I wanna feel alive, gas up the 4-wheel drive.

Good evening all. I haven't posted ALL holiday - which is a bit lame really. First thing's first - there's a new Marillion album, so I'd better get a review out the way.

Marillion - Somewhere Else.
After the first few listens I was, how shall I put it... shocked... and somewhat apalled. H's voice has a real habit of sounding terrible when he's singing something you're not used to. His melodies seem random, and his voice seems droll. But after a few listens it sounds incredible! You realise why he's singing why he is, and how it sits with the rest of the song. Because they have a tendency to make such epic songs, you need to know what's coming to enjoy the rest of the song. That's why I love them so much - every minute of (almost) every song is building up to something big, small, poignant, whatever. Just magical music.
My hilights from the new album are the opening track (The Other Half), Most Toys (which has a radioheadesque guitar line running all the way through it), The Last Century for Man, which builds up beautifully similarly to King (if you know Marillion!) and has the best few seconds on the whole album ("I wanna feel alive, GAS UP THE 4-WHEEL DRIVE). Oh, and A Voice from the Past (which I hated at first), is perfect. Perfect guitar solo, perfect vocals. Glorious.

This album is probably the biggest grower since Marbles!

I've also recently bought the new Maximo Park album, and the new Bloc Party album, and both are pretty good. Somehow none of the songs hold me like Marillion though! I'm going to see them in Cambridge in June! Hurrah!