THIS STRANGE ENGINE

Marillion is a British prog rock band formed in 1979 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. The band was formed under the name of Silmarillion, using the title of J.R.R. Tolkien book. The name was shortened to Marillion due to legal copyright of Tolkien's work. Their career is normally divided into two phases, separated by the departure of their front man Fish and the arrival of Steve Hogarth in 1988. With this change, the band changed their musical direction and style.

"This Strange Engine" is the ninth studio album of Marillion and was released in 1997. The album is more acoustic than the band's other albums, but it also has a bit of everything from their previous works, resulting in some radio tracks, mainstream rock tracks, some clever and organized songs in similarity to material found in "Afraid Of Sunlight". Steve Hogarth is very interpretive as always and his voice continues to match the songs perfectly well. Steve Rothery shows why he is considered in general a great guitarist with moving solos, but also providing tough riffs and great rhythmic approaches. Mark Kelly uses many different keyboard effects, in addition to having top notch progressions. Finally, Ian Mosley and Pete Trewavas are as cohesive as ever, offering dynamic performances with a lot of precision. Maybe it's not as long-lasting as some other albums of theirs, but even so, in a balanced way, it can provide good moments of fun.

The lineup on "This Strange Engine" is Steve Hogarth (lead and backing vocals, keyboards and percussion), Steve Rothery (guitars), Mark Kelly (backing vocals and keyboards), Pete Trewavas (backing vocals and basses) and Ian Mosley (drums and percussion). The album had also the participation of Charlton & New Bottle School Choir (chorus), Tim Perkins (balalaika), Paula Savage (trumpet) and Phil Todd (saxophone), all are here as guest artists.

"This Strange Engine" has eight tracks. The first track "A Man Of A Thousand Faces" nobly introduces the album. It's a strong opener at the start, but then turns into a brilliant finale. This is a straightforward track with a memorable chorus and good melodies and where the instrumentation is formed mainly by acoustic guitar, organ and piano. Although not very progressive, I like it very much. The second track "One Fine Day" tends in the same direction as "Beautiful" from their previous album. It's a peaceful, contemplative track about Carpe Diem, with sensitive piano playing and singing and after a classical intermezzo with "synthetic violins". Rothery has his guitar solo for the first time, actually. The third track "80 Days" is the ideal track for a single's release. The chorus in particular hits your ear straight away and won't let you go that quickly. It's acoustically a tinged airy summer radio song, which unfortunately for them, it didn't make it there. It's thematically similar to "Splintering Heart" of "Holidays In Eden". The fourth track "Estonia" is one of the most powerful tracks on the album. This is a gorgeous and deep feeling ballad. It's quiet and carried by the very soulful vocals of Hogarth. This is one of the highlights on the album. It brings to us, more or less, the atmosphere of "Easter". The fifth track "Memory Of Water" is a kind of interlude to the next song "An Accidental Man". It's a short song that has been sparsely arranged with synth strings. This is a kind of a Celtic folk song that continues the melancholic tone of the album. It's almost an a-capella track and it's very beautiful. The sixth track "An Accidental Man" is a rocker, the only rock song on the album. The keyboard interludes are rather experimental and the lyrics are very postmodern. This is a very nice track that does sound much like The Police. The vocals of Hogarth remind me of Sting, not necessarily the voice, but the way he sings. The seventh track "Hope For The Future" returns the album to a more calm, bluesy and acoustic atmosphere before becoming something altogether funky and different. I must admit that I'm not a great fan of this track. It's a very fun song with its Caribbean style, but it's definitely a silly song to Marillion, a song that we never expected to hear in a Marillion's album or any prog work. The eighth track is the title track "This Strange Engine". With its almost 16 minutes proves that Marillion is a prog rock band. Quiet parts alternate with heavy ones. The song is in the beginning rather similar to the quieter parts of "Brave", but in an early part some more rocking portions can be heard. The rather chaotic, but seemingly the emotional ending of the track, indicates that Hogarth cares about the lyrics.

Conclusion: "This Strange Engine" is a surprising album. Overall, it's not their best, but not their worst either. It's not very progressive really that at times they sound like Simple Minds or The Police, but on the whole I found it rewarding with very good melodies and a lot of variation across the tracks and that should contain something for everyone. Modern is a good word to describe the sound on "This Strange Engine", a bright and serious work with some high moments and very few disappointing ones. The only real disappointing moment here is "Hope For The Future", but even this song isn't without its merits. So, Marillion is therefore far from being an old-fashioned band for me. It's a solid work, very varied and with enough strength to warrant a recommendation, especially for the long-time fans of Marillion.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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