THIS STRANGE ENGINE

More prog than the previous releases with several longer tracks including the title track which is over 15 minutes (actually it is a 30 minute track with 14 minutes of silence followed by some simple piano and laughter. I don't get the joke and since I like to auto-repeat an entire CD, this is an irritation and a waste of space/time. What were they thinking?).

This Strange Engine is certainly different to earlier releases with excellent production and the use of more acoustic sounds and really nice atmospherics created by keyboard. All songs are well crafted and are very listenable, including the "Memory of Water" which consists almost entirely of Hogarth supported with sparse instrumentation.

The album was also remixed by "The Positive Light" and released as "Tales from the Engine Room" which gives a very different interpretation.

If you had given up on Marillion then this is definitely worth listening to since it represents a return to a prog sound although Marillion are now a different band to the early years.

Recommended.

4 stars. Marks are lost for the 14 minutes of silence.

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