Artist/ Band: The Box
Title: John Of Mark
Label: Self release
Year of Release: 1995
Offical Artist/ Band Link

The Review:

After The Box disbanded in 1992, vocalist Jean-Marc Pisapia released a solo album John Of Mark in 1992. I guess with the growing interest in The Box, thanks to the internet, the album was re-released as The Box. Joining Jean-Marc are Francois Bruneau (guitars on all tracks except track 9, computers), Claude Thibault (guitars on track 9), Stephane Mayrand (drums) and Marc Gendron, Jean-Marc, Jean Pierre Brie (bass).

Jean-Marc warned me that this wasn’t a prog album and after listening to it a few times I would have to agree. The music is bordering on art rock and the track range in length from three to six and a half minutes. The instrumentation is well crafted and reminds me of a few more well known artists like Peter Gabriel (first three albums), Kevin Gilbert (solo mostly) and Toney Carey (solo and Planet P Project).

While not really a favorite of mine, the album documents what bands were doing during the mid-90’s in the pop/art rock genres. It was also nice to see how the music evolved from John Of Mark until he reformed The Box in 2002 with a new line-up. The result was an album called Black Dog There, which was released in 2006. I reviewed that album, see links below.

If you enjoy more pop driven music without the typical formula, then John Of Mark is the album for you. There’s a lot of memorable hooks and melodies throughout the album. There’s some rockier guitar parts that animate the music more.

Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on September 23rd, 2010

Tracks:

01. Don't Dance

02. Sucker

03. Never Gonna Die

04. We Don't Have To Have Sex

05. Hush

06. Strange Love

07. Sweat & Tears

08. Faces

09. Falling For You Angel

10. Pray To God

11. Real Life Death Of A Rock'n Roll Star

12. Stardust Hotel

Reviewed Discography

• "John Of Mark" 1995
• "Black Dog There" 2006
• "Le Horla" 2009

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