FUGAZI

"Fugazi" is a mixed result of great songs and annoying ones.

Marillion is probably the most famous, greatest, and most important Neo Prog band ever. I'm not the hugest fan of theirs, but some albums they have released are true gems. Unfortunately, , their follow-up to the highly praised debut "Script From A Jester's Tear", "Fugazi", I do not consider one of these.

While the debut is in a way more interesting, "Fugazi" is much more 80's synth-driven, that really remind of the dance music of that era. That is probably what bothered me most about the overall sound, because in the end, the guitars are good and have nice little solos, the vocals too are really good, even though at times they resemble a little too much Peter Gabriel. Sometimes during the album I would even ask myself if this was prog, in the end, sounding more like an 80's classic rock band incorporating the new synth sounds of that time. But it occurred to me then that the structure of the songs were very much alike prog, going from more emotional moments to softer, much quieter moments, and perhaps another burst after that.

Other than that, what bothers me in this album are some of the melodies and the arrangements of a lot of the songs; they sound just a little too cheesy for my taste. Some precise songs annoy me, and always have, like "Jigsaw" and "She Chameleon". However, this album is miraculously saved by a few songs that to me have always been special; the opener "Assassing" is a great track for Marillion, with a mysterious and intriguing intro, full of Arabic influences, and interesting tom drums all around, and an even more intriguing hook. "Punch & Judy" is the shortest but best and most haunting song here, great performance by Fish, a little gem of Neo Progressive music. The two final songs, "Incubus" and the title track, are good as well, and the first one has an outro that is almost tear-jerking beautiful.

Overall an album that I have mixed feelings for, I really like half of the songs, but the other half I couldn't care less for. If you're a Neo Prog enthusiast you might enjoy it a lot more than I did and probably like those to me pretty annoying tunes.

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