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| Marillion - AWOL |
 Released: 2002 Label: Racket Records Cat. No.: Racket 21 Total Time: 47:15 | |
Reviewed by: John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg, May 2004 In between devoting their time to Marillion, all of the individual band members spend some of their precious time being involved in other musical activities. With Racket Records, the Internet and their very own mail order company, of course the various solo projects also are promoted and handled by means of the band’s very own record company. Although most of those solo outings have found a home with a different record company, Racket Records nevertheless is pleased to let the world know about these releases and activities and what better way to introduce this myriad of activities than by means of a very cheaply priced compilation album. For as little as TWO pounds (+ VAT) or a mere THREE US dollars you get a taster of what four of the Marillion household have been up to in their spare time. Now how about that for value for your money? First we get lead singer Steve Hogarth with both a studio track from his Ice Cream Genius album as well as a tasty David Bowie cover pulled from H’s live album. Here "Life On Mars" sounds as cool as the original. Completely different is the jazz journey from drummer Ian Mosley. With two tracks pulled from his Postmankind album, which he composed and recorded together with Ben Castle, Marillion fans might be surprised to hear what their hero has up his sleeve other than the well known Marillion classics. With certain parts of "The Continuing Adventures Of Colonel Svene" sounding like authentic Return to Forever, surely enough is said about the quality to expect. Then it’s time for the more melodic approach courtesy of Steve Hogarth and the clear vocals of Hannah Stobart. Both tracks pulled from the fine debut album Carnival Of Souls, Steve’s subtle guitar parts blend ever so well with the often Celtic sounding singing of Hannah. Pity no follow-up album has yet been released, as this kind of material most certainly fits very well within the Marillion idiom. The slight medieval haze that is contained within "Midnight Snow" reminds me of Blackmore’s Night. This nicely compiled sampler closes with the super-symphonic outing from Pete Trewavas, who together with Mike Portnoy, Neal Morse and Roine Stolt, settled for Transatlantic. In order to deliver a similar length for every Marillion member on this disc, Racket Records has opted to leave behind the real epics and settle for two "shorter" tracks. Pulled respectively from the SMPTe and Bridge Across Forever albums both tracks fully illustrate the pure class present within this unique collaboration, a wonderful chance for Pete to prove his qualities outside of the Marillion mould. So there you have it: eight slices of music outside of Marillion itself, proof of the many talents present in one single band and once again a wonderful initiative from Marillion and its record company, enabling fans to get to know the other "stuff" at a ridiculously low price. I know it sounds cliché but: no house should be without one! More about AWOL: Track Listing: Steve Hogarth/H: "You Dinosaur Thing" (Ice Cream Genius / "Life On Mars (Live)" (Live Spirit: Live Body) / Ian Mosley & Ben Castle: "The Continuing Adventures Of Colonel Svene" (Postmankind) / "Someday In May" (Postmankind) / Steve Rothery/The Wishing Tree: "Evergreen" (Carnival Of Souls / "Midnight Snow" (Carnival Of Souls) / Pete Trewavas/Transatlantic: "Mystery Train" (SMPTe) / "Bridge Across Forever" (Bridge Across Forever) Contact: Website: www.marillion.com Discography
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