outbursts including violent guitar riffs and timeless organ sounds. The musical climax at the end seems somewhat reminiscent to the instrumental part at the end of "Starship Trooper" from Yes but only more heavy.

Musically this album re-established the band as one of the leading bands of progressive rock in the first half of the nineties. I always have the feeling this album wasn't promoted proper when it was released otherwise it would have sold a lot better than it actually did. This album has everything a prog lover needs. Ten years after this has been released it doesn't sound dated at all, only timeless. No wonder the band still played this album as a whole on a gig which took place not very long ago. Although both music and arrangements are most interesting, the vocals are definitely dominant and you won't find any real instrumental excerpt without vocals. Especially the second part of the album is only suitable for playing when the listener is not feeling very well emotionally. For other occasions the complaining vocals full of sorrow may just be too much.

For me, Marillion is one of the more powerful bands in not only the progressive genre, but in music as a whole. All 5 members are so brilliant in their craft, that when it comes together what you have is a truly special blend of pure sonic energy, beauty, and music on a much higher plain than most music out there.

Afraid Of Sunlight is a prime example how Marillion can tightrope between pure sonic power, and shear beauty. Even the more subdued songs have an underlying element that hits you at your core just as much (if not more) as their more up tempo songs. The title track not only has some of the most beautiful lyrics I've ever heard, but arguably Hogarth's best vocal performances (and this disc is a vocal clinic put on by H). These factors and the stunning performances of Kelly, Trewavas, Rothery, and Mosley combined gives me gooseflesh from "Gazpacho" to the explosive finale of "King".

Brave barely edges AoS as my favorite Marillion album. Like it's predecessor, AoS constantly stirs the soul and whisks you away on a journey of the spirit. It's music like this that makes me feel sorry for those who either don't "get it", or haven't been introduced to it. My the music of Marillion endure. Brilliant job, Boys.

My favourite album from one of my favourite bands...

"Afraid of Sunlight" is a two faced album... Here we can find songs with a great charge of melancholy, like Out of This World, King and Beyond You. And another songs, like Gazpacho, Beautiful and Cannibal Surf Babe are more possitive songs, with a happy feeling. This thing gives a great variety and contrasts to this album. In this aspect is similar to "Brave", but short songs oriented. Most of Marillion albums don't have so strong diversity (although all albums from the Hogarth era are very variated), and this is one of the things I like most of "Afraid of Sunlight".

But the most important thing: of course, the songs!

Gazpacho: the best Pete Trewava's bass lines I've heard. The lyrics are really good too, with a passionate vision of the boxer Jake LaMotta. Catchy and beautiful chorus, great instrumental developement in the bridge with an adecuated change of mood, good guitar solo... Yes, this is the perfect Marillion's song.

Cannibal Surf Babe: the strangest song from the album. A Beach Boys oriented tune. Maybe doesn't fit very well with the rest of the songs, but It's a funny track with funny lyrics. And its quality can't not be denied too... Not a bad song, but a little out of place. Nevertheless, this strange ending in french strangely remerbers my to "Brave"...

Beautiful: the best Marillion's ballad. Very commercial, but great. Maybe the most beautiful lyrics by Mr.H. And his singing here comes directly from the heart... I can't understand why a song like this didn't became a hit in the radio stations... Awesome guitar tune at the beginning too.

Afraid of Sunrise: soft track, with a good variation fo the Afraid of Sunlight's melody... Pretty good, and a nice interlude between Beautiful and Out of this World. Not the best of the album, but still a good transition song.

Out of this World: a Marillion's live classic. Very interesting song, with a kind of depressive feeling that fits very well with the lyrics. The dissonant guitar chords of the beginning are a strange beginning, but when you hear the whole song and understand the lyrics, they make sense... Very good Mark Kelly work in this song, and a typical Marillion's trademark ending.

Afraid of Sunlight: very, very beautiful. The beginning, united with the end of Out of This World is just anthologic. Great Chorus, marvellous instrumental interlude... One of the highlights of the album.

Beyond You: I just love this song. The lyrics are sad and romantic at the same time. When the verses break in the part of... "I'm not much of a Man, but I know how a man..." is just incredible. Awesome track, but underrated.

