VIGIL IN A WILDERNESS OF MIRRORS

I was logically very interested to discover the work of the great man. And as soon as I heard the title track, I was transported with joy. As if nothing had changed, or so little. Ambient part, powerful vocals, nice melody. As if it was a natural follow-up to "Clutching".

I came back on earth while "Big Wedge" started. These brass are definitely not my cup of tea. But Fish quickly reverts to a very good and inspired "State Of Mind". Again, the late "Marillion" heritage is obvious (it starts already with the cover work of this album by the way).

Maybe that this album holds more ambient parts, but globally the sound is close to his earlier work (Clutching I mean). For the best, I have to say. A kind of relief because at times, solo artists want to change from musical style too much in order to break with their previous career.

And "The Company" is no different. A good but simple song. This is maybe a characteristic that will disappoint some progheads. The complexity of the early "Marillion" ("Script") is not on the rendez-vous but a song as "A Gentleman's Excuse Me" is a wonderful and peaceful ballad during which the big man can fully express his high pitched and subtle voice. Even if some orchestrations stress the mellow side a bit too much. Another good track anyway.

I guess that there is nothing wrong if here and there, a weaker track appears in this set list ("The Voyeur"). Still, the lyrics which save this track are well polished and unequivocal : "I like to watch implausible pledges of polite politicians. I like to watch them even more than my video nasties" or "I like to watch disasters in replay and rerun in slo mo."

Another good (though commercial) is "Family Business" of course. A live favourite. The last three songs of the original album are just a confirmation of what could already be heard so far : an excellent follow- up of the "Marillion" days with a plus for the excellent "Cliché".

This album is very good and deserves four star in my scale. An excellent surprise and a confirmation of the talent of this great man.

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