Okay, so I'd heard of Landmarq before but never
actually heard them until now with this, a live set
recorded in 2000 and 2001. Well? Verdict, please. It's
not bad. Pleasant enough melodies, some nice
individual instrumental work from various members
(keyboardist Steve Leigh does a nice job on "After I
Died Somewhere" and Uwe D'Rose's guitar playing makes much of the record all by itself), while vocalist
Tracy Hitchings slowly wins you over with her crystal
vocals, but like Jadis and, on occasion, Marillion
(and, hell, even really early Genesis), I find that
the musical landscapes sometimes prove a little flat:
The atmosphere's thick, the emotions are high but
everything else just kind of falls back and sits
there, waiting for you to pass it by.
That's not to say that there aren't exciting moments
here or that the album lacks listenable tracks, it's
just that it's not an overly dynamic batch of songs.
Of course, there's something to be said for being
subtle too, but maybe not in such high volume.