Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Landmarq
Label: Synergy
Release date: 2014
Running time: 2:26:07
Rating: 3.5/5
Landmarq don’t exactly come up all that often these days when the talk turns to the best British neo-prog bands, and the people thinking of them usually have the current, ‘defanged’ version of the band in mind. That opinion changes fast, though, the moment the conversation moves to their early years, which is a whole other story. Back then, longtime Threshold singer Damian Wilson was fronting Landmarq, and he was without a doubt the band’s main engine and the key factor in their early success. In the early nineties (they formed in 1990), Landmarq were one of the most promising neo-prog bands around, and it looked like they might one day even step up into the ‘premier league’ of the most interesting modern prog acts. Thanks to a strange chain of circumstances, that sadly never happened.
With Wilson in the lineup, Landmarq put out three critically well-received studio albums, »Solitary Witness« (1992), »Infinity Parade« (1993) and »The Vision Pit« (1995), so there was no reason they couldn’t have kept consolidating their position and wowing listeners with the approach they’d had up to then. Their early style was marked by a firm commitment to prog rock roots, with the occasional dash of classic rock, hard rock, AOR and even, in a fairly modest way, a few traces of jazz.
Much to the disappointment of many fans, Wilson decided in 1995 to focus on a solo career, while staying loyal to Threshold, whom he’d been working with since 1992. Landmarq found his replacement in singer Ian ‘Moon’ Gould, but that was short-lived, as they soon went for a radical change and brought in Tracy Hitchings, former singer of the neo-prog band Quasar and a longtime friend of the band.
From here on, things were never the same for Landmarq, who went on to record two more studio albums, »Science Of Coincidence« (1998) and (after a long break) »Entertaining Angels« (2012), because they basically became a completely different band. The fan base split down the middle too, and there are very few people who like both eras, the ‘male’ and the ‘female’, equally. Female vocals rarely work well in progressive rock, unless it has strong folk elements and mostly soft arrangements, or the singer has a truly one-of-a-kind charisma in the vein of Annie Haslam (Renaissance) or Sonja Kristina (Curved Air). Hitchings’ voice is a matter of personal taste, but her shrill, occasionally sobbing and over-the-top approach can put plenty of people off the newer Landmarq material.
Of the original members, only guitarist Uwe D’Rose and bassist Steve Gee have stuck around to this day, since original drummer Dave Wagstaffe left in 2012 too. Danny Martin took over from him. Despite having an excellent guitarist who doesn’t hold back on sprawling solos, Landmarq are a pretty keyboard-driven band, and they’ve gone through three different keyboardists. Original member Steve Leigh was succeeded by Gonzalo Carrera (later of Karnataka), while the latest Landmarq keyboardist is Mike Varty.
»Origins: A Landmarq Anthology« ‘covers’ two different eras of this relatively obscure band on two CDs, eras that couldn’t be more different from each other, especially in terms of sheer energy, and it spans the period from 1992 to 2012. The first disc has the newer songs with Hitchings in the lineup, while the second features the far better and more interesting era with Wilson, who replaced original Landmarq singer Rob Lewis-Jones in 1991.
Instrumentally, their style didn’t change all that noticeably when the blonde singer arrived, except that the keyboards got louder in the mix, individual arrangements got softer with a noticeably smaller dose of hard rock guitar licks, and most of the songs took on a somewhat more upbeat, ambient tone. Right at the end of the first disc, which also includes a few live tracks that have so far only appeared on three live albums with Hitchings, there’s a brand-new song, »Origins«, which gave this anthology its name. The weak spot of this new effort is exactly the blonde singer’s ‘jittery’, loud and almost over-the-top vocal mannerisms, which thoroughly drain the listenability out of this composition.
The second disc is the one that’ll be a lot more interesting for most fans of quality (neo) prog rock with a charismatic vocal approach. The dramatic »Killing Fields«, with its gloomy mood and melancholic chorus, will still appeal to anyone who loves Fish-era Marillion, Arena and Wilson’s Threshold too. The slightly more upbeat »Forever Young« has a soaring chorus and a classic neo-prog arrangement, where synth textures blend harmoniously with decisive guitar passages.
»Ta Jiang«, marked by an oriental central motif, is a 16-minute superepic of monumental proportions, and it proves that with Wilson in the lineup, Landmarq could easily create rhythmically complex and seriously demanding arrangements and still conjure up an incredibly intense atmosphere. On the other hand, they already had an ear for emotional power ballads back then, as »Embrace« shows, with Wilson’s bravura vocal performance and tasteful female backing vocals.
On the melodramatic »Narovlya«, yet another complex epic, you can hear a successful blend of symphonic prog arrangements, hard rock guitar phrases and the occasional bit of playing around with shorter improvisations. The rest of the ambient-rich songs from this era, like »Bed Of Nails«, also make it plain to hear why the band with Wilson in the lineup had a very specific energy that the later version of the group, despite some ambitious attempts, never managed to recapture.
Older Landmarq records are a seriously rare find on record store shelves these days, so »Origins« is a pretty sensible buy for anyone who wants to get to know the band’s output so far. The warning that the two CDs feature two almost completely different bands is definitely not out of place. The second disc is mostly of interest to fans of Threshold and Wilson’s solo career, while the first disc of this double anthology will suit those who have no qualms about over-the-top female vocals in modern prog rock.
Lineup
CD1
Tracy Hitchings – vocals
Uwe D’Rose – guitar
Steve Gee – bass guitar, fretless bass, backing vocals
Mike Varty – keyboards, strings, backing vocals
Dave Wagstaffe – drums, percussion, backing vocals
CD2:
Damian Wilson – vocals
Uwe D’Rose – guitar
Steve Gee – bass guitar, fretless bass, backing vocals
Steve Leigh – keyboards
Dave Wagstaffe – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Production
Landmarq
Track list
CD1 – The Tracy Years (72:45)
1. Science of Coincidence
2. Lighthouse
3. Between Sleeping and Dreaming… (Live)
4. Tailspin (Let Go the Line) (Live)
5. After I Died Somewhere (Live)
6. Heritage (The Tracy Years) (Live)
7. Turbulence (Paradigm Shift)
8. Personal Universe
9. Origins (New Song)
CD2 – The Damian Years (73:22)
1. Killing Fields
2. Forever Young
3. Borders
4. Solitary Witness
5. Ta Jiang
6. Embrace
7. Pinewood Avenue
8. Narovlya
9. Bed of Nails
