Music
Store

However, "Anoraknophobia" was created in a groundbreaking fashion. It was funded mostly by fan preorders through the internet, which theoretically released Marillion from any sort of record company meddling. The idea was that Marillion was to make the album that Marillion wanted to make based on the faith of thier fans. I find it ironic that upon its' completion, the band's press releases regarding this album bordered on insulting to the average Marillion fan. Dressed in too-geeky black-rimmed glasses and hooded sweats, the band begged the world to distance them from the progressive rock label that they obviously feel has plagued them, even though thier fans love them for the work that they have done in that genre. Who do they think that they were talking to? I was the one with a pair of headphones in High School desprately trying to get my friends to see what I saw in ther music.

But, insulted and cynical, I bought the album. The band begged me to "forget what I know about them and just listen", so I did, and I thought that my review here would be my ulimate revenge.

But they were right.

I hate to admit it, but "Anoraknophobia" ranks among one of the best albums I have bought this year. It won me over. Without a doubt, it is my favorite Marillion-H album to date, and for the first time ever I am not thinking about "Clutching at Straws" or "Misplaced Childhood" as a reference. Its sound is so far removed from those albums that it is not fair to really compare them.

And yet comparisons are fair. If Marillion really wanted to distance themselves from thier past so badly, why continue under the same name? Those albums were made over fifteen years ago, and they had an impact on me then. It is possible that "Anoraknophobia" has had (or is having) the same impact on me now. I won't be able to say for sure for another fifteen years. Are they trying to make a point about labels - in particular the label "progressive"? Probably. Regardless, I like "Anoraknophobia" a lot. Overall, the album is as passionate, aggressive, and beautiful as anything that ever happened under Fish, and in all honesty is probably better than anything that he has put out in a LONG time. Personal favorites include "When I Meet God" (probably the centerpiece of the album), "Map of the World" (which sounds like what Rush has been attemping to do in recent years), "Quartz" (GREAT bass work), "This is the 21st Century" (GREAT guitar work - both characteristic and unique), "Fruit of the Wild Rose", and "If My Heart Were a Ball It Would Roll Uphill".

On almost every one of Marillion-H's albums, there is at least one (if not more) embarassingly adolescent "rocker"-tune that sticks out like a sore thumb and mars the album's potential excellence. A few examples are "Season's End's" "Hooks in You", the title track from "Holidays in Eden", and from "Brave", "Paper Lies" and "Hard as Love", etc, etc. A similar example does really exist on "Anoraknophobia". The only song I could poke holes in would be "Separated Out", but only because the guitar riff from it reminds me of the "Mony mo-mo-Mony" part of Billy Idol's cover of "Mony, Mony", and somewhere in there I think I hear the intro from the Door's "Light My Fire". However, it wins bonus points in the conceptual continuity department by sarcastically referencing "Freaks", an old-school Marillion password.

The lowdown: after lots of effort and heartache, Marillion has finally carved a niche for themselves with Hogarth at the helm. If you have been dilligently waiting for them to do something worthwhile since Fish left, its time to jump on board, because in trying to distance themselves from the progressive label, they have made what could arguably be the most significant symphonic rock album this year. If you don't know them at all, consider what would happen if Radiohead and U2 collided with a stylized Genesis. Check it out!

One other thing...what the heck is an Anorak, anyway......


A brilliant reinvention, but not abandoning their past   May 15, 2001
 11 out of 12 found this review helpful

The question is how to market this album? A reviewer who only listens once may not get the whole picture, but you can't just say, "Don't write your review until you've listened to this album continuously for a week." The thing is, a Marillion album is a lifelong commitment, not a fad of the month, and these things grow into who you are and affect you profoundly. How do you market that in today's pop music world?

