AN HOUR BEFORE IT'S DARK

Call me a cynic, but this whole Steve Hogarth style of Marillion music seems to be on auto-pilot where cinematic keyboards and lyrics about humans not engaging with one another (the sightly annoying 'I put my arms around her' refrain in 'Murder Machines') have taking precedent over memorable hooks and melodies.

I find some of Hogarth's lyrics to be pretentiously outré such as the aforementioned 'I put my arms around her/and killed her with love' but in earlier times, the melody and arrangement was king so the lyrics and even Hogarth's nasally delivery were tolerable (1995's excellent 'Afraid Of Sunlight').

This is not to say that some of the material lacks merit. This is a seasoned progressive rock band and 'Sierra Leone' for example, has some charm and warmth (at least the first parts).

The album opener 'Be Hard On Yourself' also surprises a little with the use of a choir- although its remaining segmented parts are less distinct and merely re-iterate the first part (a problem with most of the song suites).

'Murder Machines' has a light funky groove but it takes a back seat to the lyrics. So as with the group's previous album FEAR and most of SOUNDS THAT CAN'T BE MADE (apart from the extraordinary 'Gaza'), the most dangerous thing about Marillion's brand of airy, synth-laden Prog Rock is the lyrics.

Musically they are still of a very high pedigree as this album demonstrates, but if you are a bit too familiar with this incarnation of Marillion, you may want to skip this one.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to Etherea
• Report this review (#3186023)
• Buy MARILLION music online with PA partners
• Show all MARILLION MP3/Stream
• Go to MARILLION page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to An Hour Before It's Dark page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for MARILLION related discussions