STEVE HOGARTH & RICHARD BARBIERI: NOT THE WEAPON BUT THE HAND

I remember hearing about this collaboration back in 2012 between MARILLION's vocalist Steve Hogarth and PORCUPINE TREE's keyboardist Richard Barbieri. It intrigued me enough to put it on a list, eventually picking this up. Hogarth is such a talented singer and lyricist, while Barbieri is the soundscape master, creating the canvas for Hogarth to display his immense talents(his words, his voice). I am so impressed with what they came up with here. Artsy is the word that kept popping into my head during that first spin, and when we're talking about "artsy", well Barbieri has been involved in a lot of projects in his life besides PORCUPINE TREE that would be considered such.

While this is sparse like MARILLION's "Happiness Is The Road", there is little structure here, this is soundscape music for the most part. It's also quite dark at times and if not for Hogarth's singing this could be considered soundtrack-like. Oh, and speaking of Hogarth's singing, he has blown me away here with what he brought to the table. Far from being mailed in, he has delivered maybe his best performance right here. He speaks and he sings in so many different ways. So many ideas from H here that I tip my hat to him.

Some cool PT connections on here with drummer Chris Maitland playing on "Only Love Will Make You Free". I should mention we do get drums on four of the tracks with fake drums on another. This is the kind of music where the beats are far from being the focus. Also they sampled Suzanne Barbieri's words from "Not Beautiful Anymore" from that PT record "Up The Downstair". They use it on two songs. I need to mention here that this isn't the first time Hogarth and Barbieri have worked together. There is some chemistry as Richard was the keyboardist on Hogarth's 1997 solo record "Ice Cream Genius", as well as being on that double live record that Hogarth released in 2002. The other common denominator on these three records is guitarist Dave Gregory(XTC/BIG BIG TRAIN).

A lot of talk and I haven't said much about the actual music. LUNATIC SOUL is who came to mind the most. There is a quote that pops up on two different songs where Hogarth speaks the words "It's not the weapon that does the damage, but in who's hands it rests". There is emotion on here as heard on the opener "Red Kite". Dreamy is the word for the next tune "A Cat With Seven Souls". More emotion on "Naked", and how about when that lighter mood takes over around 3 1/2 minutes, like the sun coming out. "Crack" is such an interesting song with Hogarth's style of singing, as well as the abundance of sounds and some energy too. "Only Love Will make You Free" is almost normal sounding with a chorus that you can sing to(gasp!). Also the longest track at over 8 minutes.

I feel like I just wrote a lot of words about an album that is all about the moods and soundscapes. Yes this did leave an impression on me, and my respect level for Steve Hogarth increased at the same time. This is not for everyone!