| Track by Track Review
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Be Hard On Yourself (i) The Tear In The Big Picture
The album starts off very quietly, and then all of a sudden a choir cuts through the mellow opening. As soon as that mini intro is over, an upbeat keyboard ushers in the song proper with Steve Hogarth’s unmistakable vocals cutting through loud and clear. Steve Rothery finally makes his presence felt as he unleashes some great guitar work at the end of this section. |
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Be Hard On Yourself (ii) Lust For Luxury
This movement continues the musical theme from the first part but rapidly descends into something more cinematic. As this part progresses, it takes on a darker tone and puts forth a more foreboding feeling which stands in contrast to the first part. |
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Be Hard On Yourself (iii) You Can Learn
Ending this track is a more upbeat and inspirational section. The “be hard on yourself” theme continues throughout the tune building into a crescendo before ending on a very soft note with Hogarth barely singing. |
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Reprogram The Gene (i) Invincible
Again, this suite starts off with a very mellow piano intro but quickly turns into a guitar driven track with Ian Mosley’s inventive drumming taking center stage. I think the song delves into the trans conversation without taking a side. |
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Reprogram The Gene (ii) Trouble-Free Life
I feel that this part starts off a bit too slow given the preceding movement but does build into a more lush Marillion type song full of keyboards and guitar
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Reprogram The Gene (iii) A Cure For Us?
The song is brought to a close with another guitar driven section that oddly doesn’t follow the theme of the other two parts. While some may find this hard to follow, Marillion have this uncanny way of taking very different movements and weaving them together to somehow fit together. “Reprogram The Gene” is a perfect example of latter day Marillion at its best. |
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Only A Kiss
I’ll be honest with you, this short instrumental (less than a forty seconds long) is nice but I don’t see the point. I think it is good enough that I wished they had fleshed it out to a full song, because as it is, it is over almost before it starts. |
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Murder Machines
This tune that deals with the pandemic is probably the closest Marillion have sounded to the way they did when Hogarth first joined. It is a great track that finds Hogarth in fine form and follows more of a typical song structure. Rothery also puts in a great performance with some very tasteful soloing. I can see why the band chose this as their second single form this release. |
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The Crow And The Nightingale
Marillion have come up with a winning formula (at least in my book) in their last few releases. This song has that great cinematic feel that latter day Marillion tracks have but with some additional bombast thrown in for good measure. This track paints a picture in your mind while it washes over you in a blanket of sound. I have lived with this record for two years now, and at this point, this is the standout on the record for me. Just listening to Rothery’s majestic guitar playing at the end will make the hairs on your arm stand up. |
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Sierra Leone (i) Chance In A Million
For a song that has five suites, this track starts right away with Hogarth singing lyrics before you realize a new tune has started. I would have thought that it would have some sort of build-up but quite the opposite, it starts off right away. It is a very mellow section but it does move along at quick pace. |
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Sierra Leone (ii) The White Sand
Things get a little mellower on this movement where the main focus is on piano and Hogarth’s vocals. The title of the track is sung a few times at the very end of this second suite. |
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Sierra Leone (iii) The Diamond
Again, this section starts off very slowly but, thankfully, it builds into more of a lush rocker. It does delve back to a slow passage with Hogarth barely singing. |
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Sierra Leone (iv) The Blue Warm Air
This suite starts off with that latter day Marillion sound of lush soundscapes, but about half-way through, they revisit the more rock part of the track. Although it fades a bit at the very end, it helps usher in the more bombastic last part. |
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Sierra Leone (v) More Than a Treasure
Lyrically, "more than treasure” is repeated a number of times, but this final movement also brings forth Rothery’s exceptional playing. He truly makes his guitar sing and he is one of the more under-rated guitarists out there. The song ends where it began with Hogarth singing over some keyboards. |
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Care (i) Maintenance Drugs
Marillion close the record with a thumping rocker that showcases Pete Trewavas’ overlooked contributions. His bass lines on this track really show the man’s true talent. It is a proggy rocker that only Marillion know how to deliver. |
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Care (ii) An Hour Before It's Dark
This section takes on the title of the album and it is a mellow affair compared to the opening suite. It still manages to be very uplifting and move along at a good pace. |
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Care (iii) Every Cell
Things go a bit mellow again but in a good way. Rothery lets rip during the solo section and builds this movement into another great moment on the disc. After that soaring guitar solo, this part goes back into a very mellow segment with just piano and Hogarth’s vocals. |
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Care (iv) Angels on Earth
The song ends with a section that is very uplifting and full sounding. Hogarth sings about “the angels on earth came down here to carry me home,” which may sound like a sad ending but somehow the music and his vocals have a very positive feel. The odd thing with this track is that after this section ends, there is four minutes of silence and then a remix of “Murder Machines” kicks in. It is odd that they left four minutes of silence, which is a lot of time to wait but the remix is good. I just wish it was its own separate track. |
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