Marillion
Happiness is the Road Volume 2: The Hard Shoulder
Racket (2008)
...and with volume two in the "Happiness is the Road" series, Marillion has the ship back on course. Kicking open the door with "Thunder Fly," The Hard Shoulder will have you feeling bad that you ever doubted the band in the first place. Way back in the early days Marillion struggled to separate themselves from comparisons to Gabriel-era Genesis, which at times, they were guilty as charged, particularly with neo-poet Fish as their frontman. "Thunder Fly" is the closest they've come to bringing those whispers about again. If people nowadays knew who the hell Genesis was, that is. The tempos are a little faster on The Hard Shoulder, but the atmosphere is a little bit darker, with a dichotomous double shot of "Older That Me" and "Threw Me Out." The former is an affirmation of a new found love set to a melancholy backdrop as if the narrator knows it won't have a happy ending after all, and the latter is a bitter diatribe set to a jaunty little hum-along. The first single, "Whatever Is Wrong With You," continues to move things along at a quick pace, giving guitarist Steve Rothery time to really kick out the jams. Final track … Read more
Cruel Hand
Prying Eyes
Bridge Nine (2008)
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Red Sparowes
Aphorisms
Sargent House (2008)
When Red Sparowes released At the Soundless Dawn, I began to better appreciate instrumental music. The sound that the band … Read more
Hope and Suicide
Hope and Suicide
SuperNova (2008)
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