Holidays in Eden

 

With the latest Marillion deluxe release, it is back to where it started - for me. June 24th 1991, Holidays in Eden is released. One month after my initial [brief] encounter with Marillion.  The band’s second effort with frontman Steve Hogarth very much repeated the pattern of the original incarnation of the band.  This was their difficult sophomore attempt, their next Fugazi.  Whereas their first release as a new group easily found music inspired from without (in this case the music written with Fish), this one required a what now? period of motivation.  Additionally, the record company (as always) was pressuring them to release material that was commercially viable and recreate their brief highpoint of chart recognition.  The result, emerging from a much larger contribution from H, including tracks from his previous alternative career, was indeed their most commercial attempt. This legacy has haunted the album, considered by many to be too pop, and an album of commercial singles.  However, as my entry point into new-release Marillion, this record has always presented core, classic Marillion - built around the ethereal and intense guitar work that Rothery had been exemplifying for at least three albums. Cover My Eyes (adapted from How We Live’s Simon’s Car), Dry Land (a How We Live cover), and No One Can are the radio-friendly cuts. Call them whatever you want, but the first two are about as close to perfect pop/whatever songs (and then squared) as you can get, and I would dare call the original Dry Land a New Wave album.  For the third, every time I start to get that feeling that it’s an overly-sweet, sappy love song, I am overcome by the transcendental quality of the guitar line, and it might be the most innocent, positive song the band has done, without something dark lying right beneath the surface.  While many consider this a complete diversion in style, and for those following through the 80s, and from earlier prog entries, this may make sense.  For myself, being an entry point, this album makes perfect sense as a quintessential sound, and as I was already encountering what I knew would be decisive change from the Fish material, it didn't seem that much more of a reach than Season's End, and by the end of the summer 1991 all six albums seemed like a contiguous whole. Emerging as music of the time, as Marillion moved away from their pre-1980s influences, resulted in something more like U2 (incorporated into a higher level) than the aging idols of progressive rock.  Although, as the accompanying documentary reveals, there still remained a lot of classic influences which were directly re-articulated in these songs, namely Yes and The Who, which once brought up, makes perfect sense. 

Holidays in Eden, the next in line with a commercial structure, is in my opinion, despite the far-from-unanimous appreciation from the community, the most Marillion title and theme they have created. Let me take a moment to digress. Everything they have written somehow returns back to the idea of the self (and the ultimate self-facing you must do) in opposition to the world.  Stepping out of the social construct of the symbolic world, one encounters the Real.  A complete change of context results in an internal change as the self is constructed out of the meaning around it, it is, we are, being-in-the-world.  Thus, in a Heideggerian sense, a change of context results in a new self.  Furthermore, a collapse in worlds changes the center of our existential being and our relation to authenticity.  Experiencing such a world as Eden, in opposition to our own highly problematic society (as Marillion often engages), and then exiting that world would result in such a collapse, and require us to disclose new meanings in the process of finding authenticity. This theme is mirrored in the opposite way in the This Town- 100 Nights trilogy, where the surrounding environment, the city, forces the self “to become” what it is, rather than being directed internally. The result is a decent of the self into a morally unclear position and the initial relations of the song meet a seemingly disastrous end.  There is always a consistent theme in H's work regarding the loss of innocence and the dangers just below the surface in any ostensibly benign situation - the unavoidable, ever-present, forces of change, the inevitable crack emerging in what one thought would remain unchanged, and the Real surrounding the Symbolic stability of one's immediate life -the need to wear your gun to Neverland,

As a product on the dividing line of a much larger world and time at the end of the 80s, this record was a little ahead of its time, foreshadowing the 1990s.  Season’s End had shown us many of the larger external predicaments of the final chapter of the Cold War.  Here we are presented with a more optimistic, open future.  Gone are so many of the past problems, leaving the self as the challenge to be taken on.  The most important view was now inward, as a reflective exploration.  Of course, even more forward looking, this would be short lived, and the dark storms of larger forces would again return on Brave, with a following return to the self on Afraid of Sunlight.  As Pete claims in the documentary, this was the first attempt at their Sunlight. And, again, that now makes sense.


Splintering Heart is the mini-epic of the record, a slow-build-up rock song. In addition to the straight-forward rock and pop songs, the This Town-The Rake’s Progress-100 Nights trilogy is the full epic of the album, and has always been classic Marillion.  Waiting to Happen is the acoustic-type ballad of the record, and while the band considers it a “classic” presence, The Party has always been the odd-one-out track to me. The updated release attempts to correct the sound away from the late 80s / early 90s zeitgeist in order to allow some of those dismissive fans to re-hear the record out of that context, as well as satisfy the band’s persistent desire to finally finish a not-quite-complete product, as in the case of Fugazi. The impression I get on the initial listening is that it really does emphasize the overall album, and brings out each part in a very positive way.