This is definitely one of Marillion's 3 best albums. In fact, every 4th album has been, and it shares quite a bit with "Clutching at Straws" and "Afraid of Sunlight." Both those albums really did sound quite different from what had come before, not just from Marillion but anyone. Not that they were earth-shattering, they were clearly progressive-tinged rock, but there's something about song structures and arrangements that set them apart.

Anoraknophobia continues in this tradition. The songs aren't like what you've heard before (except possibly for "Map of the World" but the aforementioned Marillion albums had their pop song too.) I mean, listen to "Quartz"--it's basically the perfect Marillion song while being something that they've never pulled off--the 9 minutes fly by, you're brought through a host of emotions, and at the end you've been communicated to. I've also gotten into "When I Meet God"--the first 5 minutes are a perfect pop single, but the song is made by the ending, and all of it is necessary. Songs like "Separated Out" and "If My Heart Were A Ball it Would Roll Uphill" are rockers the best the band has ever written, with some extended passages that if, say, the Dave Matthews Band had done, critics would be praising for the free-form jamming they got down. Even the full-on rocker "Between You And Me" has enough twists and turns to keep many die-hard proggers happy, with enough pop to please a U2 fan.

A side note on song length. The best long songs aren't long. Examples are Yes' "Close To The Edge", and any epic from Marillion (yes, even "Grendel", but especially "This Strange Engine" and "Interior Lulu") They take time to explore musical ideas. Instead of hitting you over the head and finishing with you quickly, they weave together themes, revisit sounds, and create a whole sonic experience. Yeah, on first listen you're not going to pick up on that, but on every long song on this album, there is that effect. Perhaps that's why it takes some time to get in to the album--your brain has to identify those patterns and be able to understand them. Marillion has created an album of 6 to 9 minute pop songs. Now, that's going to bother those of you who think pop songs are 3 to 4 minutes, but you're missing out if you don't give this longer format a chance. The "epic" of the album, "This is the 21st Century," is 11 minutes of trancelike sounds that tell us where we are right now, and where we might be going; reconciling the mystical with the technological.

So, yes, this is a masterpiece, truly a new way of thinking for the band, that doesn't abandon where they've come from. I mean, I'm sure some fans didn't like "Clutching" when it came out, but most of us now seem to think it's one of the most perfect albums ever, by any band. I think time will show out Anoraknophobia the same way. Yeah, I liked com and Radiation, and I just relistened to "TSE" in a whole new light, but A12a stands as the best of the post-EMI albums (although I guess it's not really a post-EMI album.)

And I really want to see it live. I know the band will do what they can to get to the US, but I also know they won't go broke trying. Mark's comment that the band isn't rich really rang true--I mean, just run the numbers. The band raised 100,000 pounds on the pre-orders--but they not only have to pay themselves, but the staff (4 or 5 people now?), they had to pay a producer, and they may own the Racket Club but they still need to buy gear and minidiscs and power. They're not dealing with millions here, certainly not after expenses. We should all be thankful they seem to be making enough to be able to afford to keep doing it, and doing it well, but you don't need to see the ledger books to figure out they're not getting filthy rich from it. Here's hoping the buzz on this album is good enough to support a US tour. Here's hoping you buy it.


Revolutionary use of the Internet , so-so music   October 4, 2001
 9 out of 16 found this review helpful

In my original review of anoraknophobia, the latest effort from Marillion, I awarded the album only one star.

After giving the matter more thought, I think I spoke too soon.

To arrive at this new conclusion, I read all the information on their Web site regarding the recording of anoraknophobia. I re-read all dozen pages about the album in the contemporary business/marketing book "NEXT: The Future Just Happened," by Michael Lewis. I even listened to all Steve Hogarth-era Marillion albums, Afraid of Sunlight and anoraknophobia in particular.

Okay. So the album isn't as bad as I first thought. But it's not a whole lot better, either. It's simply not that good of an album, even by post-Fish standards. And I don't care how rabid a Marillion fan you are. Listen objectively!

