Marillion

Afraid of Sunlight

Their best work with Steve Hogarth

Review Score:

(10/10)
The departure of Fish from Marillion back in 1988 left me sad at the time. His lyrics, voice and presence on stage were unique. The remaining members of the band knew that better that anyone, at it took them some time to find a proper substitute. But they ended up choosing well, as the quality of Marillion's music remained untouchable after more than 2 decades of existence.

This was the 4th album released with Steve Hogarth. On the previous 3, his influence on the band's direction grew gradually. In Seasons End was still reduced (naturally...), in Holidays In Eden we saw him introducing new sounds and different writing themes, and in Brave his integration on the band (and vice versa) was completed. Although I adore The Great Escape/Falling from the Moon & Made Again (from Brave), I prefer the first 2 works.

From this point of view, I think this was the moment were all contribution from the new member were best combined with Marillion trademark sounding. After this, they started searching for new directions, and I think they are being well succeeded (Marillion.com is a good example of that).

It's one of the few albums I listen from start to finish without having to advance a single song. Gazpacho and Cannibal Surf Babe open the album in a promising way and are followed by Beautiful. Each time I listen to this last track I get the feeling that, with proper promotion, it would have been Top10 in several charts (but that doesn't make a difference, does it?). The remaining songs are all quality pieces, specially the last 3 ones (title track, Beyond You and King). The final section of King is my highlight of the album.

For starters or old aficionados who lost contact with the band after the big poet's departure, this album has lots of chances to become a really good surprise.

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