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| Marillion - Anoraknophobia |
 Released: 2001 Label: Intact Cat. No.: Intact 12674 Total Time: 63:41 / 20:20 (plus 8:25 video segment) | |
Reviewed by: John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg, May 2001 With my name in the booklet (actually printed over two pages), this means that I, together with 12,673 other Marillion soulmates (also including our webmistress Stephanie Sollow!), have pitched in the required money for this set long before there was even talk of a "normal", "general" CD release with a major label. Rumoured to be the first of its kind, the band decided to take the business equivalent of a bungy jump, throwing overboard all of the liaisons with the record industry. Hoping to reach ten thousand Marillion diehards worldwide but eventually settling for a more logical total of 8000, the band was more than surprised to find that well over twelve thousand madcaps wanted to pay long before they would get their hands on the actual album. In return, the band promised their fans that they'd deliver not one but two CDs, housed in a limited digipack, a release which would never ever again be made commercial apart from this unique pressing. Sadly, I have to say that the same thing was once said about the rare digipack CD included in the lavish and expensive Pink Floyd Shine On box set, only to find out the same disc was now being housed in a "standard" jewel case only months after the initial release. Let’s hope Marillion indeed stay loyal to their fans, because if they do, then a repeat of this success might well be on the cards for the band’s next album. As expected, the album once again sees Marillion in yet another hue of the ever-changing face of the rock spectrum. Because of Hogarth’s distinctive voice of course it’s still Marillion Mark II, but once again the rhythms are more direct with less room for long solos. So in a way it’s more of the solo Hogarth approach we get here with shadows from his Icecreamgenius effort intertwined with his Europeans past. The opening section of “Between You And Me” offers us some solitary Mark Kelly on piano but this only lasts for a mere 34 seconds before a very contemporary rhythm in U2 vein [comes in]. It’s as if Marillion takes off its "old" coat by means of that retrospective view before it introduces the true identity of 21st century Marillion. True, fans of Fish-era Marillion and the Season’s End period will not know what to think with this release, even if real cello suddenly disturbs the atmosphere of the opening track. Still, if you take the time to fully analyze the band’s current offering, then you’ll have to admit that this is true "progressive" all the way, because in no way does the band copy its past. The snake sheds off its coat and feels reborn to attack new ventures in the musical desert! What strikes me with this album is the laidback and bluesy approach from Steve Rothery, which kind of opens new options for the future. The trip-hop blues of “Quartz” isn’t that far away from Portishead, yet if you replace Hogarth’s voice with that of Bono and you put a little more effects on Steve’s guitar then you’d have a superb U2 outtake. Especially the freaky middle section is unheard of anything the band did in their entire career. “Map Of The World” is my daytime radio airplay favourite. Regardless of who is responsible for adding the classical arrangement, this song works very well sporting one of the strongest melodies on the album. After having done a short tour of universities in order to reach a younger audience, no wonder then that “When I Meet God” holds a lot of the Radiohead fantasy. The lengthy song in fact is kind of made up of two completely different sounding parts, the second being spacey and Floydish. Another bluesy intervention from Rothery is “The Fruit Of The Wild Rose” which has Kelly throw in some Hammond as if it was swinging sixties all over again. Ah if only Carnaby street was this cool again. If the band chooses to open their gigs with a track from their new album then “Separated Out” will certainly bring the house down. It’s a powerful, classically structured rock song that, in a way, reminds me of the best INXS song you can imagine, ending in pure Led Zeppelin style. Hogarth’s favourite track “This Is The 21st Century” is based on a groovy drum loop through which weird sounds and divine string sections are woven, whilst Steve’s voice is technically "enhanced." Also check out the strange guitar sounds from Steve played on top of very prominent bass lines from Pete. Towards the end though, it all becomes a little bit long-drawn, with little or no variation in the drum section. The nicest title on the album comes at the very end. “If My Heart Were A Ball It Would Roll Uphill” kicks off in a very intimate semi-jazzy kind of way, as if Marillion was playing at a dear friend’s birthday party. But then the door is kicked in by the ex-boyfriend who throws the cutlery in the air. Knifes and forks fight a battle by means of guitars and keyboards. Some are harmless whilst others are bloody deadly, touching you in the middle of their musical vortex in order to lead you the listener to absolute chaos. The bonus disc opens with piano, voice and cello blending into the finest composition on this set. “Number One” might well be written in the classic tradition, it’s a perfect illustration of the band’s creative and explosive splendour. This is a song that holds the same atmosphere as “Beautiful” way back in 1995. The "naked" original demos for both “Fruit Of The Wild Rose” and “Separated Out” do have the clear lines of the final recording set out and perfectly illustrate the kind of demo minidisc recordings from which the band work when they start writing a new studio album. In the case of “Fruit Of The Wild Rose” the guitar solo could go on and on and on, as it’s “one of those sessions!" As an extra bonus, Mark Kelly has treated “Between You And Me” to an even more danceable remix, yet he doesn’t reach the full potential of the genre, so maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to leave this one in the capable hands of full breed remixers, samples at the ready. Maybe Marillion needed the anorak to prevent them from "radiation" leaking from "this strange engine". Who will tell? [Read also Steph's and Keith's reviews -ed.] More about Anoraknophobia: Track Listing: Disc One: Between You And Me (6:28) / Quartz (9:07) / Map Of The World (5:02) / When I Meet God (9:18) / The Fruit Of The Wild Rose (6:57) / Separated Out (6:14) / This Is The 21st Century (11:07) / If My Heart Were A Ball It Would Roll Uphill (9:28) Musicians: Contact: Website: www.marillion.com Discography
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