MISPLACED CHILDHOOD

Not pretentious at all! I was surprised this was fairly humble. Marillion were the Grand-Daddies of neo-prog. In their wake have been countless 20-minute and even 40-minute suites about "Fields of friendly fiends fought the black mega-monsters of Mount Moon" and "Green Table Yell Fight at Furious Frogs" and 20-minute guitar solos and double and triple albums with single songs taking up a whole disc! Okay that's an exaggeration, but not much. But "Misplaced Childhood" is unassuming and quite good, just blending in with the sound of the 80's, but with more than a passing nod to Genesis, with the vocals especially. The songs are made of mainly shorter tracks and a couple a bit longer, around 7-minutes, but no 20 minute numbers.

So what we have here is a pleasant album with swirling guitars and interesting synths, and a lyrical theme about a young man who looks back on his school years with regret. I like it's dense, colourful sound and the vocals aren't bad, but imitating Peter Gabriel, right down to the detail, is a bit degrading really, what's wrong with Fish's natural voice?

Anyhow this is quite an enjoyable and accessible 'prog' album. I think anyone could like it, not just progjeads, but anyone.