Marillion - An hour before it's dark

After having the proper time to digest this content in orderly fashion, I think it's time for me to let my review of this album come out. This time I want to do something different, why don't we go track by track and then I'll give you my final thoughts on this work?

"BE HARD ON YOURSELF" (i- The tear in the big picture. ii- Lust for luxury. iii- You can learn.) The first track of side one is a mid-tempo rocker. Even though it have been sliced into three parts, this suite feels more like a continuous song. It has this "Sounds that can be made" album flavor all over. Lyrically, has this altruistic ideal that you have to push yourself harder to be the best you can be. Deep inside is trying to put a finger on how we as society love to blame others for our demise. The whole song has this atmospheric vibe that fits perfectly as the perfect opener.

"REPROGRAM THE GENE" (i- Invincible. ii- Trouble-free life. iii- A cure for us.) Another sub-divided tune with a more commercial Marillion sound (you know what I mean). This time it feels like a bunch of ideas glued together, not bad by any means. Again, H flirts with an ecological theme to a pleasant eye-opening conclusion.

ONLY A KISS Marillion use to work by jamming in the studio and hold on to whatever feels right. This short instrumental is no exception, a jam too good to be left out. Even if it couldn't make it into any of the song, it's good enough to stand on its own.

"MURDER MACHINES" H said several times that he was running away from COVID-19 theme related songs. Well, in the end the pandemic perfused his creative chain of thought, this is the song that he refused to write for obvious reasons and couldn't resist to leave it out. Electronic sounding tune, plenty of Steve Rothery's solos, it works.

"THE CROW AND THE NIGHTNINGALE" This is an lyrically enigmatic song for me. It's so sparse, so serious in tone and content. Here you got a lush orchestral sound plus a choir to add more weight to the experience. Beautiful lyrical content, for some of the band members, this is the best track of the album

"SIERRA LEONE" (i- Chance in a million. ii- The white sand. iii- The diamond. iv The blue warm air. v More than a treasure.) By the tittle I assumed that it was going to be a political statement following F.E.A.R. To my surprise, is not. Lovely story open to interpretations. This feels more like a collection of ideas pasted together but in a good way.

"CARE" (i- Maintenance drugs ii- An hour before it's dark. iii- Every cell. iv- Angels on earth.) This is the epic song on the album, it runs the whole length of side 4. Lyrically looks like a song about a terminal disease, but it goes way beyond that. This is the tune that will take you on a journey, soaring guitar solos, lyrically profound, put on your seatbelts for this one, I mean it.

To sum things up, Marillion do what they do very well, I may add, they are the only ones that still do what they do. If you're a fan of the latest albums and direction, this is a worthily addition to your collection. There's a line in CARE that really hit home, so heart full, so human, it's hard to describe into words how it made me feel. The line became my mantra for several days, it was played in a loop by my brain as a reminder of what really matters. Give it a try, I don't want to spoil it by typing it here. It stuck with me from the second listen, not the first. I guess my mood and overall feeling was more in tune with the content and BOOM! It happened. Let's rejoice and embrace this moment.

I don't want to jump on the bandwagon and claim this is the best they have done (I'm not there yet). I love when a piece of work put me on a journey. Marillion has done that before with Misplaced Childhood and Brave, do I feel the same with this one? No, but this is a more mature piece of work, a great album to let yourself go and let music take the lead.