MARBLES

It is a big lie that Marillion ended when Fish left. They evolved, maybe in a positive way, but they never ended. They reached a more complex sound, a more adult way of writing songs, and each member improved the use of his instrument and became better and better (as you can see in "Brave"). You can still see the ability of these musicians in "Marbles". No weak compositions, altough there are some poppish moments, and great lyrics on the whole disc. Rothery does a good guitar work on every track, and Hogarth sings with passion. His mellowing voice fits the songs perfectly, he performs the pieces very well also in "Marbles on the road". The oustanding tracks are "The Invisible Man" (especially the intermezzo that starts around 6.20 and ends around 9.40), which expresses a mood of solitude and sadness, "Neverland", "Ocean Cloud", "Don't hurt yourself" (a little radio song but so good!), "Fantastic Place", but almost every track has his own good moments. Unfortunately you can't find the double discs set everywhere in the world, but you can order it on the official website. It is better, "Ocean Cloud" is an epic song, a marvelous gem of prog. Great great moog organ, along the whole disc.

If they can't reach perfection, they're quite close.