King: one of the most powerful Marillion's song. Epic feeling, great piano interlude, desperate lyrics... Another killer track from this album and one of the best from Marillion too.

Conclusion: what more can I say? Although I love Marillion, I consider that they are a little irregular in their albums. For that, "Afraid of Sunlight" is one of the best Marillion album in my opinion from the Steve Hogarth's era, because I like every track included here. And Gazpacho, Beautiful, Out of this World, Afraid of Sunlight, Beyond You and King are just amazing songs. 8 songs, 6 of which are great, and the other 2 are pretty enjoyable too. Four solid stars!

My rating: ****1/2, rounded down to four.

Marillion's 1995 release came out in the wake of their modern masterpiece Brave. While this album isn't as good or as inspired as Brave, there are certainly many great things going for the band at this point in their career. Afraid of Sunlight feels more like a loose concept based around discarded pieces from Brave than anything else, but the quality of these "throwaways" and the craft put into each individual song is fantastic, with every individual member of the group giving 100% of their effort on every song. The most notable thing about this album musically is that all the songs have little complexities and intricacies that make the album all the more unique.

The album opens with Gazpacho, a rather brooding tale about spousal abuse augmented by a slightly upbeat 6/4 guitar motif and an interesting and engaging 7/8 chorus. It's one of the stronger pieces on the album (usually Marillion's album openers are top notch anyway) and a nice example of how even after all these years Rothery can come up with interesting guitar riffs and heartwrenching guitar solos. Cannibal Surf Babe is a catchy throwaway number that has a very obvious Beach Boys influence in the intro and outro. It's got a groovy and snappy main riff and the chorus is even catchier with slurred lines from Hogarth (that don't bring down the song at all).

Beautiful had single potential written all over it (and the accompanying music video for it would also be their last and one of their best, Marillion were not a good music video band). It's a very beautiful (no pun intended) ballad with some more solid riffing from Rothery and an excellent vocal performance from Hogarth. Afraid of Sunrise is a gentle acoustic piece with an interesting 7/4 guitar theme and some wonderful fretless bass from Trewavas. This song is the first of two pieces on this album that have the lyrical theme of being "Afraid of Sunlight". Out of this World, along with Beyond You, are in my opinion the two weakest songs on the album. This song tends to feel forced a bit in length and tends to drag because of the excessive length.

Afraid of Sunlight is essentially the heavier version of Afraid of Sunrise. Rothery's solo on this track is spinechilling and brings back memories of his great guitar solos from the past. Beyond You is another overly long piece that doesn't travel at a smooth pace or even go anywhere at a decent speed. The weakest on this album, in my opinion. King ends the album (like most Marillion album closers) very well with some intense work from Rothery as well as some great floating synths from Kelly and some dynamic drumming from Mosley.

In the end, Afraid of Sunlight is the last truly great Marillion album of the 90s. Their future efforts had some truly sublime moments here and there, but they don't match this album in terms of quality and overall balance. This album, on the other hand, has a perfect blend of blend, tension, and relaxation. One of the better Hogarth albums in my humble opinion. 4/5.

This is tied with Misplaced Childhood as my favourite Marillion album, and it is head and shoulders above any of the other H-era albums. It's ironic, considering they apparently spent much less time and money on this album than on Brave (another fine album). This may be the best prog album of the 90s, although I suppose its "progginess" may be questionable- call it the best of "neo" if you like, although IQ's best is in a similar league. Afraid of Sunlight is a coherent album with a glossy, summery sheen to it, and each song has wonderful production touches, fine lyrics and great guitar/keyboard textures. A loose theme of the tenous nature of celebrity and the madness that can accompany it helps to create that sense of coherency. Gazpacho evokes the ghost of John Lennon and the crimes of OJ Simpson in a catchy, driving pop song. Cannibal Surf Babe is a bizarre tribute to Brian Wilson. Beautiful is a ballad that verges on schmaltziness, but its sincerity and great melody pulls it back from the edge. Afraid of Sunlight is an expansive, spacy ballad that is almost dream-pop. The band pays homage to Phil Spector's wall of sound on Beyond You, and King and Out of this World are longer, proggy soundscapes that build up to great, roaring crescendos. This is a confident album with sunny keyboards, delay-drenched electric guitars and dense mixes, but with dark themes lurking under the glistening surface. As a whole, it may be Marillion's strongest album from the first tune to the last. Since Marillion is considered such an important band in modern prog, I have no problem calling this CD a masterpiece. A final word- Marillion made the questionable choice of remastering albums that were not very old and offering them as only two disk sets at a high price. I can understand that treatment for 80s albums, but it seem silly to have remastered a three year old album. The second CD is demos and outtakes and is only really of interest to raving Freaks. Nonetheless, despite the inflated price of the remaster, this one's actually worth it.