The package includes a live show from Hammersmith on the 1991 tour.  Alongside the usual HD and 5.1 mixes, like the Script and Fugazi releases, the blu-ray also includes a live concert video from the tour, a surprisingly well done upgrade for a shot-on-video release from thirty years ago.  It is worth it for video documentation of Freaks alone.  As an excellent representation of the band in their prime, this upgrade from my incomplete record-show purchase of a VHS bootleg might become my favorite video release of theirs. Unfortunately the live discs are not duplicated on the blu-ray which does includes all of the B-Side material from the 1998 remaster, which provides an interesting alternative album: including the original versions of Splintering Heart and This Town, the original Epic (Fairground) which became 100 Nights and included material from the post-Clutching at Straws session, as well as the other How We Live track You Don’t Need Anyone, considered as an alternative to Dry Land (and whose existence was denied for seven years). If you ask me, all of this material, and maybe a recording of yet another How We Live track, Games in Germany, could be remixed, finished and made into a fine album on its own. On the more acoustic side, the creepy-yet-intriguing track A Collection and the cover of Sympathy are here as well. Not included is the acoustic session released over the Dry Land singles, which included the Who’s Substitute.  In my own playlists, I’ve found that adding the other included B-sides of How Can It Hurt (amazingly played at the 2022 weekend) and I Will Walk on Water, adds more Holidays in Eden -like songs and fills out an amazing rock album. Additionally, You Don’t Need Anyone fits in exceedingly well with the trio of concise singles (unsurprisingly of similar origin) - of course this is the direction that so many people were apprehensive of embracing.  But, this collection of songs doesn’t get weighed down in overly long attempts (*ahem, last four releases, ahem*).  This is the side of the band that get straight into the rock (I’ll leave the magnitude up to you) and directly and without hesitation dives into the point of the song.  These are the songs, when included in contemporary setlists, that break up the long journeys found in newer material, and continue to provide a momentum that always deserves to be included in anything involving Rothery.

My Songs

 

While I'm on the subject of Sting, I finally got around to the 2019 My Songs album.  There's probably a quite a bit of criticism about Sting's continual touring of his back catalog (and the re-releases such as this).  However, it could be argued that it shows a lot of dedicated hard work to his art, fans, and legacy (although he could add in some more thorough US tours)  This is an interesting collection of reworked material, a much better idea in my opinion than a greatest hits work. I think this could have been a great opportunity to put  together a definitive collection of his body of work, but as it is it's a little half-baked.  First, the songs that are only remixed really don't belong here. As far as the songs of The Police finally done as solo studio versions, the question might be: what took so long?  It's interesting that while these songs are definitely part of his musical DNA, going back to the beginning, the songs I Can't Stand Losing You, So Lonely and Next To You were all shelved for 25 years, only re-emerging in his sets after the Police reunion. As for Fields of Gold, and Shape of My Heart, there is a nagging question of why these songs needed rerecording?

Despite an intriguing idea, this collection feels a little thrown together.  What I would have like to have seen would have been a one or two volume double-disc collection either studio or live in the studio   recordings with Dom and David Sancious, and Vinnie or Josh. Start disc 1 with the essential Police recordings.  As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'd really love to see his first two solo records re-recorded with Dominic and with him back on bass. This would have been the perfect opportunity.  Just using the live post-1990 arrangements would be satisfying for a Volume 2, perhaps adding highlights of the albums with a few revisits to the forgotten, although significant, tracks: Love is the Seventh Wave, Lazarus Heart, History Will Teach Us Nothing.

Tracks done with this band so far: If Your Love Somebody, Love is the Seventh Wave (rare), Russians, Children's Crusade (rare), We Work the Black Seam (studio only), Consider Me Gone, Moon Over Bourbon street, Fortress Around You Heart (truncated), Be Still My Beating Heart, Englishman in New York, They Dance Alone (somewhat rare), Fragile, We'll Be Together, Straight to My Heart, Rock Steady (rare, excerpt), Little Wing (rare), Sister Moon

Newer songs seem unnecessary for re-recording, although this inclination of Sting's could always be questioned. Perhaps selections from Brand New Day and Sacred Love could use a stripping-down, and brought back to a tight rock-band feel (although live versions would probably suffice).

As it is, the Special Edition with live disc makes the purchase worth it (although, why he can't just release live albums from each tour is beyond me)

Bags of Blood (More Songs About Death and Water)

 "The world has seen enough impatient bags of blood" - Marillion - Be Hard on Yourself

“We are but bags of blood and bone.” - Sting - The Bridge

As we emerge from the morass of 2020/21, one of the first questions to elicit a response is how the pandemic will influence the cultural subconscious and how that will be manifested in artistic constructs, since it certainly could not be avoided.

Of personal interest, both artists of primary significance to me, are releasing albums at the same time, both consisting of themes admittedly motivated by the pandemic event. In an example of synchronicity, both artists (the pre-eminent songwriters about death and water) have converged on the "bag of blood" image of post-pandemic human reflection. 

 

The first "single" release from Marillion's An Hour Before It's Dark - Be Hard on Yourself is a promising track, following FEAR's attention to the larger global threats to civilized stability. Musically this is clearly a continuation of fifth-era [1] Marillion, with structure similar to Sounds that Can't Be Made and FEAR.   But this time there is the feeling of a more dynamic motivation and tension, an ongoing momentum, unlike the tempo slow-downs on FEAR which impeded the flow of the songs, and undermined the critical urgency of the content. Their piece-together-a-bunch-of-musical-bits approach has yielded some great music, although it retains some clunky transitions and could perhaps use some more editing (where a less-is-more attitude might improve the flow). Hearing Hard, along with a snippet of Care, Marillion has seemingly evolved the experiments of the last two records into something that more resembles their essential sound.  As for any water themes, we'll have to wait until March for the full release. 

