Mark Kelly's Marathon's 'Mark Kelly's Marathon' - Album Review

While technically not a founding member of the band, as Brian Jelliman occupied the keyboard position for their first couple of years of existence, Mark Kelly has been an integral part of the British progressive rock act Marillion since the very early days. He joined the band in 1981, and has appeared on every official release that they have ever put out - starting in 1982 with the Market Square Heroes single/EP. In that time, Mark Kelly's mind has rarely been away from Marillion. This is because the band have been extremely busy over the years, releasing albums fairly regularly and touring all over world - all while continually modifying their sound to stay relevant in an ever-changing world. The band's latest album, Fuck Everyone and Run (which I reviewed here), came out in 2016, and in my opinion it is one of the band's best works to date. It is rare that you can say that about a band's 18th studio album, but it is testament to the band that they still care deeply about their new material and continually push to better themselves. Mark Kelly has always been an important member of the band, even if his role has changed over the years. While his keyboard playing on the band's more recent work might not be as flashy or as leading as it was back in the 1980s and early 1990s, his soundscapes and piano work are still an integral part of Marillion's sound. The Marillion of today is a very atmospheric and expansive beast, and much of that is down to Mark Kelly's all-enveloping keyboard layers and delicate synth work. Due to his dedication to the band, he has rarely operated outside of it - although over the years he has guested on albums by Jump, John Wesley, and DeeExpus. He even played live with Travis of all people back in 2005 but, despite these occasional excursions, he has never indulged in a project of his own outside Marillion - until now. Nearly every other member of the band (with the exception of drummer Ian Mosley) have released solo albums or are members of side projects; but it has taken Mark Kelly until 2020 to strike out on his own. His new solo project, Marathon, released their self-titled debut album last month - which Marillion fans the world over greeted with excitement. While Mark Kelly's Marathon is somewhat seen as Mark Kelly's solo project, the album has much more of a band feel - which according to interviews is the vibe that he was going for. The album is very song-based and melodic, and is not just a vehicle for Mark Kelly to showcase his keyboard skills. Marathon is a six-piece band that, besides Mark Kelly, includes vocalist Oliver Smith, guitarists John Cordy and Pete Wood, bassist Conal Kelly (Mark Kelly's nephew), and drummer Henry Rogers (DeeExpus; Touchstone; Mostly Autumn). Musically, Mark Kelly's Marathon has been put together by the two Kellys and Smith, with lyrics from Guy Vickers. The result is a lush, but easy-on-the-ear, album that should please all Marillion fans - as well as anyone who is into the modern melodic prog scene.

Considering that most of Marillion's albums, especially the recent ones, are dense, lengthy affairs; Mark Kelly's Marathon surprised me when I first put it into the CD player and I discovered that it was only around 45 minutes long. I was expecting another lengthy epic, but it was actually a pleasant surprise to receive something more digestible. As much as I like Marillion's lengthy albums, sometimes a shorter album is welcome - and it certainly allows the ideas here to shine a little brighter. Despite this however, the album is still quite 'progressive' in structure. It is bookended by two long, multi-part songs; with three more compact tracks appearing in between. Despite what I first assumed, Mark Kelly's Marillion is not a concept album, but each track certainly tells a story. The CD's booklet includes extensive liner notes from Vickers detailing his inspirations and the themes for each song. This is a welcome addition to the album, and it shows how much thought and care all involved have put into not just the music, but the album's presentation as a whole. There is lots of exposition in the booklet regarding the album's first song, the lengthy and three-part Amelia. It somewhat tells the story of Amelia Earhart's doomed attempt to fly around the equator and her disappearance - based on news articles claiming that her remains had been found on Nikumaroro in the Pacific Ocean. The instrumental part Shoreline kicks things off with swirling synths and the sound of birds. Shoreline is very typical of Mark Kelly's soundscape work with Marillion, but the song opens out and diverges from the sound of his main band with the introduction of the rest of Marathon on Whistling at the Sea. In many ways, the three-part Amelia is the perfect introduction to the sound of Marathon. The band's laid-back, groovy, atmospheric sound is perfectly captured here, with the prominent bass work of Conal Kelly driving everything - while the two guitarists interlock nicely with chiming melodies and expansive chord work. Drawing everything together is Smith, who's emotive vocals really bring Vickers' tales to life. Lots of listeners to the album have compared Smith to Peter Gabriel, but to me he sounds more like John Mitchell - and this album has a very similar vibe to Mitchell's Lonely Robot albums in my opinion. Surprisingly, Smith dominates the album. This is not a virtuosic release on the whole, although there is a fantastic guitar/keyboard duel towards the end of Whistling at the Sea that sees Mark Kelly employ some 'lead' keyboard sounds that he has not used extensively for many years. The song's final part, 13 Bones, is a little bouncier and 'West End', with a jaunty piano melody to drive everything while Smith seems to play many different parts vocally. There are moments here where he sounds a little like Toto's David Paich a little, which I was not expecting, but it works well to contrast with his more typical delivery. 13 Bones continues to build until the end - with Rogers' drumming becoming more frantic and powerful, while numerous synth leads and old-school keyboard layers counter Smith's vocals.