Pretty decent follow-up to Marillion's Magnum Opus Brave

Let's face it: Afraid of Sunlight isn't nearly as good as its predecessor concept album Brave . Nevertheless we are treated by some great songs like the beautiful neo progressive rock ballad Beautiful and the title track Afraid Of Sunlight is another highlight of this album. The last (but bot least) track worth mentioning, is the wonderful track King. This track is also superbly played live on the 2nd disc of the Marbles on the Road dvd

Conclusion: pretty brave follow-up by Steve Hogarth and band. 3.5 stars

I have been a Marillion fan since "Script for a Jester's Tear" was released in 1983. However, when Fish left the band, I thought that was it. A few years later, I discovered they had continued with a new singer. Because I was such a fan of Mr. Dick, I never bothered to check out the new stuff. I am always very wary of such drastic personnel changes. Several years ago I finally decided to give it a try. The few songs I heard did not make me want to explore any further. More recently, some friends have been saying very good things about Marillion with Steve Hogarth. So, not wanting to dismiss them out of hand, I decided to really dive in. "Afraid of Sunlight" is not the first album I had heard all of the way through, but it's as good a place to start as any.

"Gazpacho" starts the album off with a pleasant, hooky bounce. It's a nice, upbeat tune (if a bit sugary at times), with a little surprise mood swing in the middle. It goes back to the bounce, and then finishes with a more somber jam (the last part has sound bites of a police chase).

"Cannibal Surf Babe" is the most interesting, and most likeable song of the set. This is where I perked up, and thought this album might hold quite a bit of promise. It's a quirky homage to the '60s, with one heck of a groove. You can tell they had a lot of fun with this one.

"Beautiful" is a song that is often talked about. I kind of forgot about it when first listening to the disc. When it shows up right after "Cannibal Surf Babe," it comes as a huge letdown. It's actually a very nice song. The lyrical content has much that I can identify with. Musically, it's just so cheesy. Something that has always bothered me is Hogarth's tendency to sound like an '80s rock singer. This is 100% pop ballad.

"Afraid of Sunrise" brings some redemption. It is a cool, almost smooth jazz inspired number. Hogarth pulls back a bit to give the vocals some needed subtlety.

"Out of This World" continues in the now established slow down mood (from which the album will not return until the very end). This one is spacey, somber, moody, and not very interesting.

The title track has the marks of an anthem, and has Hogarth in full on '80s balladeer mode (think Bryan Adams, or someone else of that ilk). It's actually one of the better songs on the album, but it won't knock you socks off.

"Beyond You" is yet another nice little slice of cheese. There are some nice atmospheric moments, but too few to counter the ill effects.

"King" is quite good, and my second favorite track. This is prog grandeur, with mood changes, and epic sounds, and a fitting ending to a fine prog album. It's just too bad it doesn't represent what came before.

This isn't a bad album, nor is it all that good. There are some very pleasing moments, but overall I find it very average. Hogarth is a very talented vocalist, but his pop tendencies just get on my nerves. Another disappointing factor is in knowing how talented the musicians are. They never show the extent of their chops. These guys used to jam. Why hold back? Because there is some quality work here, I can't bash it too much. However, I also can't recommend it that highly. For that reason, it gets two stars.

H.T. Riekels

This really is one of their best, and remains an exceptional listen from start to finish with amazing playing and song writing throughout.