As a side note regarding the title (and yes I know I do not yet have the full context, but as it is my page here, I'll give my initial thoughts), the titles of this era have seemed a bit . .. awkward.   Returning to something a bit more concise and literary, Before Dark would have seemed sufficient and appropriate, but then I think titling Sounds That Can't Be Made as simply Power, would have exerted ... more power.

As for Sting's record, the pandemic force has seemingly pushed him in the opposite direction.  While The Bridge is a nice collection of songs, the first thing I would say is that this is not a rock record.  It is the most stripped down work he has ever done.  There is acoustic guitar, and presumably some bass, but overall not much electric guitar or drums, and lacking in foreground keyboards (maybe next time we'll see the return of the venerable David Sancious). This is a work of classical, traditional English, and folk music.  While Miller's classical approach to guitar has had a tremendous impact on the direction of  Sting's composition for the last 30 years, this work feels, finally, like a collaboration between the two, with Miller's style merging with Sting as a singer and writer/storyteller.  While there are hints of Ten Summoner's Tales, it is with a post-57th & 9th band and mentality.  There are also a lot of hints of Mercury Falling, both the best and worst results of that session. [2]  Thematically, like Ten Summoner's Tales, Mercury Falling, and Sacred Love, this is collection of tales - morality tales.  There is a lot here about God and redemption, in a quite explicit manner.  Similar to much of Marillion's work, this could be viewed as a religious work, without the religious ideology, ritual, and dogma over-dominating the personal experience found in examining the self as coming-to-terms and living with itself.

[1] Eras: 1- Fish, 2- Classic H (SE through TSE), 3 new sounds (Radiation through Anorak), 4- the 5 discs in 4 years output of cross-session songs (Marbles through Happiness), and 5- the post-near-breakup return with the stitch together method.

[2] Best: traditional maritime "water" style, worst: 70s feel (with horns).  Less apparent on the album is the classic Blue Turtles to Soul Cages feel.

Fugazi

 

 

Do you realise, this world is totally fugazi
Where are the prophets, where are the visionaries, where are the poets?

With the deluxe release of Fugazi now out, I thought I would take some time to catch up my thoughts about this re-release series.  Fugazi finishes up the Fish years, and holds a peculiar position in Marillion history, being a classic-but-forgotten album.  This mostly stems from H's avoidance of its material, leaving it essentially dead as far as Marillion themselves are concerned.  But, even before Fish's departure, songs like She Chameleon had disappeared from the setlist before the tour. Furthermore, both fans and the band found the mixing disappointing, a situation which has now been rectified with this opportunity.  I confess this applies to my own listening rotation as well.  Randomly select any point on Fugazi and you will instantly hear top quality classic Marillion music. Given that my introduction to Marillion started with Brief Encounter, Real to Reel and The Thieving Magpie, these tracks were part of the core sound that fascinated me as a new musical world.  Certainly, you could say that this is where Marillion developed their sound. Although they were at the lead of pushing the genre into the neo-progressive era, the first album consisting of much material which was aligned with what previous bands had done, as well as pre-developed material from the early proto-Marillion band members. But, this album as a whole just seems . . . incomplete? Unfinished? Short? Missing one more anchoring track? While Assassing and Fugazi are strong songs in the band's history, Jigsaw and Emerald Lies, while being excellent deep cuts, somewhat reside in the shadow of those book-end songs, and both Incubus and She Chameleon now seem a bit dated and controversial from a post-2010 viewpoint. The only single, Punch and Judy is perhaps the one Marillion track that most foreshadows Fish's post band career. Every thing done here would eventually come together more coherent and powerful on the next record.  Really, this is a prototype for Misplaced Childhood, and may have worked better in that album's ultimate format.

The deluxe series, being theoretically the definitive version of each album session, is in a difficult position.  Marillion has done an excellent job of releasing just about every recorded note of value to outside listeners.  The remasters series with collected demos and B-sides covered the original eight records (starting with their emergence only four years after the band left EMI).  And, the Making-of series beginning with Brave has covered not only the demo sessions, but the pre-demo musically sketches.  Appropriately, Afraid of Sunlight has revived the most coverage with the deluxe version containing demo material beyond the remaster release and the Refracted making-of.  There simply isn't much old material to be found.  On the live side, Marillion might be the best documented band in history (at least for the last 15 years of material), featuring 50-some live albums, considerable tour downloads since 2008, two live box sets covering the EMI period and the 50 FRC live albums which also represent the H period well.  Only the Fish years have possibly been under represented, and the only unreleased material that could have been included would come from that live history.  Torch Song had a dozen live performances in 1987 (and was recorded), including that with Clutching At Straws would have been the first release of it's live version. As for Script (and its live connection to Fugazi), inclusion of the 1982 Marquee show would have been the first release of the song Institution Waltz as well as a unique release of the original version of She Chameleon (provided there exists an adequate recording).  Other than these performances there doesn't appear to be anything unreleased.