Frankly, I re-thought and revised my review largely based on the revolutionary way anoraknophobia came to be. You really need to read the book "NEXT" to understand what I mean. But, essentially, Marillion asked their fans -- using a database of acquired e-mail addresses -- to pay for the recording of this album, which freed the band from the shackles of a recording contract with a mercenary label that probably didn't care that much about them anyway. What Marillion did is likely to change the recording industry forever.

That idea, alone, is worth five stars. And I applaud them wholeheartedly.

However, objectively speaking, I can't give anoraknophobia more than three stars. The music is only average.

Admittedly, I prefer the Marillion of the Fish years. So I think the Hogarth-era band has to work a lot harder to excite me. With anoraknophobia, I don't think they tried hard enough. I'm not excited.

In my initial review of anoraknophobia, I said that Marillion ceased to be interesting to me the minute Fish left. But that's not entirely true. They're still interesting. I still buy their albums. I'll still see them in concert if they get over to the States again. I'm just not as gung-ho about them as I used to be. I mean, come on, people: How can you top an album like Misplaced Childhood? To suggest anything they've done since then has even come close is to teeter perilously close to the brink of insanity. Misplaced Childhood is the band's high-water mark. It's magical.

Seasons End was the first post-Fish album...and I liked it -- even with Hogarth's perpetually nasal voice -- because at least they still SOUNDED like Marillion.

Maybe there's something wrong with me. But I can't seem to warm up to Hogarth. When he belts out a song, and the song's pace is upbeat and driving, then things are great. But when the music slows to a dirge and he's whining about some depressing subject matter, I can't handle it.

Back to anoraknophobia...

Before all of Marillion's fans blow me out of the water, let me say that I think Marillion contain some of the most creative and talented musicians England has ever produced.

Drummer Ian Mosley is phenomenal. I once read a review in a British rock magazine about an album from the band Thin Lizzy. The author wrote that Lizzy drummer Brian Downey was "as tight as a camel's arse in a sandstorm." I never forgot that line. And I think it applies equally well to Ian Mosley. He's incredibly tight. In concert, he doesn't even seem to move. Or break a sweat. He's just powerful, creative and crisp. Especially his cymbal work.

Keyboardist Mark Kelly is capable of some of the most haunting and memorable music I've ever heard. He's truly gifted.

Bassist Pete Trewavas (who scored another hit as part of the new progressive rock band Transatlantic) is fantastic. McCartney-esque, in fact. Very fluid and melodic.

Guitarist Steve Rothery has a unique style and an ability to create captivating riffs. (And his solo in "Easter" from Seasons End still stands as one of the most brilliant ever recorded.)

Vocalist Steve Hogarth is, uh, well intentioned.

Marillion are a great combination of musicians. So why aren't they producing music that electrifies, captivates and touches my soul?

"Between You and Me," the first track from anoraknophobia, begins as a moody, almost classical, piano piece from Mark Kelly. (It sounds like it could have been used as the soundtrack to the new thriller movie "The Others" starring Nicole Kidman.) The stage is set for something special. My hopes were raised. Then when the song kicked into high gear I was really diggin' it.

However, as I'm listening I'm also noticing that the production isn't as crisp on anoraknophobia as Marillion's production used to be, could have been and should have been on this album. The drums (especially the cymbals) are buried. The vocals are even pushed back a ways. No instrument is really out front. The sound is like a mid-range mush.

"Quartz," the second track is a funky groove, almost like a Boz Scaggs song. Cool bass line. A Shaft-like wah-wah guitar riff. And Hogarth's low-key voice. Yuk.

"Map of the World," follows with a catchy guitar riff. Very contemporary-sounding. This is one of the better tracks on the album. It's upbeat and memorable. You could easily find this track on a so-called New Rock radio format station. It's actually a happy-sounding tune.