Opening with the very catchy "Gazpacho" and "Beautiful", the album completely changes gears in the second half, the compositions becoming slow and sweeping epics of tremendous emotional power. Songs transition into each other with organic soundscapes and textures, taking the listener on a musical ride which eventually erupts with a emotional intensity. Rothery gives some tremendous solos while h's voice blasts to the very core, especially with amazing title track. Prepare to be moved.

Taken as a whole, this is Marillion's most mature and artistic album (minus "Brave") up to this point, and features a lot to fall in love with.

Songwriting: 4 Instrumental Performances: 4 Lyrics/Vocals: 5 Style/Emotion/Replay: 4

This album examines different people from the sports and entertainment world who had famously self-destructed. Steve Hogarth said that after the "Brave" tour and the lack of commercial success that album had he felt himself becoming unstitched as he put it. He said he felt like a..." lost soul, racked by self doubt and emotional turmoil." So the title of the album certainly takes on significance considering the subject matter doesn't it. The music itself has a darkness permeating through it (especially the last 5 songs) like the "Brave" album, while there are some real uplifting moments as on "Seasons End".

"Gazpacho" is about a boxer and it opens with someone (him?) speaking before we get this guitar melody that really reminds me of THE CURE. The bass is really prominant throughout this track. It ends with a spacey atmosphere. "Cannibal Surf Babe" is about Brian Wilson and has some BEACH BOYS moments musically. Some crazy synths in this one. I like the line "And I watched her as she walked across the coals." "Beautiful" is just an uplifting, emotional song with meaningful lyrics. Hard to put into words how good this song is. Hogarth has such a heart-breaking voice when he sings at times and the words match the vocals on this tune. "Afraid Of Sunrise" is another truly amazing song that is reserved and melancholic in nature.

"Out Of This World" is about speed king Donald Campell who died trying to set a speed record on water. They used the actual audio from Campbell's last moments just before the Bluebird disintegrated. The song itself is another laid back, sad song. Some beautiful soaring guitar as drums pound away. I love the vocals and piano 3 1/2 minutes in. Hogarth is incredible. I like the line "But only love will turn you round". "Afraid Of Sunlight" is much like "Afraid Of Sunrise" with some of the same lyrics with different music. Each section begins in a pastoral, calm way and builds to a full and uplifting sound. Nice. "Beyond You" is about Phil Spector and is in a similar style as the previous song the way it starts out sad and quiet rising to an emotional soundscape with passionate vocals. "King" is about Elvis Presley and has those crazy synths again and samples as guitar plays on. Hogarth starts to sing as organ joins in. Rothery lays down a blistering solo 3 minutes in.The song then becomes so quiet as it starts to rise from a whisper to such an emotional high. Hogarth is incredible ! Did I already mention that ? The song ends with an organ / drum melody.

This is my favourite Hogarth era disc. I find it hard not to agree with Hogarth's statement from 1998. "I think it's the best record we've made". 4.5 stars.

I'M AFRAID THAT THE SUNLIGHT IS NOT SHINING ANY LONGER

This must be the most soporific Marillion Mark II so far. I was almost desperate while listening / reviewing "Brave", but with this album, I guess that the worse has been achieved. The same boring tone is omni-present. I have never understood how a guy like Hogarth was appointed as lead singer to replace Fish. He is so insipid, emotionless, voiceless : you name it.

Some of their earlier work was saved by the bonus CD available in the remastered version, but needless to say that this won't be the case here. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... all the way through. If ever you need pills to get asleep, play this one : it will be better for your health and cheaper on the long run.

You can make your own choice while listening to this "work" : the absolutely sleepy ones like "Gazpacho", both "Afraid" ones etc. You can opt for the pseudo rocking and useless one like "Cannibal surfbabe" as well to get some diversification...

In this maelstroem of insignificant songs, I am glad to have been able to discover "Beautiful". This is indeed a wonderful song. Full of subtlety and with a great melody. But it is really the only bearable number of this set. You'll be quickly reverted to the most dull experience with "Afraid Of Sunrise". Zzzzzzzzzzz. The same sleeping mood prevails during the title track. Has Marillion Mark II discovered the ultimate sleeping fashion ? If so, they are very, very effective. "Beyond You" only adds another sleepy chunk to your experience.

