Label: earMUSIC
Release date: March 4, 2022
Production: Marillion
Album length: 54.19 min
Genre: Progressive Rock / Art Rock
Rating: 10/10
»An Hour Before Its’ Dark« is the long-awaited twentieth studio album from English prog rock legends Marillion, who are celebrating the fortieth anniversary of their first single »Market Square Heroes« in 2022. Marillion have been in an unchanged lineup for more than thirty years. They’ve refused to ’contaminate’ their music with popular but quickly fading trends, and despite a whole string of evergreen creations, they’ve received almost no proper recognition from the modern music industry. That’s why fans know them as ’the best-kept secret of English music’.
Before we even get to what the new album sounds like, we have to mention that with »An Hour Before It’s Dark« Marillion have pulled off a completely unexpected, big commercial breakthrough, the kind they haven’t seen since parting ways with former singer Fish more than three decades ago. »An Hour Before It’s Dark« landed totally out of the blue with their best chart positions in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Scandinavia, while on home British soil only the unforgettable masterpiece »Misplaced Childhood« (1985) did better. That one remains their only album to hit the very top of the UK charts. The last time they had this kind of success on the home charts was with »Clutching At Straws« (1987).
Even »Fuck Everyone And Run (F.E.A.R.)« from 2016 brought some unexpectedly high European chart placings, but after the fairly lukewarm commercial response to the orchestral project »With Friends From Orchestra« (2019), the new album’s chart showing blew past all expectations. The average prog rock fan will of course ask right away whether Marillion have gone and ’sold out’ musically in their old age on the back of such outstanding commercial success. Luckily, that’s not the case. Even on »An Hour Before It’s Dark«, which is quite a different beast from its predecessor in terms of composition and atmosphere, Marillion remain a prog rock superpower.
»An Hour Before It’s Dark« is noticeably more melodic and ’accessible’ than the at times pretty complex and dark »F.E.A.R.«, but to fans’ relief, all the trademark elements that define Marillion in the era with singer Steve ’H’ Hogarth are still here: H’s recognizable, deeply emotional vocal approach, Rothery’s refined guitar lines, Kelly’s dynamic keyboard arrangements, Trewavas’ complex bass lines and Mosley’s spectacular drum fills, without which their sound is unimaginable.
All four epic centerpieces, namely »Be Hard On Yourself«, »Reprogram the Gene«, »Sierra Leone« and »Care«, are split into several shorter sections, which indirectly makes the new pieces more compact and accessible. The atmosphere of »An Hour Before It’s Fark« is also more relaxing and ’brighter’ than usual, which on certain tracks comes mostly from the many guest choir vocal harmonies with a soul flavor. Marillion experimented with something new again, and it paid off richly. The end result is an album that’s a pleasure to listen to from start to finish.
»An Hour Before It’s Dark« doesn’t need loads of listens before it finally ’clicks in your ear’, as was typical for some of their albums over the last twenty years, which demanded repeated listening before all their greatness revealed itself. In keeping with long tradition, the lyrics are mostly socially critical and touch on many pressing issues of our time, like the covid crisis, human mortality, the unpredictable development of medical science and the climate crisis.
The opening suite »Be Hard On Yourself«, which pokes at the human race’s passivity in the face of the ever-present climate catastrophe, is split into three sections. The epic, almost pompous opening feels like the return of long-lost heroes who’ve finally made it home after countless battles. Next comes classic Marillion drama, typical of H’s era, as heart-wrenching guitar passages, complex synth textures and a bravura vocal performance bring on an indescribable melancholy. Most of the arrangements are structured with an unusually melodic approach, and the chorus is one of the best on any Marillion album released in the last two decades.
»Reprogram the Gene«, whose lyrics criticize ever-increasing digitalization and robotization, genetic manipulation and the resulting dehumanization of modern people, is split into three sections, and the most dramatic of them is »Invincible«. »Only a Kiss« is a less-than-a-minute intro to the track »Murder Machines«. The latter, with its instantly catchy chorus and nostalgic mood, will win over everyone who swears by more direct rock songs, as it has quite a bit in common with the »Sounds That Can’t Be Made« (2012) classic »Power«. »The Crow and the Nightingale«, with its lavish orchestral arrangements and guest choir, is supposedly dedicated to Leonard Cohen, even though it has very little in common stylistically with the late Canadian musician’s body of work, since it’s not a folk rock chanson but a melodramatic prog rock treat.
»Sierra Leone«, which delivers a bitter critique of Western (neo)colonialism and the exploitation of African countries rich in natural resources, is split into no fewer than five interconnected sections. Even though Mark Kelly grumbled before the release of »An Hour Before It’s Dark« that it was his personal least favorite piece on the new album, it’s actually one of the best. The section »More Than Treasure«, one of the five, even has one of the best choruses in Marillion history, while Rothery’s guitar solo is a story in itself. Kelly’s grumbling about »Sierra Leone« is understandable to a certain extent, since as a keyboardist he didn’t have much to do on it, but it all still turned out great.
»An Hour Before It’s Dark« closes with »Care«, which is split into four sections and can also be counted among the album’s highlights. Thanks to its funk rhythms and electronic samples, the opening section is a bit reminiscent of certain pieces from the album »Anaraknophobia« (2001), while the rest serves up plenty of tempo twists and melodramatic arrangements that call to mind the »Marbles« (2004) classic »Neverland«. The closing section »Angels on Earth« delivers one of the most beautiful studio finales in Marillion history so far.
With »An Hour Before It’s Dark«, which also brought them unexpected commercial success after a long time, the kind they haven’t had since the late eighties, Marillion have created a new masterpiece. That last bit will only surprise a handful of fans of ’the best-kept secret of English music’. Thanks to its relatively accessible nature, the new album is also a good fit for plenty of people who’d otherwise struggle with their longer and more complex works. After the darkness and fatalism of its predecessor »F.E.A.R.«, the relaxing and brighter atmosphere on »An Hour Before It’s Dark« feels almost like balm for the soul. At the same time, Marillion have shown after a long while that they haven’t lost their knack over the years for writing certain strongly melodic and instantly accessible songs, without sacrificing too much of the traditional complexity of their approach. They still remain, at least among active bands, the leading institution of modern progressive rock.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Be Hard on Yourself (9:28) :
– i. The Tear in the Big Picture
– ii. Lust for Luxury
– iii. You Can Learn
2. Reprogram the Gene (7:02) :
– i. Invincible
– ii. Trouble-Free Life
– iii. A Cure for Us?
3. Only a Kiss (0:39)
4. Murder Machines (4:21)
5. The Crow and the Nightingale (6:35)
6. Sierra Leone (10:54) :
– i. Chance in a Million
– ii. The White Sand
– iii. The Diamond
– iv. The Blue Warm Air
– v. More Than a Treasure
7. Care (15:20) :
– i. Maintenance Drugs
– ii. An Hour Before It’s Dark
– iii. Every Cell
– iv. Angels on Earth
Lineup:
Steve Hogarth – lead vocals, backing vocals, keyboards, percussion
Steve Rothery – lead and rhythm guitars
Mark Kelly – keyboards
Pete Trewavas – bass guitar, backing vocals
Ian Mosley – drums
