Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Marillion
Label: Townsend Records
Release: 2007
Rating: 3.5/5
In recent years Marillion have undoubtedly become one of those bands that take a lot of listens before you can judge them objectively and then write a halfway credible review, since they make albums that only grow on you slowly. If I’d written this review after about three listens, I’d probably be complaining about too little variety and about every track on the album sounding too much like something from their past work. But from experience I know that with them you simply need a completely different approach. So with “Somewhere Else” I took my time and listened slowly, bit by bit. The result was similar to most of their recent records: the album got better with every spin. It still doesn’t reach any real peaks, though. Recording a worthy follow-up to a masterpiece like “Marbles” (2004) was never going to be easy, and I get the feeling that Marillion, who didn’t quite pull off that feat, didn’t lose much sleep over it. Even though it’s far from a masterpiece, they’ve still managed to make another good album, one that leaves you with something new every time you come back to it. Its main “flaw” might be that, at moments, it leans a touch too much toward a Steve Hogarth solo project, mostly because it has a pretty big share of his vocals and relatively few solos. Then again, as someone who has always valued his exceptional and unique singing talent, that doesn’t bother me much at all. Few singers in today’s prog and beyond have such a vocal range and as much pathos as Mr. H can show off, especially on the title track.
Hogarth is without a doubt the album’s central “star” this time, but we shouldn’t forget the band’s other driving forces. Steve Rothery doesn’t play as many guitar solos as we’re used to from him, but when he does decide to play one, it’s pure fantasy. On top of that he plays a string of excellent passages and allows himself a bunch of sudden interjections within the main melody, as on the title track. Ian Mosley is in top form on his drums again and much more up front than he was on “Marbles”. The same goes for Trewavas’s bass. The only one who stays too far in the background is Mark Kelly, who on keyboards mostly spends his time building wide soundscapes without playing any real solos, although every repeat listen to individual tracks will reveal some new sounds and variations from his keys.
“Somewhere Else” is generally a pretty stable and consistent album, with a few potential radio hits too, especially in its first half. As expected, Marillion keep sailing the waters of ambient art rock, only this time they’ve poured a bit more fire into some of the tracks compared to the rather esoteric predecessor. “Somewhere Else” is noticeably more “down to earth”. If I had to compare it to an earlier album, the closest would perhaps be “Afraid Of Sunlight” (1995). Even though it has (by their standards) more short tracks and only two that run longer than seven minutes, they’ve kept, as they should, their trademark feel for drama, pomp and melancholy.
The first part of the album is noticeably more commercial than what follows, though there’s no need to “fear” that it’ll get them onto the modern pop charts. “The Other Half” is an almost classic Marillion piece, running mostly at a mid-tempo. Then they give in to building up the central motif, where Hogarth’s vocals and the ambient keyboard layer carry the whole mood. In the middle section they completely change the course of the composition and serve up some very tasteful passages, which a great Rothery solo rounds off at the end. “See It Like A Baby”, released as a single, also builds slowly on atmosphere and stays at mid-tempo right up until the first chorus. Here they also use some very interesting sonic embellishments in the background, which make for top-notch ambient. “Thank You Whoever You Are” is a solid, fairly simple, emotional ballad full of fine Hogarth singing, excellent guitar passages and tasteful piano arrangements, with a brilliant guitar solo in the closing section. “Most Toys” would surely be a big hit in the hands of some modern pop rock band. For Marillion, “the best-kept British musical secret”, it’s just another extremely simple but solid pop number with a noticeable alternative undertone. They haven’t made anything this short (under three minutes) and simple, yet punchy and instantly catchy, in a long time. Personally I’m glad they don’t make a lot of stuff like this, even though it’s the most striking track on the album and warms up the atmosphere nicely. As is more or less their tradition, the title track “Somewhere Else” is one of the best pieces on the album, slowly building up an outstanding ambience that hits its climax in the closing section. After a calm piano intro, over Rothery’s passages and Hogarth’s high singing it tips into a melancholic-pompous mood that then shifts several more times. Individual keyboard arrangements speak volumes about Marillion getting more and more excited in recent years about certain ideas that used to be closer to Porcupine Tree, though thankfully not to the point of imitating them. “Somewhere Else” is a true masterpiece, and there aren’t many of those on the album. On “A Voice From The Past”, another very good one, they give themselves over to melancholy again, created in the intro by piano, wide soundscapes, vocals and a steady rhythm, followed by a series of inventive transitions. “No Such” Thing”, which opens and builds with Hogarth’s vocals and acoustic guitar until it tips into ambient waves, is meant mostly for daydreaming or meditation. The choice is yours. A much livelier piece is “The Wound”, which feels like an authentic Marillion classic packed with drama, sonic samples and energetic mood changes, with a mighty rhythm and fully committed vocals as the real highlights. Next comes one of the most interesting tracks on the album, “The Last Century Of Man”, where, surprisingly, the lyrics grab more attention than the music. Marillion have rarely stated their views on current world events so radically, so it’s all the more unusual that this time they allowed themselves open mockery of the representatives of the “free” world. It’s somewhat ironic that this socially critical text is set for most of the time over an extremely fragile melody, which is constantly accompanied by Hogarth’s slightly mocking singing, especially in the chorus. The ending, which also features an excellent Rothery solo, is superb. The closing “Faith” is a very simple but lovely acoustic ballad built on Hogarth’s emotional vocals and piano. In the middle section an acoustic guitar and percussion come in and give it a slight Hawaiian flavor. At the end they bring in some lovely orchestral arrangements in the background. We did get to hear “Faith” before on the live album “Mirrors” (2006), but in an early version. It originally dates from the period when “Afraid Of Sunlight” was made, which, as I mentioned earlier, is in spirit the closest to “Somewhere Else”.
For most modern bands, “Somewhere Else” would surely be an outstanding commercial success. For Marillion it’s “just” another good album, one that demands that the listener (especially for its second half) take a bit more time than they’re used to. Sadly, that will rob many people of discovering all its hidden qualities, which only reveal themselves gradually. Once again Marillion have made an expressive and varied album that, even if it doesn’t offer anything revolutionary musically, once more brings some ideas they haven’t used before, which will delight all their fans. For the wider circle of listeners and followers of mainstream music they’ll almost certainly go overlooked this time too, while most prog rock fans will revel in an album that confirms Marillion once again as one of the few bands of their generation who, despite their long career, still haven’t stopped evolving musically.
Line-up
Steve Hogarth – vocals
Steve Rothery – guitar
Mark Kelly – keyboards
Peter Trewavas – bass guitar
Ian Mosley – drums & percussion
Production
Michael Hunter
Track list
1. The Other Half (4:24)
2. See It Like A Baby (4:29)
3. Thank You, Whoever You Are (4:42)
4. Most Toys (2:44)
5. Somewhere Else (7:46)
6. Voice From The Past (6:12)
7. No Such Thing (3:58)
8. The Wound (7:11)
9. The Last Century For Man (5:26)
10. Faith (4:09)
Album length: 52:00
