MISPLACED CHILDHOOD

After the stellar brilliant debut Script for a Jester's Tear and the sophomore slump of Fugazi, Marillion returned to the studio and created their first concept album. Vocalist/lyricist Fish draws from personal experience and weaves his words with images that simply stun the listener. Musically, the entire group supplies top notch performances. Rothery shines with his David Gilmour-esque guitar solos and his Alex Lifeson-esque riffs. Pete Trewavas supplys thumping and powerful bass while keeping in perfect rhythm with Ian Mosely, who supplys top notch beats and keeps the rhythm while the rest of the band goes off on and creates colorful sounds. Mark Kelly is the real musical hero of this album, creating many moods and textures with his caravan of synths. But the true star of this album is Fish, who captivates and articulates his emotions with beautiful words and emotional vocals.

From the opening synths of Pseudo Silk Kimono to the fade out chorus of White Feather, the listener is taken on a journey that tackles love, loss, despair, and triumph. The highlight tracks are Bitter Suite, which is a suite tackled within a 5 minute mainframe, Heart of Lothian, with a thumping chorus that is catchy and mesmerizing, Blind Curve, which features a stunning Rothery guitar breakdown, and the resiliant Childhood's End, which features a standout performance from Pete Trewavas. All of these songs feature brilliant choruses, stellar riffs, and mesmerizing vocals.

Overall, this is one of the jewels of the Marillion crown, no fan of the group should go without it. Neo-Prog doesn't get much better than this. Arguably one of the best in it's genre, Misplaced Childhood is a masterpiece of progressive music that no one should go without listening at least once. 5/5.