Regarding the form and structure of the new releases, the main selling point of the deluxe series resides in the live shows documenting each corresponding tour, the making-of interviews, and the new mixes, including 5.1 and 48K or 96K stereo versions.  With maddening inconsistency, this series has progressed to show an evolution (ignoring chronological order) that makes later releases "definitive". Script added video content with the addition of Recital of the Script to the Blu-ray, and Fugazi includes an extra bonus with a 1984 live performance video.  Both of these discs also include HQ versions of their corresponding live discs. Furthermore, a second documentary has been included for Fugazi. There has been much whinging about the extra tracks being moved to the BD disc (although the 2-disc remasters have been around for twenty years for those unwilling to give up their CDs).  Unfortunately, the Brave release omitted some of the extra tracks even on the BD disc, and Script ignored some of the Market Square Heroes material and demos, every other release has included all of the 2-disc material (and Clutching at Straws, Brave, and Afraid of Sunlight containing the original mixes of the album).  I have grown to find the format of the last two releases preferable as the Blu-ray contains the full HQ album, the extra tracks, the live album in HQ and the video content all on one disc. Looking back, it would be nice to have the first four releases to have HQ live material and extra tracks on that disc. As for the live video, it would have been a great advantage on those other releases, but being rare and expensive at the time, and dependent on the rights-holders, it is understandably not present. One issue regarding Fugazi content involves the relegation of Cinderella Search to the video disc.  While not complete for inclusion on the original album, both fans and the band alike view this track as one of the strongest of the session (it is even included within the song commentary).  Given this recognition, and the perceived shortness of the album, as a retrospective opportunity it would have been an added value to included it on the album disc (and remaster/ mix it) as both a convenience and aesthetic choice.

With the upcoming Seasons End and Holidays In Eden releases, the band's most important evolutionary period will be covered, leaving only the Racket years left for possible revisiting. While it will be nice from an aesthetic viewpoint to have the following ten (or twelve) albums done in this format, the period has been so well documented that there probably won't be any further primary material to be excavated, leaving 5.1 mixes, documentaries, and a complete collection all in one singular release as their raison d'être.

It seems prescient that Fugazi became the first post-pandemic release, a statement of the times, as the world truly has become Fugazi.

Brave

For the second EMI Deluxe release of Marillion we have Brave (the third releases of the band v2.0, a concept album reminiscent of the third album of Misplaced Childhood).  This one is a little less definitive.  This is a more difficult case, as there have already been 6 discs of material for this album released, the 1998 remaster with B-sides, the Made Again live album of the tour (historically interesting as the first live album of the H era), and the making-of album. Additionally there was the River release and 2002 and 2013 live versions  While we get the Blu-ray with documentary and 5.1 Wilson mix, there are a lot of omissions.  The album disc is a new mix, but strangely the disc of B-sides is ditched in favor of including the original mix (already released twice).  The two live discs have the full performance used for the Made Again recordings, adding 9 tracks, but not adding much to the Brave legacy. Also, as a personal irritation, the cover is not directly signed by the band, but includes a signed print. Just as cool, but now it won't match the Misplaced Childhood release on the shelf and a display of 7 signed prints will be incomplete. What would have been a really cool addition would be a digital version of the vinyl release which had a randomized ending, either concluding on Made Again, or The Great Escape (Spiral remake). A carefully constructed discrete 5.1 mix, once again makes this a definite version (and adds to the study of the immense depth of layers found in Marillion work, although I can't say much of the specifics (these days who has time to to sit in solitary contemplation in the proper space for an entire album - music is more on-the-go).  The next releases are now eagerly awaited as we rediscover the classic period of Marillion's career.

Fantastic Place

Marillion Live at the Vic Theater, Chicago, 2016.10.27-28

For this US tour, Chicago was Marillion's only two-night stop.  Both the new album and tour have been highly rated by the fan base.  Personally, I found this tour, while always a welcome experience, to be have less of an impact than the last four US tours.  First playing at the Vic seemed "off." The Park West always seems like a home for Marillion, and its a very classy place.  The Vic is a bit more of, um, a historical-garage ambiance. I would expect hip goth bands would be well received there.  And, I thought the sound was not very good- too loud and distorted. 

Secondly, the setlist centered around a large portion of the new album FEAR, the longest and densest three songs.  I would have much preferred to hear the other two tracks - White Paper, and The Leavers, which I consider the highlights of the album.  They are the most "musical" and Marillionesque, as they don't seem to try so hard to conform to the thematic theme of the album.  Hearing the three 15 minute epics left little room in the set for material from the other 17 albums.  Moreover, keeping the set relatively similar both nights seemed a little repetitive. Although we heard everything played on the tour, (Edit: such as Kayleigh/Lavender, played only in Toronto).  This consistency throughout the tour is a little disappointing after the interesting 2016 South American tour, which featured some rare tracks, such as Afraid of Sunrise and Dry Land. Additionally, the constant inclusion of the long Invisible Man and Neverland take up another considerable part of the setlist. These shows make five times (in three tours) in a row that they have opened with Invisible Man, and it seems like its time for a rest.  Hearing each of these five mentioned tracks once would have allowed for another hour of material that was rehearsed from the South American tour. Marillion is now in the unenviable state that most long-time artists are in, with such a large back catalogue.  Rather than falling into a greatest hits act, and still producing interesting new material, a lot of the latest release is played, and some early tracks have to find their way in to please the casual old fan.  But that leaves a vast collection of middle material forgotten. However, its always great to see the band be able to play anything, and as well received as the new album is, many people found the show to be a excellent one.

