THIS STRANGE ENGINE

For me, This Strange Engine, was sort of a mixed bag. It's got some incredible songs interspersed amongst what I more or less would call filler. The album is more acoustical then previous releases, but also seems to take a little bit of everything from their previous efforts resulting in some radio-friendly, mainstream rock tracks, some CD player skippers, some intelligently arranged songs in similarity to the material on Afraid of Sunlight, and one wonderfully constructed 15+ minute progressive rock title track (with a genuine Mark Kelly keyboard solo to boot, such that we haven't heard since the earliest incarnation of Marillion!).

Because of this ever-present feeling of "mixed-bagginess," This Strange Engine has the feel of something transitional. Transitioning into what is another question, as the following albums released after this seemed to go nowhere. Being that some of this is fantastic and some of it is nearly mind-numbing, I would have to give it three stars (maybe even 3.5). Good, but not essential. However, this is still a worthwhile purchase for Marillion fans. The title track alone is worth purchasing it.