"When I Meet God" is supposedly the hot track on anoraknophobia. It starts out with another great Mark Kelly flourish. Atmospheric. Rothery's guitar -- sounding a lot like something from REM -- joins him and together they set the stage for what could have been a truly cool song. But it falls on its face the second Hogarth begins to sing. The song never lives up to its first 30 seconds.

"The Fruit of the Wild Rose," the next track, is a return to a groove that sounds like something Boz Scaggs would be comfortable recording. Nice guitar and bass work. But then you get Hogarth and, well, the song becomes something less than ideal.

"Separated Out" begins with a carnival-barker voice and organ sounds in the background that sound like they came from Sgt. Pepper's. The drums and guitar kick in. Very driving and upbeat. Hogarth's voice is buried, which in this case is unfortunate because I like him when he's belting out a song. This is a catchy tune.

"This is the 21st Century" begins with a spooky guitar/keyboard background and Mosley's dance-beat drumming setting the stage for...? Nothing. The song goes nowhere.

The last track on the album ("If My Heart Were a Ball It Would Roll Uphill") is another forgettable song that doesn't quite gel. It's a bit dissonant at first. And cacophonous. Yet, it's all sound and noise and fury signifying nothing.

The real tragedy of anoraknophobia isn't that it's sub-par Marillion; it's that the band had a golden opportunity to record exactly the music they wanted to record (thanks to their fans), with no label intervention...and they recorded this. anoraknophobia is not progressive rock. It's not brilliant power pop. It's not dance music. It's not so-called New Rock. It breaks no new ground, pushes no boundaries, reaches no new heights.

So what is anoraknophobia? I know my opinion won't be popular, but you have to face facts: anoraknophobia is a mediocre album from a band capable of so much more.

If you want to know what Marillion are capable of, listen to Misplaced Childhood, Script For a Jester's Tear, Seasons End or even Afraid of Sunlight. anoraknophobia doesn't do the band justice.


Disappointed and Surprised At the Reviews   July 26, 2001
 8 out of 11 found this review helpful

As a (very) long-time Marillion fan, I've got to write the dissenting opinion on this one. As much as I'm pulling for the guys, I can't help but feel that this forced attempt to stay hip sounds like exactly that.

I've never thought that the Genesis comparisons were accurate or fair, but one thing the two bands have in common are seriously hardcore fans -- some of whom seem unwilling to admit that more current releases are inferior to prior masterpieces. Afraid of Sunlight was, in my opinion, the last grand statement of the band, not unlike Duke was for Genesis. And while I recognize that times change and that rock n' roll artists must strive to keep their music current, the things that brought me to Marillion in the first place are, sadly, long gone.

The band obviously wants to separate itself from its prog-rock past, and I don't blame them. Now they're chasing the zeitgest, referencing bands like Massive Attack and Radiohead -- good bands! But you can't always have it both ways. 13000 people and I may have pre-ordered this album, but next time around I'll listen before I buy. That's what saved me from buying We Can't Dance...


I SO wanted to like this album ... but...   October 31, 2003
 7 out of 9 found this review helpful

Marillion ask the fans to help finance the album .. a bold experiment to give them the artistic freedom. I paid in advance and waited hoping for a unique album. The first track comes on .. I hear a potentially classic tune .. then it goes on too long. I listen again and again to the album trying to find something else I like in the album. I find very little. I hear hints of Oasis and other younger bands... Nothing touches my soul the way previous albums have or says to me 'listen to me again this is MARILLION!'

H's comment is spot on... this sounds nothing like Marillion have sounded before. But neither does it sound new or left field. It comes across to me as a somewhat comtrived attempt to produce popular music closer to the mainstream not what I hoped to hear. It isn't totally successful even in that as the prog rock tendencies to drag things out and over-indulge when simplicity at times would have brought a better result.

Don't get me wrong. I like Marillion. I respect their right to do what they do. I respect the right of others to like it when I don't. My personal view is merely that. I await future albums with the hope I can emotionally connect better with them than I do this one.