MARBLES

Marillion

Neo-Prog

4.11 | 1256 ratings

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mjharperlike

Personnally, I think this album is a return to form. Best album since 'Afraid of Sunlight'. 'The Invisible Man' counts as one of my favourite Marillion songs, and a truly stunning opening. The mood of the record is highly focused; all the tracks are excellent, although I'm not to keen on 'Fantastic Place' (the live b-side is better) and 'Don't Hurt Yourself' must count as one of their best ever singles. Splitting the track 'Marbles' into 4 parts was a clever move: as a whole the song might appear somewhat superficial, but as a narrative thread which keeps returning to the sense of loss, adds to the cohesion of the album without it becoming a concept album as such. In that respect, it's closer to 'Afraid.' than to 'Brave'.

And thank God for Dave Meegan. I know there was some dispute about his artistic contribution after 'Afraid.' (and I totally disagree about that), but the clarity and dynanism of the mix just IS Marillion: it provides the depth and drama their music needs.

I only have the single cd version, but having heard the double cd version, I don't think that it adds much: 'Genie' is more than annyoing, 'The Damage' I'm quite happy to have as a b-side, 'Ocean Cloud' reminds me of 'This Strange Engine' but without the emotional impact, and in any case pales in comparison with 'The Invisible Man'.

I remember reading a review when 'Afraid.' was released which said something along the lines that if that album had been released by a new band, it would have been hailed as near-genius, but beaing released by the highly-unfashionable Marillion, it would be passed over with hardly a second glance. The same is true of 'Marbles'. I'd rate it as their third best album (after 'Brave' and 'Afraid.') - and that includes everything by Fish.

| 4/5 | 2005-4-22

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