All those tracks seem to be part of the same one. Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

Actually, I am the only one to be blamed. When I started my review process on PA some months ago, I decided to browse almost the entire catalogue of the bands I wanted to review. This meant serious headaches, believe me. It is far much complicated to go through the whole repertoire of some bands (you name it) than picking up some of their greatest achievements.

From time to time, it is rewarding, because here and there a jewel will still come out ("Rajaz" for Camel, "Somewhere To Elsewhere" for Kansas, "Keys To Ascension I" from Yes to name a few). But Marillion Mark II, seems hopeless (but who knows...).

"King" will not change my mind. IMHHO (in my humble and HONEST opinion) this is the weakest Marillion Mark II album so far. One star.

The bonus CD could not save the album this time. Sorry guys, but you did record this, not me.

Marillion's follow-up the amazing Brave album was called Afraid of Sunlight and although not a concept album, the songs generally cover the theme of celebrity self-destruction. The lyrics are often satirical and often hint at various contemporary celebrities (for instance King refers to Elvis Presley). Musically, this album is much more melodic than Brave and shows some signs of returning to their mainstream sound prior to Brave. It has more of the feel of a hybrid of the two. Again, no earlier influences are evident. Many of the songs have a strong "wall of sound" feel to them, giving them a really powerful delivery. Hogarth's vocals are again strongly delivered and emotionally charged. Beautiful and King are powerful songs. Even the Beach Boys-inspired Cannibal Surf Babe is an enjoyable listen.

Although not as good as Brave, Afraid of Sunlight is still an exceptional release and one of the best from the Hogarth era. Far from being anything like their early neo-progressive days, Afraid of Sunlight is an intelligently constructed art rock album easily worth four stars. An excellent addition to a prog rock collection and definitely worth your time if you're into more accessible, song-oriented progressive rock.

This album is one of the most uninspired and uninspiring I've run across.

Okay, so it's not horrible. That's not what I'm saying. I'm just pointing out that, as far as a progressive album goes, there is so very little creativity poured into this record as to make it somewhat depressing. I haven't made up my mind on the Fish and H debate, but I must add that while H is a much better singer, the Fish period seems to have much stronger and more interesting music on the whole. By this point, Marillion is easing itself of the neo-prog genre and into the mainstream pop or rock sort of field. Sure, the songs are longer than on most commercial albums, but even still they are more like drawn out simple tunes. It ends up placing Marillion much closer to the shoegaze genre than to any particular progressive category. Now, an album doesn't have to be progressive to be great, but something is seriously lacking on this release to give it the punch it needs to pull of the length it has.

There are two songs on here that are exceptions to the problems above. The first, Cannibal Surf Babe, is an odd song that draws influence from surfer music. It's not a terribly well written song, but at least the band was trying something a bit different from the rest of their songs. The other song is, in fact, a wonderful song. The title track has one of the best chorus melodies that the band ever wrote, no matter the era. H's voice sounds absolutely perfect on the track, proving that the band really could be creating much more impressive music than they did for this album. It is, I believe, the presence of this song that ever gets me to listen to the album any longer. It's not enough to fix the remaining 45 minutes, but it is enough to make this album not a complete waste of money.

Fan of H? Jump on here. Fan of neo-prog? Maybe. Check it out before you buy it, I'd say. It's a rather lacking effort, but I am sure that plenty of Marillion fans would enjoy it. If you want something soft and not demanding, this might be a good release for you.

4.5 out of 5, a fantastic LP which cemented this reviewers love affair with the band post Brave.

The album begins with a wall of sound on Gazpacho, with Kelly providing fine keyboards, and then continues in frenetic fashion with Cannibal Surf Babe, a fine example of a band breaking free of its shackles and producing something genuinely different. What were they taking?

Beautiful is a great ballad single, and you still have the hairs on the back of your neck listening to Rothery's opening chords to Hogarth's emotive singing.

Afraid of Sunrise is a pleasant, quite, reflective piece, whilst Out of this World is a fine, slow moving tribute to Donald Campbell - the family asked for this to be played when his vehicle was discovered.

