MORE GRAINS OF SAND

More Grains Of Sand (1994) should appeal to devotees of Marillion, and may also be of interest to Pendragon fans as Nick Barrett makes a guest appearance with some spoken- word vocals on the album's best track MOONSHINE ON HEIGHTS. This song features some uncommonly good guitar and it sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest of the material, some of which is a bit uninspired. The other songs are pleasant enough without really demanding attention and in general this is a fairly meditative and one-paced album, although FLY MAN injects some much-needed energy into proceedings.

Aluisio Maggini's vocals are a little too earnest and in places he sounds as if he's trying to mimic Fish. There's no such problem on the two short instrumentals, GRAIN DANCE and THE LAST GRAIN, which sound a bit like Mike Oldfield and Steve Hackett respectively. THE RIVER IN YOUR EYES features some wonderful ensemble playing but the musicianship is beyond reproach throughout the album, with guitarist Lele Hofmann in particular shining. However even his meticulous solos aren't really enough to elevate things above average, and several songs suffer from being too much of a muchness. One notable exception to this is BIRTHDAY PARTY with its sharp contrasts in dynamics and Anglagard-inspired guitar riff. This isn't a bad album by any means, but I'd recommend you listen to Fears first.