FEEL THE COLD

On the surface, this sounds like another Marillion, a band that wanted to be Genesis. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, since by the time this album was released, Genesis was really no longer Genesis. So what's wrong with other bands carrying on the tradition? They are playing their own original music.

Underneath, you'll find some fine musicianship. Glenn Leonard is really a great drummer, and his brother Kevin could play rings around Tony Banks. But the weak link on this album is singer/bassist/guitarist Joe Newman. Unfortunately, his bass and guitar work rarely transcend above obvious notes, and his vocals sound eerily similar to Fish's Peter Gabriel imitation.

But there are a few non-Genesis-like tracks on this album, and they stand above the others. Time Warp, an instrumental piece, has a keyboard solo that somehow manages to remind me of Zappa. Tomorrow Never Comes favorably compares to the first U.K. album, and Ocean On Venus shows off Glenn Leonard's fine marimba chops.

It's too bad that these guys were together during the forgotten years of prog. If they were around either a few years sooner or a few years later, they might have been better known.