Album title: Sounds that can't be made
Artiste: Marillion
Nationality: British
Year: 2012
Subgenre: Neo-Prog
Player(s): Steve Hogarth (Vocals), Mark kelly (Keyboards), Steve Rothery (Guitars), Pete Trewavas (Bass), Ian Mosley (Drums)
Familiarity: Know all the Fish albums and probably around 50% of all the Steve Hogarth era material.
Favourite track(s): "Gaza" “Pour Your Love” "Power"
Why? "Gaza" The best lengthy track on the album and despite its politically based lyrics, the song actually sustains itself really well and it's a great album opener. "Pour Your Love" is basically a great song that proves how well Marillion can do a modern day AOR track and Steve Hogarth's voice is well suited here. "Power" was my favourite track with its subtle mood and vibe and loved Steve Hogarth's voice on the track.
Least favourite track(s): None, but the album does nosedive in its second part.
Why? If I had to pick one then "Montreal" which just didn't do anything for me.
Any preconceptions prior to listening, whether good or bad?
Everything that I've listened to by Marillion with Steve Hogarth on vocals has normally been very good to downright outstanding at times and it's strange that I should say this, as I don't classify myself as a Marillion fan really. Maybe deep down and without realising it I really am a Marillion fan with Steve Hogarth and therefore should listen to them more. I say Steve Hogarth as with Fish I have to be in the mood to listen to early Marillion.
Factoids you'd like to share? Said to be the band's most politically charged material and when reading about the album, I was surprised at how many Marillion fans view this as a poor album overall.
End impression: Need to revisit the Steve Hogarth discography real soon!
Comments: Always great to see a quality release by such a mature band that have a lot of albums in their discography. The first four tracks were great but without doubt the lesser four tracks were pushed towards the back of the album and therefore I struggled a bit with them towards the end. The album's accomplished and was certainly a breath of fresh air with its more pragmatic prog than the overtly and pointless kind of prog heard of the ELP album. Overall this is a strong album though, but could've done with being around 20 mins shorter, but then again I have this issue with a lot of modern albums as they try to give the public more value for their money!
Rating: 4.0 (Hate to put the same mark as everybody else, but even before I'd seen the other reviews this was the mark I had in my head)