After the last MARILLION albums, which were a little unmotivated and unstructured, many former fans of the band thought that MARILLION finally decided to switch entirely to pop music. However, with Marbles they now bring us an album which could surely help them to regain the sympathy of many fans. I think that Marbles is the first true successor of the famous albums from the early 80s (back then with vocalist FISH, who is now a successful solo artist) and the strongest album since 1989s Seasons End. Well, actually the sound of the record is not quite comparable to the band’s 80s style, but it is unique and pleasant. Electronic sounds play a more important role in MARILLION’s music nowadays, but they fit the music perfectly and even Steve Rothery’s wonderful “singing” guitar is back again with a vengeance, e.g. on the single track You’re Gone, one of the strongest songs on the disc. Another nice fact the educated listener easily recognizes is that there are even two epics of more than 12 or even 13 minutes (The Insivible Man and Neverland). All in all the style of the songs on the album differs very much, but this does not have any bad influence on the flow of music, which underlines the band’s qualities just once more. Well, here and there the obvious Pink Floyd inspiration is present stronger than on the predecessors, but to be honest: Which progressive rock band does not copy Pink Floyd in a way? To sum this up: Marbles is a highly recommendable album and the decent “back to the roots” flair and stronger focus on old qualities makes it interesting for both new and even old FISH-area fans. Today, FISH and MARILLION are quite different bands, but anyway, FISH will have to exert a lot to release such a great and sophisticated album. Mr. Hogarth as “new” frontman still lacks the charisma of the fishy former vocalist (even though he’s been with the band for 15 years now!), but he never was closer to it than now. And he’s got a definitive bonus: His voice is very, very good!