SEASONS END

Hmmm...well, I've had the remastered edition of this for about a year, and just gave it a good listen. Fish's distinctive vocals and his larger than life personality that gave Marillion such a strong image are gone, so what are we left with? Steve Hogarth's performances demonstrate that he has grown a lot since '89, because on this album I'm afraid I'm reminded most of Lou Gramm and Foreigner, very middle of the road AOR-type vocals, and even the songs are fairly bland, with the exception of the environmentalist anthem Season's End and N. Ireland-tackling Easter, which are beautiful and heartfelt songs that are almost worth the price of admission alone. The rest of the material is forgettable to me, with overwrought but not very deep lyrics and ponderous arrangements that don't really go anywhere except AOR-land and usually overstay their welcome by a couple of minutes. I think Hogarth really grew into his role as leader and lyricist in the 90s, culminating in Brave and Afraid of Sunlight, which are excellent albums. This one feels like a band unsure of what direction to take and a singer who hasn't quite found his voice yet. The second disk contains demos and a couple of unreleased tracks, of interest to Marillion "Freaks" only. A star each for the title track and Easter, but the rest of the album I can do without.