MARBLES

I have to confess, I am one of those Marillion fans who prefers the Fish era. When they released 'Script' it was a blessing for Genesis fans starved of that type of music. And Fish's lyrics were always well written and almost poetical in flavour and intensity. None of those wishy washy wonderful world and everlasting love motives for him! He got down to the nitty gritty and told the world how things really were, with biting sarcasm and tremendous vitality. When Hogarth took over, the band changed. I saw them live on the 'Holidays In Eden' tour, and I have to say his voice was excellent live, powerful and clear. Unfortunately, on record his vocals sometimes sound thick and stilted, he doesn't possess the mystery and mastery that Fish has/had. Nevertheless, Hogarth has done well in practically making the band his own and changing their direction away from prog. 'Seasons End' I enjoyed in a way, and the first couple of tracks on 'Holidays', but they have also produced some very average material along the way. 'Radiation' 'This Strange Engine' and 'Brave' (yes! an album some rate higly!) were all run of the mill and strangely lacking in cohesion and melody. In fact 'Brave' may be my least favourite Marillion album of all. However, they have produced a couple of decent efforts. I personally quite liked 'Anoraknophobia', and I thought 'Afraid Of Sunlight' was maybe the best offering from the Hogarth era. Well, I did until now. 'Marbles' has really impressed me. The whole album has a nice melancholy air, and is especially nice to listen to through the headphones. I won't go into individual tracks. Suffice to say that most of them are good, the highlights for me being the little 'Marbles' breaks, especially the third one, 'The Invisible Man' which might be my fave on the album, 'Neverland' and 'Don't Hurt Yourself'. In fact, the only two I am not keen on are the very average 'Drilling Holes' which disrupts the flow of the album, and 'The Damage'. Hogarth does have an annoying tendency to sound like the Beatles at times, and not to good effect either. Still, this album is a high class offering, and will be in my top five Marillion albums for quite some time, along with 'Script' 'Clutching' 'Afraid Of Sunlight' and probably 'Misplaced Childhood'. A good return to form for the band here, with Rothery in particular sounding hungrier than in recent years. Worth a listen.