Marathon (Netherlands) - The First Run (1994)

Artist : Marathon
Country : Netherlands
Release : The First Run
Year : 1994
Genre : Hard Rock
File Type : mp3 320

Info:

Neo-progressive rock.

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Marathon (Netherlands) - Norm (1996)

TRACKLIST:

1) Ozone Layer 5.41
2) Heart Of Another One 6.43
3) Norm 4.33
4) The Beauty Of Silence 4.52
5) Casanovas 7.24
6) Somewhere 5.35
7) Crime (he Didn't Commit) 4.06
8.) Magic Of Music 6.10

Line Up:
Erik ten Bos - lead and backing vocals
Ronald ten Bos - guitar
Tony ten Wolde - keyboards
Ferry Bult - drums and percussion
Jacques Suurmond - bass and pedals
The First Run, the debut of this band was a pleasant surprise. The sound was quite similar to Saga without wanting to sound to much like them. The vocals are good and very distinctive giving the band their own definite sound. Interesting about this band is that they recorded their first album by selling bonds to people they knew. What resulted was an album with a very good sound. Let's see what the result is now.
It seems at first that not much has changed. Marathon makes music in the line of PTS with the vocals of Erik Ten Bos as the most striking ingredient; he has his own way of singing and I like it. Still this album is not a simple redoing of the first one, because especially the guitar sound (as with Egdon Heath) has become heavier and the singing on Ozone Layer sounds a bit like Suicidal Tendencies of all bands. Appraising the numbers one by one we find the quiet ballad The Beauty of Silence that balances on the edge of easy-listening, the rather soft title track with good lyrics, Crime that although the sirens attract enough attention at the beginning does not really touch a chord. Then there is Somewhere that one the one hand is almost like an anthem, but on the other is a rather majestic song. For myself, the most best songs are Ozone Layer, the varied and emotional Heart of Another One, the powerful and bombastic Casanovas and the introspecitve closer Magic of Music. In this last track we hear what is important in music, wherever it is played: it must come straight from the heart.
All in all a good album, where at the end the attention may waver a litle. Although I liked the first one a bit better, I can recommend it.

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