Elly Roberts reviews
Marillion: Somewhere Else
Distributed by
Intact Records
- April 2007
- Rating: 4/10
Formed in Buckinghamshire and originally named after Tolkien’s novel Silmarillion, they reached their peak of popularity in the '80s as Marillion.
They were part of the second generation of Prog Rock in the '80s, who became
known for their dramatic Art-Rock presentations on disc and in concert, then
led by Scottish singer Derek William Dick aka Fish, who left the band in 1988.
As they carried the Prog torch, they were often compared to Genesis because
Fish emulated ex-Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel, by wearing face paint.
Marillion had some impressive commercial singles including Kayleigh, Lavender
(both 1985) and Incommunicado (1987). Thereafter, they never reached
the Top Ten, though singles continued to roll out, along with regular albums,
only one hitting the top spot – Misplaced Childhood in 1985.
Fish was replaced by Steve Hogarth in 1988 and remains their frontman and
co-writer.
Opening with a flourish and gusto, The Other Half, floats at a steady
pace rising into soaring guitar solos as the keys provide the ambient
background eventually dropping down to tinkling ivories. Again a flourish
introduces See It Like A Baby with Hogarth’s vocals getting plenty of
reverb as it ambles into a lightweight beat which precursors more, solos by
Rothery. These two, are ok, but fail to impress at any level.
A lifeless Thank You Whoever.. follows, and again doesn’t impress, as
hard as they try. Crunching Most Toys raises the pulses, but is
a nothing track. For most of the way, and end, No Such Thing, sounds
more like some kind of filler. Stadium rocker The Wound, drops and
rises with equal power, but, again has no real purpose.
At long last, something to behold – a ballad, The Last Century For Man
is simply stunning which sways neatly, though Hogarth’s vocals occasionally
sound uncertain. Closing on an acoustic rambler, Faith, it seals a
soulless effort, despite Hogarth’s sweet singing.
Marillion need to go back to the drawing board, because, finding something
really inspirational is non-existent. Bring back some pomp, for goodness sake.
One of the dullest albums I’ve ever encountered.
The full list of tracks included are :
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