The tempo is upped on Afraid of Sunlight, whilst Beyond You builds the listener up to the LP's tour de force, King. If there has ever been a more glorious noise than the ending to this, I would like to hear it - King Crimson, eat your chords out!

Again, Rothery makes a vital contribution to this LP, as he does to all the best works. That is not, however, to denigrate the rest of the band's contribution. As with Brave, this is a collective effort, and all pull together.

The sleeve notes state that this album was knocked out - what would it have been with a slow recording process?

This was the end of the band's first stint with EMI, and remains a fine work. Strongly recommended to all of you who cannot see beyond Fugazi.

My second Hogarth album was bound to suffer from comparisons to my first, the stellar "Brave" album. "Afraid of Sunlight" is quite different to be sure. The album covers aspects of celebrity culture beyond the vanity, looking into the psyche of people who have experienced fame, success, and yet eventual destruction of one kind or another. Coming off an album that was very atmospheric and dark, they seem to be shooting for a more accessible style here, though there is still plenty of heavy darkness for the gloomy to enjoy. "Afraid of Sunlight" is a perfect title for an album that at the end of the day is asking us why we can't manage to be happy, even those who supposedly "have it all." Ironic because at the time, Marillion were feeling down due to the relative lack of commercial success of "Brave." They went so far as to buck their usual slow-paced songwriting process and bring in someone (Dave Meegan) to crack the whip and make autonomous decisions about what material would be pursued. The intention was to speed things up and no doubt experiment outside of their comfort zone. Some members were happier than others about this: Hogarth called it the best album they ever made while Kelly seemed concerned that something inherently "Marillion" may be lost by doing this. Kelly was correct.

The musical results leave much to be desired. The amazing atmospheres of "Brave" are gone and replaced by a constricted collection of "too many goals" to be anything that is truly exciting to me. This is an album that makes "The Final Cut" seem spontaneous. By the time the guitar solo in "Out of this World" kicks in I actually heave a sigh of relief, as it takes half the album to pop the tension bubble I have, the feeling like being in a suit too long and ripping it off for the t-shirt and jeans. It is only the middle third of the album that rescues things and allows a decent rating here. "Afraid of Sunrise" is lovely acoustic introspection, "Out of this World" is a stunner with an epic, dramatic feel akin to a later period Floyd track, and the title track is an emotional rocker that showcases the passionate vocals Hogarth is capable of. But the other five tracks are just DOA. "Beautiful" will please lovers of sappy balladry though Hogarth handles it much better than say, Labrie does. "Cannibal Surf Babe" is a silly contrivance meant to spoof the Beach Boys sound but without any of the charm of "Back in the USSR." "Gazpacho" and the last two tracks are the most labored for me to hear, lacking soul and simply laying out there flat. It's a 2 ½ star album for me that I'm rounding up based on the quality of the playing and nice packaging-the version I have comes with a nice 2nd disc of extra goodies that will please Marillion fans very much. They also document the recording session in detail which I appreciate very much. I look forward to hearing more of the Hogarth era albums, which excite me more than the Fish stuff these days. But this one just didn't have the sunlight I expected.

Afraid of Sunlight is Marillion's first real creative peak since Misplaced Childhood. Do I need to mention how epic, melodic and emotional this music is? How varied and fulfilling the song writing is? How gorgeous and neat the guitar leads are? I don't think so. Marillion have fully reinvented and re-established themselves with this album.

I actually think this album had the potential to get them a whole new fan base, but due to their history with Fish most of the music press and fans stuck to the prejudice that Marillion was just one of those 'wrong' and 'old' symphonic bands from the 80's.

While this music had the potential to really break out of the self-absorbed prog sub-culture, few people from outside prog circles ever did the effort to give this band a fair new chance. Their loss? 4.5 stars

I just recently thought of an interesting statement listening to yet another "Hogarth era Marillion" album being this very Afraid of Sunlight. This Marillion isn't actually neo prog but crossover prog. Well, maybe it has been said a hundred times before, in that case I subscribe it. And in fact it's just about all I have to say about this album.