The first night had the band in the most relaxed state I've seen them, with H going off on an extended ad-libbed Three Minute Boy.  This looseness came back to haunt the band on the second night, when Power went bad (either through timing or monitors) and H stormed off the stage.  They picked up with the next song and tightened up, but there still seemed (at least as an audience member) for soem tension.  Given the difficulties that Marillion has had in returning to the US in the last few years, along with the apparent situation of less turn-out, the status of future US shows seems in question now more than ever. Hopefully, a new tour, now slated for 2018, will go ahead. The stand-out performances from these shows would have to be Fantastic Place, Sugar Mice, King, and, as always This Strange Engine.

10.27:
The Invisible Man/ Power/ Fantastic Place/ Living In F E A R/ Mad/ Afraid of Sunlight/ The New Kings/ Quartz/ Neverland/ El Dorado/ Easter/ Three Minute Boy
10.28:
The Invisible Man/ Sounds That Can't Be Made/ Living In F E A R/ Sugar Mice/ The New Kings/ Man of a Thousand Faces/ King/ Neverland / El Dorado/ This Strange Engine

I Can't Stop Thinking About You

After a 13 year wait, we finally have the new single from Sting- I Can't Stop Thinking About You.  On the plus side, it's upbeat, it doesn't sound anything like his last two albums, and it's not a sappy love song [1].  The essential band members Dominic and  Vinnie are present, although David's keys are gone. [2] Musically, this seems like a progression of 2005's Broken Music Tour, all done on strings with the addition of a second guitar, now worked into new material.  Given the presence of Josh Freese on the album, I wonder if some of this didn't originate in those sessions. In terms of tempo, Thinking fits alongside Next To You, which Sting rediscovered for the 2005 tour. Lyrically, this track exists along with If I Ever Lose My Faith in You and contains similar imagery to tracks from Mercury Falling, particularly The Hounds of Winter and the style of 25 to Midnight.  Theological considerations similar to All This Time can also be discerned. Sting's music has always struck me as more relevant in the fall and winter (with, perhaps, The Police more compatible with Summer) and here Sting continues his exploration of an existential lack in relation to winter.  Just this week I was, through an event of synchronicity, thinking about the book The Heart of a Lonely Hunter, which gets worked into the lyrics, and always seems to make a good metaphor. This track suggest that the new album will not have the layered sonic complexity of his masterpiece albums (Nothing Like the Sun, The Soul Cages), or their refined lyrics.  But it is a good reboot, ending the overproduced yet flat sound and writing of the last two albums, and the non-rock endeavors of his last four releases.  It is a good indicator of Sting 3.0, and that might be the best thing to come from this return to the world, out of the hyper-esoteric and eccentric desert of the last decade.

[1] Unlike something like Whenever I Say Your Name
[2] The keyboards - particularly David's - were noticeably absent on the 2016.08.31 performance of All This Time.  Hopefully the tour will feature the re-inclusion of David (and Jo and Peter) to fully perform tracks from other albums.  Although, as mentioned, he got by on the Broken Music Tour and might try something different .

Driven to Tears

Sting with Paul Simon @ Xcel Energy Center, St Paul, MN -  2014.02.23

In another one of Sting's experiments, this tour featured the most unusual pairing on such a big name tour.  Early 80s New Wave meets 70s folk.  Many reviews note that Simon exists on another level than Sting in the history of music.  I don't subscribe to that point of view.  Sting maintains a large radio presence beyond Simon's, and while Simon's influence is undeniable, it would seem that Sting's has become just as large (see Maroon 5, Goyte, Bruno Mars, etc.)  Can anyone name a Simon song from the last 25 years?  For Sting, no one can name one from this century, as its seems both artist have fallen into the same trap - revolving around their mythical status rather than moving forward (although a lot of the blame for that rests on society and the industry rather than the artist).  In terms of talent, I think the translation worked better with Sting's version of Simon than Simon's version of Sting (Fragile, for one was very flat and uninspiring), but Simon's most iconic tracks came across well for a responsive crowd.  Personally, those 70s songs just felt out of place to me, while Simon's 80s world-beat influence mixed better with Sting's tracks.  The inclusion of the lackluster song Brand New Day really strikes me as bad choice for a duet, not only because it's boring but because of the lyrical innuendo.   The real disappointment was, of course, the failure of Sting's equipment during Roxanne, which led to omission of They Dance Alone, Desert Rose and Every Breath You Take.  This failure only highlights the pitfalls of an overly elaborate production.  Sting and band should have been able to walk over to the half of the stage that was working and play, but when an artist is this far in to a perfectly choreographed performance, there is just no way to do that.  I would have preferred that they swapped sets at that point, handing over to Simon's band and then resumed playing afterwards (stopping for an intermission to fix the problem if necessary).  The speed with which the show moved on seemed like a cheat.  The loss of Every Breath wasn't a loss at all, but it would have been nice to hear the other two, particularly because this is the first tour (to stop here) that features Sting playing bass for them. These omissions also have more of an impact because after a 21 year wait Sting finally has his best band back together - Dominic Miller, David Sancious on keyboard, and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums.  The addition of Peter Tickell also adds to the band, particularly his fiddle solo on Driven to Tears, and the vocals of Jo Lawry are welcome addition as well. While this band brought a full set to tour in 2013, they unfortunately skipped the Twin Cities (as Sting always does when he is on bass).  The set could have been better, as it originally included Love is the Seventh Wave, which would seem to fit better than Simon than any other song.  Higher energy tunes such as King of Pain or If I Ever Lose My Faith would have helped as well, although they may have drawn a sharper distinction from the low-key Simon numbers.  Sting seemed in top form and the vocals on Message in a Bottle were perhaps the best I've heard him sing, the sustain and impact in this rendition were unmatched.  Now that Sting has his  real band back together, let's hope for more touring and another stop here with a full set, without any gimmicks.


