CLUTCHING AT STRAWS

This is Marillion's fourth and final studio album before the departure of the original vocalist-lyricist Fish and the arrival of Steve Hogarth, with whom the band would steer into quite another direction over the decades to come. It's clearly my favourite of the Fish era, and happens to be among my dearest vinyls. I had waited anxiously for its release, as it was during the two-year period of my most dedicated fandom ever [for any artist], in the age of 16-18. I liked it right from the first listen and I've never grown tired of it - having wisely avoided to over-play it all these years. Compared to the breakthrough album Misplaced Childhood (1985), this sounds more mature and far less cheesy. As great as MC is in its suite-oriented coherence and continuity, Clutching at Straws is sonically much more nuanced to my ears, and furthermore I think it has the finest lyrics Fish has ever written.

'Hotel Hobbies', 'Warm Wet Circles' and 'That Time of the Night' form a mini-suite which is simply fantastic. Already in the opener the dynamic changes from delicacy to intensive outburst and back is spellbinding, while the melodic and lyrical content in 'W.W.C.' is awesome. I'm even fond of the quiet interlude-like section ("It was a wedding ring, destined to be found..."). This opening suite is a good example of how Steve Rothery's guitar has much more elegance and variety in sound than on earlier Marillion albums. The CD version contains 'Going Under' which I know as a single's B-sider. Not quite up to the high quality of the album, this simple and introspectively moody little song, but an OK addition.

'Just for the Record', a song about alcoholism, is a minor prog gem hidden behind the "drunken" fast-tempo intro, and contains a really cool synth solo. 'White Russian' is a strong classic, with hair-raising lyrics written in Vienna: "we buy fresh bagels in a corner store, where swastikas are spat from aerosol".

The second side is not quite as perfect, but great enough not to drop my full rating. 'Incommunicado' sounds like an attempt for a hit single (I don't know if it was one), but its positive energy is pretty enjoyable nevertheless. 'Torch Song' is another fine song about drinking. I like the spoken dialogue of Doctor Finlay and Mr Torch. 'Slàinte Mhath' used to feel slightly duller than the album in general, but it has aged very well, and admittedly it was a good concert opener at the time. 'Sugar Mice' is the most sentimental song, not necessarily progressive but emotionally all the more impressive. Again, the lyrics - soaked in self-pity - really get under one's skin. 'The last Straw' is a powerful end piece for this excellently produced Neo Prog album. A definite masterpiece of its era, and a timeless classic.