I listened to it at least five times last week trying to find an interesting song or even moment but I didn't succeed (the only passage that came close was the middle part of final song King but that lasted just a few seconds). Probably I'm still too much waiting for something that sounds remotely like Fish era Marillion and that could be my mistake. These two bands just don't have anything in common and play a 100% different style of music. I remember I heard Seasons End for the first time and I was in shock. The first shock was that Fish was no longer there where he should have been and the other was the poor songwriting. And then Seasons End is one of the bearable albums by "new Marillion"'. This album Afraid of Sunlight shows how bad it has become by now.

It's so disappointing to hear great musicians like Mark Kelly and Steven Rothery let themselves be abused and are forced to play this boring music. And if they play music like this out of free will I'm even more disappointed ! I mean, are they aged or something, ready for the old people's home ? This sounds like music for when they've become 60 years old and have grown tired of playing energetic and inspired prog rock. But they aren't old yet, are they ?

Last 20 years I intuitively stayed away from new Marillion. After Seasons End I knew enough. This isn't my band anymore by any means. The only positive I can say about it is that the music is well executed. I detected two 30 seconds Rothery solos (Out of this World and Afraid of Sunlight) and even these were dull and uninspiring. But because this band knows how to execute I will add a star to my initial idea of giving one to this.

After showing the existing fans that they still could create some original and interesting music Marillion took this idea a step further. The results of this progression are present on Afraid Of Sunlight and should probably not only please the fans but also introduce new audiences to the band's music.

Anyone expecting another Brave would be slightly disappointed by this release although I doubt that there are all that many people like that considering the transitions that the band had undergone over the years. The moody atmospheric style is still here but it's complemented by much clearer melodies and a few lighter music moments as well. I guess that it was important for Marillion to show that they could still have fun which generally results bands taking this idea way too far. Luckily this is not the case with the material featured on this particular release although Marillion will be guilty of this on their later albums.

I've heard that Afraid Of Sunlight features a loose concept but I honestly never noticed it until only recently and it doesn't really make much of a diffidence in this case considering that the individual tracks work well as stand-alone pieces of music. Considering that there are a total of eight different compositions here, the album features quite a few excellent moments to choose from. Everything from the quirky Cannibal Surf Babe, wonderful ballad rightly titled Beautiful, brilliant album title-track and the somewhat overproduced Beyond You make this also the most versatile Hogarth-era Marillion release. The band was going in many different directions and, most importantly, succeeding in most of these experiments.

Afraid of Sunlight is so far my favorite Hogarth-era release marking another creative peak in Marillion's career.

***** star songs: Cannibal Surf Babe (5:46) Afraid Of Sunlight (6:50)

**** star songs: Gazpacho (7:28) Beautiful (5:13) Afraid Of Sunrise (5:02) Beyond You (6:11) King (7:04)

*** star songs: Out Of This World (7:55)

I've been a Marillion fan of the first time having received a copy of a promo containing Grendel, Garden Party and Three boats down borrowed by a friend before Script was published. I didn't dislike Hogarth initially. They were just something different from the Fish era but not bad. I still have to decide if I like Brave or not, but Afraid of Sunlight is the album which made me quit with Marillion. The first track, Gazpacho, is not that bad. Just a bit too long and repetitive for what it effectively contains. The problems started with Cannibal Surf Baby. I wasn't meaning to purchase a Beach Boys album.

And if it wasn't enough, the following track has the title and the athmosphere of a soap- opera. Soap-orific.

This is when I picked it off from the CD reader.

Now, 15 years after, I have decided to retry. Just to discover that because of the first three tracks I didn't pay enough attention to the rest of the album.

Afraid of sunrise is nothing special but it doesn't cause me to use the CD as a frisbee. Out of this world is the surprise. I really like this song that I had missed at the first try.

Unfortunately it can't save the whole album alone, and Afraid of sunlight doesn't help at all. I skip it after 3 minutes as the chorus doesn't tell me anything.

Beyond you is beyond the minimum. Another good aid against insomnia.

"King" is the surprise. A good track in the end. The guitar sounds like on some passages of the previous albums. Hogarth appears more inspired. Well is very similar in the structure (and also in tempo and chords) to Clutching at straws. This is probably the reason why I have found it enjoyable.

