Getting a new Marillion album is a bit like getting a Christmas present from a favorite relative that lives abroad. You’re never quite sure what it’s going to be like, but you know it will be different and interesting and will become a favorite. With any new Marillion album I listen to it multiple times straight through with two or three tracks immediately standing out as instant favorites. Then I put it up for a couple of weeks and, invariably, I’ll find myself humming parts of the other songs. Then I’ll pull the disc back out and go through it again and it then will be in permanent rotation for music to listen to. Yes, it’s strange, but one must approach new Marillion music rather obliquely and from the side. Their music refuses to be attacked head-on. There’s just too much there and your brain will refuse to relegate it to the background.
“Happiness Is The Road” is even more packed than usual as it is divided into two volumes. The first record, entitled “Essence,” is comprised of ten songs (plus one hidden track) that all run together as a basic concept album. Essentially, the core of the concept disc is about how happiness truly lies is what is immediately going on around us at any given moment. Basically, the journey is the point, not the destination. Volume Two, “The Hard Shoulder,” is a much less connected collection of songs that are no less compelling. I think what is probably most striking about this whole endeavor is that this is probably their most experimental and innovative album – and it’s also their fifteenth record! Not only that, but it’s also probably the most ambitious and mesmerizing collection of songs that I’ve heard in the last four years. It’s an experiment that is not only successful, but also makes you want to throw your radio away as anything played on it will seem plain and pedestrian by comparison. Marillion is comprised of musicians who are masters at their craft and relish a new direction each album. The music industry is unwittingly better for it while at the same time undeserving of a band that serves no master beyond its own muse and creativity.
I suppose not everyone likes to have to work at listening to music. For them, the tripe that is mainstream radio is perfectly acceptable as background, forgettable music. However, for those of us that want music that stimulates your brain as well as your ears and gives you a soundscape both pleasing and three dimensional, there is Marillion. “Happiness Is The Road” is their best album since they formed in 1982. Yes, I say that each time they release something new, but there are so few bands willing to risk everything and reinvent themsleves each album. It would be nice if the music industry was such that a brilliant new Marillion album was considered mundane. Until then I will cherish every song they release for the gem it is. Now, to get to one day see them live, that would be even more magical…
Buy “Happiness Is The Road” Now!
“Happiness is the Road, Volume 1: Essence”
1. Dreamy Street
2. This Train is my Life
3. Essence
4. Wrapped Up in Time
5. Liquidity
6. Nothing Fills the Hole
7. Woke Up
8. Trap the Spark
9. A State of Mind
10. Happiness is the Road
“Happiness is the Road, Volume 2: The Hard Shoulder”
1. Thunder Fly
2. The Man from the Planet Marzipan
3. Asylum Satellite #1
4. Older than Me
5. Throw Me Out
6. Half the World
7. Whatever is Wrong with You
8. Especially True
9. Real Tears for Sale
Find a better way of life at Marillion.com.
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