+: Message in a Bottle, Driven to Tears, I Hung My Head, The Hounds of Winter, No Every Breath You Take
-: No Love is the Seventh Wave, They Dance Alone, Desert Rose or King of Pain, If Ever Lose My Faith

Setlist: Brand New Day - Boy in the Bubble(Paul Simon cover) - Fields of Gold - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - Englishman in New York - I Hung My Head - Driven to Tears - Walking on the Moon - Mother and Child Reunion (Paul Simon cover) - Fragile - America(Simon & Garfunkel cover) - Message in a Bottle - The Hounds of Winter - They Dance Alone (aborted) -Roxanne - Desert Rose (omitted) - The Boxer(Simon & Garfunkel cover)- Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel cover) - Every Breath You Take (omitted) - Late in the Evening (Paul Simon cover)- When Will I Be Loved? (The Everly Brothers cover)

Sound That Can't Be Made

Sounds That Can't Be Made  - Marillion



"People change and they turn strange and so will I"

After the longest pause in output in Marillion's career, album 17 - Sounds That Can't Be Made has finally been finished. (Thanks to Marillion for providing me with the Mp3 album while my CD makes a transatlantic journey). Not being the biggest fan of the 2008 release Happiness is the Road, I have not committed as much time to absorbing the latest Marillion works, although I think 2007's Somewhere Else is an amazing record and is holding up as some classic Marillion work. There were difficulties with writers block as it seems that H has already said a lot of what he has to say, although it would seem unfortunate circumstances in his personal life have given him more to say.  Even though there are many thematic repeats in his writing career,  I think H is good at expressing the same stories in different ways. Some of the problems with making this record, I think, involve the 20 songs put onto Happiness is the Road.  I would rather see single disc releases like this that take time than a massive and quick output. To begin with, Sounds has a title that is in my opinion is a bit awkward.  I would have preferred something with a little more mystique, something simple like "Rain" would have been nice (there can't be enough Marillion songs about death and water.)


"Nothing's ever simple - that's for sure
There are grieving mothers on both sides of the wire" 
 
"With the love of our family we can rise above anything
Someday surely someone must help us"

The standout track seems to be the opener Gaza - musically heavier and jarring, although somewhat disjointed.  However I think this track is Marillion in top form, I can't get enough of it.  From the orchestral beginnings, to the distorted guitars to the ethereal vocals this song is a dramatic story.  Lyrically, this song has already produced heated controversy.  People want to see it as anti-Isreal/Pro-Palestine/pro-terrorist.  But I think this is to add a political/historic narrative that isn't present. This is rock music.  This is art.  This is revolution.  It's about an oppressed population living in a war zone, particularly from a more innocent viewpoint.  Really the controversy can only come from the title.  Without a location name, it could be about any war. The meaning is not far from the Police's Invisible Sun, a song that only generated controversy from the British government.  It is surely less ideological than Roger Water's anti-war songs like Leaving Beirut. H comes from a culture that is the dominant in a violent political conflict.  Likewise, I, and many offended listeners from America, live in the dominant culture of a conflict.  I don't want to see the US lose the "war on terror" and I don't think H wants the IRA blowing up London.  But I think that we can look at reasons why these conflicts continue and understand that there are losers on both sides.

"Love had died but love is gonna live again"

Lyrically, the album as a whole is fairly simple and straightforward without much complex metaphor. Power is a strong track and was a welcome addition to the 2012 US tour, although I feel like some of the lyric/vocal transitions are a bit awkward.  Pour My Love is a very nice track, a sad theme but presented in a positive and calm manner.  It reminds me a bit of Prince (without any funk).  Sounds That Can't Be Made , Montreal, Invisible Ink, and Lucky Man are perhaps less memorable lyrically but musically strong. The Sky Above the Rain presents another simple tale of lost love, it's not as epic or moving as I was led to believe, but it is well crafted and has great bluesy guitar work by Rothery.

There is in fact a lot of classic Rothery guitar sounds throughout the record.  After their releases in the early 2000s I was beginning to worry that this had become history, but it is back in force.  In all instrumental respects this album is musically intriguing and of sound quality.  Musical phrases on this album leave me thinking about songs like Out of This World, The Space, Fantastic Place, This Strange Engine, Quartz and much of the Brave album. Although there are only eight songs, the album is 70 minutes long.  There are a lot of musical bits, many of which I would like to see explored in longer sections.  To be fair, I should give this album a few more weeks of listening before making judgements.  But as I can't stop listening to it, I think that's good sign that this album will make its mark and overturn any disinterest I was beginning to feel with the last release.  I can't wait for the next one.

