Marillion
Fear

This wine had been in the cellar for more than a year. The band members, especially Hogarth and Rothery, during their solo tours, had repeatedly left comments and photos from the recording studio: Marillion were working on the new album and, as usual, this was the pill to attract attention and support in the production of the work from the fans, which has been their great strength in recent non-major releases. I must say that the band in recent years has been able to create several very interesting and enjoyable albums, despite the critics of the Hogarth era, and I do not deny that the expectations for Fear, abbreviation of "Fuck everyone and Run", were high. So, after buying it, I prepared myself well... ready to sip the latest wine from the English band. What can I say? At first, you are left a bit uncertain, it has happened to me before, and many times for sure, but here the long listening eventually deserves a sort of pleasure, of fulfillment. Well, before experiencing it... I had to sip a lot and a lot. The tracklist nominally consists of 6 songs, 3 suites (El Dorado, The Leavers, The New Kings) and three traditional songs (Living in Fear, White Paper and the concluding Tomorrow's New Country), therefore a hint of prog and some fond memories of the Pink Floyd 70s tracklists. Unfortunately, however, the album does not offer what it appears or shows... it needs to be delved into for a long time and with much hope, and in the end, you find much more architecture (staying within Floyd metaphors) of a Final Cut... than a Wish You Were Here. I don't know if I'm clear, perhaps even exaggerating in comparisons, but it is to highlight the contrast between expectations, hints and listening reality. The album is well sung, clean, excellently recorded and, for what is demanded from the musicians in the tracks, also well played, however, you spend many, many minutes waiting for the rhythm change, the takeoff... Rothery's solo that with four well-placed notes makes you want to hit replay on the track and turn up the volume. It happened often with the remarkable Marbles in double edition (with which Fear wants to share the incipit), however, of these moments both in the suites and in the single songs Fear gives few, as it relies on a predominant lyricism, on introspective lyrics, on the keyboard and piano symphonies of H and Kelly, in which even Steven's good guitar allows itself to follow and on the rhythms of a long huge ballad, with some interlude... if there had been many more, the album for me would have been much better. Even the title in its entirety Fuck Everyone and Run... although it may seem angry, it is not in its intentions... according to Hogarth himself, it is pronounced with tenderness, sadness and a sense of discouragement towards a society (English but not only I would say) that is increasingly closed and alienated in selfishness. There have been easier listening experiences, others more enjoyable and fulfilling, but this, however, is a good album, requires several listens and for its lyrics to be absorbed, to be appreciated at its best.