While the following three songs are not as expansive as Amelia, the core Marathon sound is still very much on display - and the compact nature of the material allows for the melodies to really shine. When I Fell is more of a ballad, but Conal Kelly's bass is still the song's main driving force. The laid back verses are lead by his grooves, while Smith's layers of tight vocal harmonies give the song quite a 1980s feel - despite the modern synths and production techniques used. This is also the song here that is probably the closest to Mark Kelly's work with Marillion, and with a few tweaks it could have sat on one of their albums. Rogers' drumming is very similar to Mosley's less-is-more style throughout, and Mark Kelly's soundscapes give the song a real emotional depth. There is not a lot of lead work on display here, with the instruments mostly coming together to form a backing for Smith's layered vocals, but there is a great Hammond organ solo part way throughout that allows Mark Kelly to show off a little. Long keyboard solos are a rarity in Marillion's music these days, so the old-school Hammond is a welcome addition to the track - and I think it is fair to expect at least a handful of keyboard solos on this album! This Time is still packed full of grooves, but the song ups the pace and bite in comparison to When I Fell. Despite the atmospheric sound that the album goes for as a whole, there is still a lot of focus placed on the band's rhythm section. Conal Kelly and Rogers have already struck up a strong relationship here, and their grooves and interlocking playing are key to the band's sound. This Time really showcases this, and the subtle grooves are Steely Dan levels of tight and infectious - which contrast well with Mark Kelly's usual style. I think it is this mesh of styles that makes Marathon such an interesting band. You can certainly hear elements of Marillion here, thanks to Mark Kelly's songwriting, but they have been mixed in well with other sounds to create something different. The punchier overall arrangements allow the grooves to have much more of an impact, and the vocal dominance of Smith creates a much more song-based, digestible feeling overall. Puppets is a bit more atmospheric however, and recalls the expanse of Amelia somewhat. This Time was much more of a groove-based track, but Puppets allows Mark Kelly's keyboard and piano work to dominate once more - with layers of guitar also contributing to the overall dense sound. Mark Kelly's Marillion bandmate Steve Rothery contributed some of the guitar work to the track, and his contributions are instantly recognisable. His guitar style is very much his own, and the moment that he launches into a solo here you know that it is him - and his aching melodies sound as good here as ever. Rothery's solo starts a lengthy instrumental section that features him and Mark Kelly trading solos and melodies in a way that they have not really done so since the early 1990s - and this section is a nice throwback to those early Marillion albums.

The album's final song is the four-part Twenty Fifty One, a song that seems to borrow from a number of science fiction novels and films. It seems to deal with aliens visiting Earth, but Vickers' explanation of the song is quite lengthy and academic so I have a feeling there is more to it than that. Despite enjoying the whole album, I think that Twenty Fifty One might be my favourite thing here. This is because of its dense soundscapes and the overall more progressive and harder tone that it sets. The science fiction themes allow Mark Kelly to really go all-out with a number of different synths, and the spoken-word (courtesy of Giorgio Tsoukalos) opening section Search really demonstrates this. His sparkly keyboard work allows the song's themes to shine - but Cordy and Wood also contribute to this with some spacey lead guitar work. Arrival sees Smith enter the track vocally, so the arrangement does simplify itself somewhat to allow him room to sing - but the song still sounds big. There is a lot going on here, and that is another reason why it is my favourite cut. It feels like the song where Mark Kelly has allowed everyone to really let their hair down, and the intricacies of the song really show this. A muted guitar lead or a synth run is never too far away - and this is a song that relies less on groove and more on fantastic lead playing. The guitar playing here is smooth and packed full of emotional phrasing, but there is still plenty of atmosphere to be found thanks to the many keyboard layers and Conal Kelly's melodic bass playing. Twenty Fifty One is also the song here that has the most twists and turns throughout, which is evident when Trail of Tears kicks in with its pseudo-heavy guitar riff and a warm keyboard lead that could have easily found a home on 1983's Script for a Jester's Tear. Trail of Tears is the band's most obvious instrumental 'workout' moment, and it is filled with progressive goodness, flashy guitar jabs, and spikey keyboard runs. The album rarely goes in for this sort of indulgence, but it works well here given the length and nature of the piece. It is great to hear everyone cut loose, even for a brief period, and it makes the song's closing section Brief History hit harder as a result. Brief History has more of an anthemic feel overall, with Smith's vocal melodies pushed to the fore - with the occasional cutting guitar lead to back him up. It is one of those closing sections that really brings everything that has happened in the previous six or so minutes of music together - and it works well not only to cap off the song, but also the album as a whole. The album fades out on one final guitar solo, which befits the song's spacey themes perfectly. Given both the cohesion and the diversity of what is on display here, it can only be concluded that Mark Kelly's first true solo project is a real success, and in many ways Twenty Fifty One is the song that best sums up what he was trying to achieve with this album. It is a very enjoyable piece of modern progressive rock that looks to his past occasionally, but that mostly just does its own thing and does it differently to Mark Kelly's day job with Marillion. I would certainly like to hear more from this group  of musicians going forward, and hopefully Mark Kelly can find the time in the future to produce a follow up.

The album was released on 27th November 2020 via earMusic. Below is the band's promotional video for This Time.