marillion.com - overall review

Phew... what can I say? Maybe a disclaimer before the review. All written below is my personal interpretation and opinion, which is likely to vary from individual to individual!

My first listen was a shock. I don´t know why, i had the idea that the album must be like the clips on the Christmas-CD, and that´s definitely false. I didn´t really like it, and when folks on Freaks praised the album as "best m-album ever" I thought that was just the typical raving after a new album has been released. I cannot say that I like it most from all the eleven ones, but otherwise I´d really have trouble rating the other albums. It contains weird stuff, it contains poppy tunes, it contains highs and lows as every album does, and I for myself could not say "typical Marillion". But: It is definitely worth some listens before a final decision is made. So if you hear people say "It´s shite", make your opinion yourself!!!! I for myself do never have the thought "Oh, skip that one, it´s boring".
What I still think is that the production is as poor as Radiation´s was. They had good producers (e.g. Steve Wilson of PTree´s fame), but still the album sounds flat.

I like it (after a week listening to it occasionally), and I´d rate it 8.5/10!

marillion.com - song by song review

a legacy:

Well, for me definitely not a real starter. I heard people comparing it to Splintering Heart (which is one of my faves), but there´s not a sign of that in it IMO. No real climax, and the song starts, and it ends, and suddenly you start asking yourself what was in between.... Not my cup of tea. In advance called "Cathedral Wall part 2", and as I do not really like that one, maybe that´s really true...

Rating: 6/10

deserve:

Thanks, boys! THAT is exactly the song I have been waiting for. Grippy lyrics, a chorus you will not stop humming until you listen to some other songs, and just straight forward feelgood-rock. Would be on of two definite single choices! And the lyrics are soooo true! I got what I deserved!!!! ;-D))))

Rating: 9.5/10

go!:

When it starts, I just cannot stop myself from thinking "Is that 'Now she'll never know' part 2?". The "Mark Hollis (Talk Talk)"-voice again, and slow and a bit sad instrumentation. Read the lyrics, they begin a bit sad, too, but the song starts to get friendlier and more open, until as a climax it ends in that "Wide awake on the edge of the world"-theme, where I can see people standing there with lighters (Zippos?!?!? ;-))))))) in their hands, humming and singing along. Definitely different from the "usual Marillion", but great!

Rating: 9/10

rich:

Dummdidummdidumm... read my comments on deserve.... If I had to chose a song from the album which should be used as a single, one of 'em would have to be in there, but I definitely would struggle to make my choice. GOOOD!!! And really suitable for the radio! Straight, fun, grippy, all you need. The only minor disclaimer is that the song runs 5:42, but in a way ends before 4:00, the rest is clapping and jamming, which I could live without. Good material for a radio edit, though...

Rating: 9.5/10

enlightened:

From the pre-release soundclips I would have sworn that this one was the high of the album, but in a way it just failed.... Wonderful lyrics, painting pictures in my mind, but the music fails to grab me. Very slow, with a little climax in the chorus, but.... I'm just failing to describe what's missing....

Rating: 6.5/10

built in bastard radar:

The first description that came to my mind was "Cannibal Surf Babe" meets "The Answering Machine"! Surf groove meets the slightly distorted vocals that return clean later on. Nice one, it grows and it is definitely a nice song to be played in the background, although the lyrics are a bit cynical: "Every girl´s got built in bastard radar". Is that the explanation why I was not often successful in winning women´s hearts? Well, I won the heart of the one that was the right one, so no worries.....

Rating: 8/10

tumble down the years:

I wanted to limit myself to ONE 10/10 for this album, and the choice was easy, tdty is the exactly the right mixture of emotion, lyrical quality and instrumentation. Play it, close your eyes, stamp your feet and sing along. They MUST do it live, and this song alone will be worth the entrance fee! A very deep lyric about relationships that last for years, and if you ever lived in one or have been married for quite a time, you will know what it´s about. Directly taken from the book of life!

Rating: 10/10

interior lulu:

The monster of the album. More than fifteen minutes, and really only a few boring parts. I cannot compare it (although possible from the length) to TSE, as there is no real connection between the parts. It looks a bit like a mixture of sequences developed one by one, which were then stuck together. In a way it works, although the tempo break in the first third I could have lived without.... Do NOT listen to it with headphones on for the first time! You will tend to crank up the volume and then die a sudden death during this piece... Again strong lyrics about people writing down their thoughts and thus giving away bits of theirselves, and the link to the internet where we all present ourselves to the whole world everyday. My personal favourite piece of lyrics is in there, too: "Use the anger, paint a picture of it, throw the colors, use the pain...". Phew!!!

Rating: 9/10

house:

I cannot find any references to Massive Attack, and there is only a small Reggae-groove in it, maybe they changed something after they released their first descriptions of the songs some months ago...? Nevertheless, this will be the song where the opinions will be totally different from listener to listener. I like it a lot. Imagine sitting in a bar, and you hear typical bar music combined with some trance-grooves and you sit there and can almost see Sade going to the microphone. No one would realize that this song was not written for her! No worries, h is the perfect singer for this song, and it just works. Could have been a bit shorter, but the ten minutes this song lasts make me never feel bored or want to skip it.

Rating: 9/10

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