Out of This World

Marillion @ Park West, Chicago 2012.06.22-23

What can be said?  Marillion came to Chicago and played 30 songs (including 3 Fish ones) without any serious difficulties.  Its hard to say anything critical when, to be fair to Marillion, they could come play a night of Britney Spears and it would sound good (a theory established by their Toxic performance).  However, to be fair to myself I feel some analysis is warranted.  Mark Kelly recently stated that Marillion would do a limited tour so fans wouldn't have to go 500 to 1000 miles to see a show. In reality, their US tour allows fans to only have to go 500 to 1000 miles, which is far better than 4000 miles.

The first set featured more progressive-oriented songs, ones which might challenge the listener more such as the 18 minute Ocean Cloud, which along with the 11+ minute tracks Invisible Man and Neverland and the more accessible songs You're Gone and Fantastic Place, amounted to 50+ minutes of Marbles, roughly half the double album.  The inclusion of the 15 minute This Town trilogy infused the show with energy to bring it to a full rock level.

The second night featured a much more energetic set of songs and felt like a true Marillion event. Unfortunately, Invisible Man and Neverland were repeated, displacing the great opener of Splintering Heart and taking set space for what could have been Somewhere Else. Otherwise, it was great to hear Kayleigh after a twenty year wait and plenty of Afraid of Sunlight.  Although the set for this tour was a great mix of songs and much improved over their latest world tours, it was strange that after skipping America the last two times, this one featured eleven songs played at the 2004 show.  Of the two new tracks played Power has a classic Marillion essence, indicating that the upcoming Sounds That Can't be Made will once again be a great addition to the catalog.  Special mention has to go to opener Sun Domingo, who exhibited great musicianship among all band members as well as great aesthetic taste in music. Although Marillion has hinted at not coming back to the U.S. in the future, this tour has seemed to be a success, and we can only hope they return within the next eight years

Setlist 1:
Invisible Man
Beautiful
You're Gone
Easter
King
Fantastic Place
A Voice From the Past
Ocean Cloud
Power
This Town/ Rakes Progress/ 100 Nights
Man of a Thousand Faces
Neverland
Sugar Mice
Happiness is the Road

2:
Invisible Man
Cover My Eyes
Slainte Mhath
Out of This World
Afraid of Sunlight
Cannibal Surf Babe
The Great Escape
Estonia
Lucky Man
Between You and Me
Neverland
This Strange Engine
Kayleigh
No One Can
Three Minute Boy

+: AOS, HiE tracks, Kayleigh, songs about water & death: Estonia, Ocean Cloud and Out of This World.  Epics This Town & This Strange Engine.  Slainte Mhath, No One Can.
-: Heavy on Marbles material, Invisible Man & Neverland repeats rather than skipped Splintering Heart & Somewhere Else. Weak Marillion songs Cannibal Surf Babe & Three Minute Boy.  The weakest songs from the last two albums: A Voice From the Past, Happiness is the Road. .

Zooropa

U2 @ TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis 2011.07.23

One could joke that Bono even has the power to influence the weather, seamlessly integrating it with the largest concert tour in history.  The TCF Bank Stadium show in Minneapolis was a combination of circumstances that came together in a way that could never be repeated, resulting in an incredible night and show.  U2 braved the weather, performing in hard rains on a flooded stage with a massive lightning show that extended the stage lighting effects all the way to the horizon.  In addition, Minneapolis decided to set off a fireworks show, the finale of which occurred during Bono's opera part of Miss Sarajevo.  The rain only served to enhance the expressionist effects of Bono's vocals, especially when projected on the video screen.  In celebration of the twentieth anniversary the show started off with four tracks from Achtung Baby and the inclusion of One and Zooropa into the setlist further revisited the spectacle that U2 managed to create in the early 90s, only this time the result was less artificial and cynical.  This concert would have been a great opportunity to play the rare Electrical Storm, but the only real letdown was the omission of Magnificent, easily the most energetic and interesting track on their latest release and underrepresented in U2's  public image in the last two years.  It will be exceedingly difficult for U2 to top this show and tour in future endeavors, and this performance may remain a pinnacle in U2s career for many years to come.

Setlist:

Even Better Than the Real Thing / The Fly / Mysterious Ways/ Until the End of the World/ I Will Follow / Get On Your Boots /  I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Stand By Me / Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of / Beautiful Day (Space Oddity) / Elevation / Pride / Miss Sarajevo / Zooropa / City of Blinding Lights / Vertigo / I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight / Sunday Bloody Sunday / Scarlet / Walk On / One / Where The Streets Have No Name (Hallejulah/ Purple Rain)/ Hold Me Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me / With Or Without You / Moment of Surrender

+: Acthung Baby! Zooropa, Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me

-: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.  No Magnificent. Ultraviolet, The Unforgettable Fire, All I Want is You have all been rotated out of the setlist.

Fear of a Blank Planet

Ok, I finally found time to listen to one of the most anticipated albums of 2007 - Porcupine Tree's Fear of A Blank Planet. Porcupine Tree follows the 20th century progressive lineage from Genesis, Pink Floyd, Marillion, through Dream Theater and they have taken progressive from the late neo-melodic into a 21st century postmodern progressive. The textures of their musical landscape are layers that are chaotic and dynamic, revealing a visceral complexity. Heavy, dark, and ethereal at the same time. Like the other great progressive albums of 2007, Marillion's Somewhere Else and Dream Theater's Systematic Chaos, this album is completely immersive. The music pulls you into a new world, where you want to stay and explore for a while. Like the aforementioned albums, this is one where the "repeat" button is required. The core of the album is Anesthetize, an 18 minute track that really shines as an example of modern progressive rock.