I have the original issue, so I can't say anything about the bonus disc, and I'm not intentioned to buy it twice.

2 stars - one for each decent song.

This is the only Marillion album I have ever owned. I got this at a used CD store. I only wanted it to hear "Cannibal Surf Babe", a song I read was "A cross between the Beach Boys and Motorhead". Oh Yeah! This was in the late '90s before I had internet access. If I wanted to hear a song I read about, I would have to buy the CD. It was the only song on the album that did anything for me. I later bought a 2-CD 'best of' compilation hoping to get into these guys more. Apart from "Cannibal" and the song "King"(both from Afraid Of Sunlight), the only other song I liked was "He Knows You Know" from the Fish era.

Fish-era Marillion sounds too Genesis derived for my taste. I thought that the Hogarth era, although wimpy, had more of a sound of it's own. Because of these guys I never really attempted to get into Neo-Prog. But who knows, maybe there is a Neo-Prog album out there that can can kick me in the balls with it's perfection. I just haven't heard it yet. "Gazpacho" is the only other song here that I even remotely like. The rest sounds like ever so slightly proggy soft- rock. I like the samples of John Lennon talking.

3 good songs on a very mediocre album from a band I never really cared for. I thank the internet for saving me thousands of dollars. If I bought albums by every group that was ever hyped to me as somehow important: a)I would miss a whole lot of good music, and b)I would have starved to death years ago. If you like this kind of music, it's okay, you're not a bad person. You just have different tastes in music than me. 2 stars.

The second masterpiece in a row for Hogarth-era Marillion finds the band musing on the subject of fame and its corrosive effects on the psyche, as well as continuing their indulgence of a wide range of musical spheres. Having dabbled in incorporating New Age and psychedelic ideas in to their music on Brave, the band were emboldened to create pieces such as the sinister party anthem Cannibal Surf Babe or the tranquil Out of This World, a calming and soothing meditation on death in the pursuit of greatness.

On top of this, from the celebrity gossip samples at the start of Gazpacho to the shotgun blast of a crescendo at the end of King, the band manage to take a devastatingly critical look at celebrity culture of the mid-1990s (which hasn't really changed that much up to today - only the faces are different), challenging any listeners who might crave for fame themselves to consider what happens to those who are unable to handle its consequences. Right now I'd say it's a shade less interesting than Brave, but ask me again next week and I might have a different answer - the two pieces both have such interesting and divergent strengths that to pick one out would be impossible.

"Afraid of Sunlight", Marillion's eighth album, continues the path traced by "Brave", but taking their proposal to an even more introspective level. Without being a full-fledged concept album, the subject matter reflects in several passages on how difficult it is to deal with the demands and challenges that come with fame, accompanying the stories with an instrumentation that favours dark and suffocating atmospheres, something that generated friction and the subsequent break-up with their record label at the time (EMI), who were expecting a more agile and less bitter work.

Beyond the opening "Gazpacho" referring to the controversial case of O.J. Simpson case, and the satirical "Cannibal Surf Babe", an unfortunate piece in Beach Boys mode that deals with eternal youthful souls, the album dives into the depths of the psyche without haste and with few individual displays in favour of a group instrumental solidity, guided by Steve Hogarth's apt verses, as in the peaceful and inspiring "Beautiful", one of the band's most heartfelt ballads, or in the fearful "Afraid of Sunlight" and the desolate "Out of this World", both impregnated with an overwhelming melancholy. A depth that at times can also border on exasperation due to the excessively weary tone of the aching "Afraid of Sunrise" and "Beyond You".

The album concludes with its most outstanding piece, "King", which deals with the tragic end of Kurt Cobain with a dramatism that grows until it reaches the instrumental climax with Steve Rothery's powerful solo, one of the guitarist's rare licences, accompanied by Ian Mosley's very good percussion and with the band in full swing. A closing song where the Englishmen show all the intensity they are capable of transmitting when they set their minds to it.

"Afraid of Sunlight" is serious and complex in its subject matter, careful and neat in its production, and perhaps lacking a little more energetic forcefulness in its musical development to consider it an excellent work, a point that I don't think it reached.

3/3.5 stars.