![]() ![]() ![]() That's not to say that Pete Trewavas doesn't make a huge impact on acoustic bass or occasion xylophone, or that Steve Hogarth's vocals aren't stark or emotional in all the right places. His solos are soft caresses while still making a huge impact on proceedings, whilst his rhythm playing gently holds everything together. Guitarist Steve Rothery benefits the most from the sparse approach, with his contributions always coming to the forefront of the music in a way that isn't always possible within the styling that Marillion often explore. Surprisingly the stripped back and bare sound on Less Is More actually gives each individual member of the band more room to shine and for an outfit who very often create huge encompassing soundscapes with their music, their ability to convey those same emotions within a more restrictive setting is quite stunning. For some this may actually be a stumbling block, however to me it is the true strength of Less = More and has led this release to be a fresh, innovative album in its own right and not just a curio to be listened to sparingly. ![]() With Portuguese guitars, autoharps, harmoniums, or hammered dulcimers being only a selection of the exotic instrumentation in evidence, actually recognising which track is being reinterpreted isn't always as easy as one would expect. Instead this album represents the opportunity to not only revisit some classics from their past, but to redesign and deconstruct the chosen songs, before rebuilding them from the ground up using instruments as diverse and foreign to a "rock" record as you could wish for. Right from the opening glockenspiel intro to "Go" it's undeniable that Marillion have not taken what would appear to be an easy option with Less Is More. Live albums? Covers albums? Acoustic albums? These days they're all just stop gaps and contract obligations aren't they? ![]()
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