SOMEWHERE ELSE

This has proved to be a difficult album to 'get'. On first listen it didn't so much as wash over me as pass me by completely. My fault for giving it the first listen on my work PC whilst writing a report! Having lived with the album now for the best part of three weeks I feel I am now in a position to review it.

As a follow up to Marbles this was always going to suffer from high expectations. The good news is that whilst it is not as strong as Marbles, it is one of Marillions better albums and features a classic track to boot!

The Other Half is a great opener with a great heavy start which changes halfway into something more... Marillion! You can tell it's them with great guitar and keyboards fighting Hogarth's passionate vocals for attention.

See It Like A Baby was the single and is a great slice of pop rock which should have been massive if it hads been given airplay but as usual the British radio refuses to give Marillion any chance!

Thankyou Whoever you Are is the next single and a change of pace. A gentle and summery track which slowly builds a-la Fantastic Place and features a great chorus. Hogarth's vocals really shine on this one.

Most Toys is a straight out rocker and is part of the next single release (a double A side!). Great lyric on this straight ahead song. Oh and NO guitar solo! Very PIL!!!

Somewhere Else. This is a true classic. Building slowly in power it subsides then builds again. Spine chilling in it's simplicity until the final third of the song when it bursts forth to it's heavy climax. The standout track on the album!

A Voice From The Past is another one of those Marillion magic pieces. A simple piano refrane slowly builds in power until the spine tingles again at the point of "someone elses pain," and is another standout track.

No Such Thing is a simple repetitive guitar loop and a mantra of a lyric. I was not sure about this track and it was the one that took the longest to 'get'. About 2:30 the song comes alive and shows it's true potential before a long slow fade back to quiet. Many fans seem to like it but just as many seem to find it a little boring as it doesn't seem to go anywhere.

The Wound is another potential classic and typical Marillion track. A song of two parts the first half is very aggressive before settling down into an almost hypnotic groove. Hogarths vocal performance is all passion and really makes this song shine.

The Last Century For Man is a return to that summery feel and is a languid stroll for the band, very bluesy. The lyric seems quite at odds to the gentle mood by commenting on how we are going to be the death of ourselves! A great chorus again cements this song a one of the better ones by the band.

Faith is the definitive version of a song that they played live on several occasions and is a left over from Marbles. It is a great song but I find the live version to be my preferred version!

The production is crystal clear and ian Mosely's drums are much higher up in the mix which is great as often they are so muted you could almost do without them. The Rothery Solos are kept short and serve the music and the overall impression of the album is economy rather than excess. The result is an album that is a real grower and given airplay will bring in new fans aplenty! An excellent addition to any music collection and only just missing out on classic status. In a world without half stars I will round the score up to five. The reality is that only No Such Thing denies this album a true five star rating. But lets face it, it's worth buying just for the title track. The rest is icing on the cake!