
The album had a difficult conception, with the band
reportedly nearly splitting when a writing session in Portugal coincided with a
period of serious illness for Steve Hogarth’s partner and son, meaning the
vocalist was unable to contribute. After some time off from writing, they
recommenced at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studios where the writing was
unforced, and the songs started to flow. However, the delay to recording
eventually resulting in the band compiling the later additions while on their
US tour for the album – hardly ideal.
The album’s eight tracks offer a fine summary of
Marillion playing to their strengths across the board. In seventeen minute album
opener Gaza, the band are the most
savage they have ever been, conjuring the mayhem and destruction of a sudden
missile strike with scream, atonal soloing over a punishing riff. The song was
considered sufficiently controversial enough to require an explanatory note in
the accompanying booklet to point out that it is not anti-Israeli, nor
pro-violence. Despite this, some fans claim that they would never listen to the
band again.
The title track is a fabulous epic that somewhat
calls to mind the big music of The Waterboys. The ‘aurora borealis’ section is
quite simply fabulous. Pour My Love
sees the return of John Helmer as lyricist after a gap of more than ten years,
on a song that is part Prince, part Todd Rundgren. Power is a classic rocker in the tradition of Whatever Is Wrong With You and was accepted as an instant classic.
The quirky Invisible Ink didn’t
convince everyone, but I’ve always liked it as a new side to the band’s sound.
Among the fan base only one song appeared to
disappoint a significant number of fans, Lucky
Man, which is a bit like a retread of Three
Minute Boy. Montreal also had its detractors, though mainly for its lyrics,
which some disliked for being like diary entries and rather gauche.
Personally, I am rather unconvinced by the final song, The Sky Above The Rain, finding that it fails to really get under the skin, yet there are plenty that think it is a true masterpiece.
Only Gaza, Sounds That Can’t Be Made, Power, Montreal and Lucky Man have explanations.
Personally, I am rather unconvinced by the final song, The Sky Above The Rain, finding that it fails to really get under the skin, yet there are plenty that think it is a true masterpiece.
Only Gaza, Sounds That Can’t Be Made, Power, Montreal and Lucky Man have explanations.

The box of the
deluxe edition also featured a horizontally-reversed version of the Arecibo
message. This was a signal broadcast into space from the Arecibo radio
telescope in Puerto Rico in 1974, and featuring encoded versions of the numbers
1-10, information about the make up of DNA, a graphic of a human, a model of
the solar system and the graphic of the Arecibo telescope.
Song Listing:
The entire album listing is included for completeness, but only songs with a link have explanations.
Song Listing:
The entire album listing is included for completeness, but only songs with a link have explanations.
- Gaza
- Sounds That Can't Be Made
- Pour My Love
- Power
- Montréal
- Invisible Ink
- Lucky Man
- The Sky Above the Rain
Click to access album
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