MISPLACED CHILDHOOD

'Safe in the sunshine....safe...' Dereck W. Dick, man we used to bash your mug in college. People with a Marillion shirt would generate 2 reactions: 1) Did this guy slept in a freezer and woke up from '85? 2) Yuck. I come from Quebec City okay? I know Marillion had their 15 minutes here. They were the first part of Rush in the Power Windows Tour. And Rush got booed when they hit the stage 'cuz people wanted more Marillion. Rush got booed! By Marillion! Good god, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. And it's true, FM prog is not very popular. I never understood neo-prog. I want to, I honestly do. And I wouldn't mind liking it either. There is so many recommended bands in that catergorie. Sigh* Anyway, this record is great. Storytelling and lyrics are close to memorable. Fish has a knack with agencing words that sounds great together. Hey, where could you find poetry lines like pseudo silk kimono, diamonds trapped in black ice, cemetary eyes, moonwashed colored halls... In this case, Fish has talent to write great lyrics that makes ideas pop-up immediately in your cranium. I like this album. It's quite catchy and the songs stand on their feet. It's far away in quality from almost everything produced today, so it deserves an ear. I know I've been VERY mean to Marillion before and I do feel that...only idiots don't change their minds. Dereck Dick really created a world of mystery and fantastic covers and illustrations (just check the singles cover art....pure beauty). Maybe because I have a fondness for comic books, but the Marillion-art is breathtaking. We could easily make comic heroes with that. Part of the band like Iron Maiden art was. Anyway, this album for me was a gentle and very pleasent entry in the neo-prog vein. And by the way, in college, there was a boy with a Clutching at Straws cd in his Discman. He was hanging out with the gang who swore to get the head of Fish on a stick (fishstick). He was bending his head in shame while watching helpless students get laughed at for sporting a shirt of their favorite band. That quiet kid, too afraid of getting the disapprobation....was me.