One of the caveats of Marillion’s career is that, on each new
\nalbum, they try not to follow the same path they were on the
\nprevious album. On their last studio effort
\nThis Strange Engine<\/i>, Steve Hogarth and crew created a
\nwonderfully textured, layer-by-layer sonic approach. The richness
\nof these arrangements captured my attention immediately, and the
\nalbum made my “best of 1997” list.<\/p>\n
Now, with the memories of that album behind them (as well as the
\nlessons Hogarth learned when he cut his first solo album
\nIce Cream Genius<\/i>), Marillion start out on a different path
\non their latest release
\nRadiation<\/i>. There are still some rich arrangements present
\nhere, but for the most part the music is shorter, more pop-oriented
\nmaterial. And while I am a bit disappointed that they didn’t
\ncontinue the sonic layering, it’s still a very fine effort.<\/p>\n
Following a brief opening interlude in “Costa del Slough”,
\nMarillion turns the corner towards a more rock-oriented approach.
\nPunctuated by a whoop from Hogarth over the guitar work of Steve
\nRothery, “Under The Sun” introduces Marillion 1998 to the listener.
\nWhile the listener who was expecting
\nThis Strange Engine<\/i>-like songs may be taken back
\nmomentarily, the track is excellent; Mark Kelly’s space-like
\nkeyboard effects lock this one in for me.<\/p>\n
There is still plenty of challenge that Marillion offers its
\nlisteners; most noteworthy is the alternative rhythm pattern on
\n“The Answering Machine” that takes a minute to click. And, if
\nyou’re looking for the rich, textured music, you don’t have a very
\nlong wait, as Hogarth and crew oblige on tracks like “Three Minute
\nBoy” and “A Few Words For The Dead”. (“Three Minute Boy” reminds me
\nof one or two works off
\nIce Cream Genius<\/i>, though I do wish that things had built up
\na bit quicker on this track.)<\/p>\n
Throughout the musical changes that Marillion has gone through
\nin the last year, the gentle beauty of their music that often comes
\nthrough has not been forgotten about. Tracks like “Now She’ll Never
\nKnow” and “Estonia” (the latter a bonus track on the American
\nrelease) demonstrate this and remove any lingering doubts a
\nlistener could have.<\/p>\n
Despite all the positives of
\nRadiation<\/i>, one can’t help but still feel like something is
\nmissing on this disc. Granted, I’m probably being too hard on the
\ndisc; had I never heard
\nThis Strange Engine<\/i>, I would probably think that this album
\nwas a masterpiece. Maybe so, but to be blunt, it was going to be
\nhard for Marillion to top
\nThis Strange Engine<\/i>, no matter what. This is an excellent
\neffort to do so.<\/p>\n
Interestingly enough, I found myself enjoying the bonus tracks
\n(the acoustic version of “Estonia” previously mentioned and the
\n“Big Beat Mix” of “Memory Of Water”) more than a few tracks on
\nRadiation<\/i>. Had these tracks not been on the album, it would
\nhave ended leaving me feel empty (although it would have solidly
\nclosed with “A Few Words For The Dead”). Instead, these tracks fill
\nthat void, making the time spent on the album all the better.<\/p>\n
\nRadiation<\/i> is still a very enjoyable album that the diehard
\nMarillion fans will undoubtedly swoon over. And though it holds its
\nown quite well, it still is the album released after a tough act to
\nfollow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5884],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-38802","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-marillion","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38802"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}