The themes of modern ennui found here are not new, going as far back as Baudelaire, although some of the technological aspects are new. The blankness of Generation X was a realized concept circa 1980, and further popularized by Douglas Coupland in the early 90s. Writing about teen angst is shaky ground for anyone over the age of 22. Peart took a larger third person perspective with the Rush songs Subdivisions and The Pass. But, here Wilson takes a more precarious first person view. The lyrics seem somewhat simplistic - whether this is intentional as appropriate to the narrative character, I don't know. As another reviewer of this album noted, "Steven Wilson's skills as a producer, songwriter, and guitarist far surpass his skills as a lyricist. This album is weighed down by its mediocre lyrics." I have to agree. The imagery is a little too overt, it has no ambiguity to allow for multiple levels of interpretation. While, I get his point, I get hit with it a little too much - some things are best when they are not as explicit. Besides the simplicity, the contemporary references -ipod, xbox, Pearl Jam, etc - might give the album a dated point of view. But, besides these concerns, the album does explore interesting ground, themes that are worth repeatedly exploring in new light. Porcupine Tree provides this light with the "modernity" of their sound, and takes us into a new future as they lead the course of progressive music.

Somewhere Else

"Love her like you've never fallen
in love before
Fall out of love with her
So you can remember"


EASTER 2007: Somewhere Else is here. What can be said about the latest Marillion offering? While this is recognizably the band that brought us Marbles, it is (as usual) a completely new direction for Marillion. It is experimental and unconventional. This is more of a song-oriented record than a album-based record consisting of a continuing theme. At the same time, the songs don't really stand out as prominent individual pieces. They all blend together quite nicely, creating an atmospheric journey the transitions seamlessly from one track to another. There aren't many hooks, making the album as a whole not as easily accessible as it might be, there are no tracks like "You're Gone" to reach out and grab you. (*see note below). The closest track is "Most Toys". The first time I heard this I thought it was going to be very trite. At less than three minutes, it is an anomaly for Marillion; but more troublesome, the lyrics seem incomplete, as an intro verse should have been added. Nevertheless, the track is a catchy one.

Musically, Somewhere Else contains top notch performances. The bass and drums are solid. There is a lot of outstanding piano work, and perhaps most importantly there is a lot of Rothery's magical electric guitar. The style contains pieces of Anoraknophobia, .com, and musical phrases straight off of Brave and This Strange Engine. There is also a notable Beatles influence, both musically and lyrically, as there was on Marbles ("Don't Hurt Yourself"). What is lacking is the intensity of the "classic" Marillion era of Season's End and Holidays in Eden, where the bass was driving and the guitars screaming.

In terms of lyrics and song structure, this album continues Marillion's journey farther away from conventional structure into more abstract territories. There isn't much of a verse/chorus structure and many songs seem to be two completely separate sections put together, although there could be a thematic purpose for that,(The Other Half), (This is what prog is supposed to be right, so anyone who thinks Marillion is not progressive needs to take a listen to this. It's not Holidays in Eden!). The lyrics are also abstract and seem somewhat stream-of-consciousness. I'm not ready to comment on the lyrics for "Somewhere Else" yet. I thought "Hope for the Future" was esoteric! But H has really gone farther, I'm not sure if he is just getting more obscure, or if I'm just not getting it, or maybe there's nothing to get. I guess that's my homework assignment, and I'm sure like all good art it will become more and more meaningful as I experience it. In the tradition of U2, H's global awareness certainly shines through more than any other Marillion record. "The Wound" is a song about pain and ferns with imagery that reminds me of Sting's "Lazarus Heart":

He looked beneath his shirt today
There was a wound in his flesh so deep and wide
From the wound a lovely flower grew
From somewhere deep inside

While the songs have a high quality to them, it does seem that something is missing from the album as a whole. It reminds me of Peter Gabriel's Up, some good material, but really missing something. One or to really strong songs would really cement the work into a whole that feels finished. The Other Half, See it Like a Baby, Somewhere Else, No Such Thing and The Wound all seem like the core of a great album. Most Toys adds energy and in a more finished form could move to my "better half of the album" list.

So while I don't think the album as a whole lives up to the standards set by the Classic period, I also think this will be an essential piece of Marillion history, the music is simply too unique and too well crafted not to be. For myself this is a CD that can be put on repeat and I never feel inclined to hit stop.


*Just to set the record straight on Marbles: I've seen much criticism about "You're Gone", referring to bad pop and often accussing it of a cheese factor. Not only do I think it the best song of 2004 and the best Marillion track since This Strange Engine, I also think it may be one of their best songs ever. The intensity of the lyrics and the multiple guitar solo's are unsurpassed. I remember riding a bus across the UK the month Marbles came out, and leaving this song on constant repeat on my ipod. The emotional intensity in this song seemed to me to reflect the emotional depth that I felt from England as well.


". . .And your life took on a life of it's own. . ."