THE DIFFERENCE MACHINE

On the most part, I have to agree with another reviewer: this album can be boring. I all-too-often find myself skipping the first five tracks to get to the last two, which I feel are the highlights. In fact, other than these last two songs, there do not seem to be any highlights to speak of, despite the crisp work of SPOCK'S BEARD's Meros and D'Virgilio and MARILLION's Trewavas. To sum up: this album works best when it stays on atmospheric ground rather than trying to be edgy. The last two tracks are fine examples of these atmospheric accomplishments. All in all, a good album for those long rainy days...