There are certain bands where fans say that they prefer this era of the band or that, and while I can honestly say that I enjoy all periods of Genesis the same cannot be said for Spock’s Beard or as in this case, Marillion. I still have the single ‘Market Square Heroes’ (and the next four or five releases) on 12” and lapped up everything the band was doing, and when ‘Misplaced Childhood’ came out I played it again, and again, and again. But then Fish left. I eagerly made my way to Wembley Arena to see them in concert on their first tour with ‘H’, but after Little Angels had proved themselves to be the better live band I was devastated. What had happened to the group I loved so much?
Over the years I have seen them in concert again, and have also purchased all of their studio albums, hoping that one day I would be able to yet again feel how I did about this band back in the Eighties. The line-up has stayed the same all those years, Pete Trewavas has done some great stuff with Transatlantic, and I have always rated Kelly and Rothery, so where are we in 2012? Well, they kick things off with the longest song on the album, “Gaza” which is more than seventeen minutes long and is one of three that are more than ten. Lyrically this is a challenging area as well, so it seemed like were off to a good start. There is some good guitar, and symphonic keyboards, but my attention soon drifted and before I knew it the album was over and I couldn’t remember anything about it.
So, I put it on again and found that when I really listened there is a lot going on, but again I was easily distracted and realised that the biggest problem was that I was getting bored. But if you read the comments on the web many people are saying that this is their best album for years, but to my ears how much is that actually saying? They are very good at what they do, but it’s not what I really want to listen to. So three stars because it isn’t poor enough to get two, but I doubt if I will be coming back to it in a hurry.
