- Audio CD (5 May 1994)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: EMI
- ASIN: B000025XJL
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Audio Cassette | Vinyl | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 15,959 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Product details |
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
'Holidays In Eden' is probably the most maligned of all Marillion albums, yet I've never been able to understand why.
This was singer Steve Hogarths second album with the band, the first being the well received 'Seasons End', and he gives a vocal performance that knocks spots of anything that Fish sang with the band, and that is no easy task.
The production is crisp and the band manage to achieve a neat mix of more accessible material and traditional Marillion moments. The only problem that Marillion fans have with this record are the three singles that were taken from it, but for me, the only stinker out of those tracks is the over slushy 'No One Can'.'Cover My Eyes' and 'Dry Land', for all their chart appeal, are good guitar based pop numbers, no different to the kind of radio friendly efforts the band did with Fish at the helm towards the end of his tenure with the band.
How tracks like 'Splintering Heart', with its time changes, moods and atmospheres, plus a stonking guitar solo from Steve Rothery can be construed as 'selling out' beggars belief. Also, check out the instrumental section of 'The Party', it's vintage Marillion. The 'This Town/Rakes Progress/100 nights' opus which closes the album wouldn't sound out of place on the 'Clutching At Straws' album and 'Waiting To Happen' is an acoustic guitar based masterpiece.
The only grumble with 'Holidays In Eden' in my opinion is the artwork. The change in the Marillion logo and the lack of any continuity in the cover painting to previous albums broke my heart when 'Holidays In Eden' first came out in 1991. Having no reference to jesters, chameleons and magpies on the cover, was like seeing an Iron Maiden album without 'Eddie' on the front. However, musically, this album is a lost classic and needs to be rediscovered. I've been a Marillion fan for 20 years and no one is telling me that 'Radiation' and 'Marillion.com' are superior records to 'Holidays...'.
Go on, treat yourself to a slice of classic rock from a classic band.
This was singer Steve Hogarths second album with the band, the first being the well received 'Seasons End', and he gives a vocal performance that knocks spots of anything that Fish sang with the band, and that is no easy task.
The production is crisp and the band manage to achieve a neat mix of more accessible material and traditional Marillion moments. The only problem that Marillion fans have with this record are the three singles that were taken from it, but for me, the only stinker out of those tracks is the over slushy 'No One Can'.'Cover My Eyes' and 'Dry Land', for all their chart appeal, are good guitar based pop numbers, no different to the kind of radio friendly efforts the band did with Fish at the helm towards the end of his tenure with the band.
How tracks like 'Splintering Heart', with its time changes, moods and atmospheres, plus a stonking guitar solo from Steve Rothery can be construed as 'selling out' beggars belief. Also, check out the instrumental section of 'The Party', it's vintage Marillion. The 'This Town/Rakes Progress/100 nights' opus which closes the album wouldn't sound out of place on the 'Clutching At Straws' album and 'Waiting To Happen' is an acoustic guitar based masterpiece.
The only grumble with 'Holidays In Eden' in my opinion is the artwork. The change in the Marillion logo and the lack of any continuity in the cover painting to previous albums broke my heart when 'Holidays In Eden' first came out in 1991. Having no reference to jesters, chameleons and magpies on the cover, was like seeing an Iron Maiden album without 'Eddie' on the front. However, musically, this album is a lost classic and needs to be rediscovered. I've been a Marillion fan for 20 years and no one is telling me that 'Radiation' and 'Marillion.com' are superior records to 'Holidays...'.
Go on, treat yourself to a slice of classic rock from a classic band.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I vividly recall the hatred directed at this album by many Marillion fans when it came out. People said that Marillion has let there fans down and had turned into a pop group. I disagree. "Holidays in Eden" is simply a mature Marillion album, with songs about real life, real love and real emotions. BUT. And it is a big BUT. It also contains some amazing and very typical Marillion musicianship, especially from Mark Kelly. I have always believed that if Fish had stayed with Marillion he would have made an album like "Holidays in Eden", with songs about romance and real feelings. The best tracks are The Party and No One Can. If you have avoided this album then don't anymore.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
So, Fish was gone, and in came Steve Hogarth.
He's got a good voice, has Steve. Sounds a bit like he's got something stuck in his nose and/or throat, but it's not unappealing.
Gone too, though, were the sprawling arrangements and ouright instrumental virtuosity that were Marillion's stock-in-trade. So, the old fans were a bit hacked off, it seems.
But it was brave of them to change direction, to be fair. These are largely pop arrangements, and if they'd tried to replace Fish with a Fish-a-like, they'd have been shot down for cowardice - even if it had worked. Which it wouldn't. The major visionary and lyricist was gone.
So, we had a new band essentially, and this album has some of the teething problems that new bands have. I personally don't like songs with a lyric like "The Party", which is a bit too contemporary for its own good: "She bought a bottle of cider, From the shop on the corner".
But singles like "Cover My Eyes" and "No One Can" showed off Hogarth's pipes, whether you thought they weere a success or a sellout.
This album lays out the band's new wares. I really don't feel they are the emperor's new clothes, because when all is said and done, these boys can PLAY.
Whenever the guitars kick in, there is no question what band you're listening to - even the shiny new production on this album doesn't water down those chops.
So, good for them. It may not be a purist-Marillion album, but it's solid, and never less than intriguing and tuneful.
He's got a good voice, has Steve. Sounds a bit like he's got something stuck in his nose and/or throat, but it's not unappealing.
Gone too, though, were the sprawling arrangements and ouright instrumental virtuosity that were Marillion's stock-in-trade. So, the old fans were a bit hacked off, it seems.
But it was brave of them to change direction, to be fair. These are largely pop arrangements, and if they'd tried to replace Fish with a Fish-a-like, they'd have been shot down for cowardice - even if it had worked. Which it wouldn't. The major visionary and lyricist was gone.
So, we had a new band essentially, and this album has some of the teething problems that new bands have. I personally don't like songs with a lyric like "The Party", which is a bit too contemporary for its own good: "She bought a bottle of cider, From the shop on the corner".
But singles like "Cover My Eyes" and "No One Can" showed off Hogarth's pipes, whether you thought they weere a success or a sellout.
This album lays out the band's new wares. I really don't feel they are the emperor's new clothes, because when all is said and done, these boys can PLAY.
Whenever the guitars kick in, there is no question what band you're listening to - even the shiny new production on this album doesn't water down those chops.
So, good for them. It may not be a purist-Marillion album, but it's solid, and never less than intriguing and tuneful.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Expectations from the fanbase ignore the actual quality on show...
This album always gets short shrift from the band and fans alike but the criticism is way over the top. Read more
Published 10 months ago by PD Flood
Beyond Progressive, Most Impressive (or...Holidays from Fish)
Six of one, half a dozen of the other; so it would seem. This is not for un-changing Marillion purists. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Chris Quintrell
Not As Described in The Brochure!
Something of a last gasp attempt to appease (then) corporate record label bosses at EMI who where pleading for another "'Childhood", "Straws"-esque mega platinum success Marillion... Read more
Published on 15 Dec 2004 by I Was A Kaleidoscope
Good, but not that good
This was Marillions real good go at having some hit singles and it didn't work. Not that, that should be a surprise because we all know the charts are full of rubbish. Read more
Published on 16 July 2003 by Mr. D. I. Wallace
It was downhill from here.
By 1991 it was high time that Marillion abandoned lyrics about drunks in bars, sugar mice, and the kind of dilly dilly nonsense that Fish once peddled. Read more
Published on 12 April 2001
They have done much better than this.
'Holidays in Eden' is a reasonable album but, by the standards that Marillion can achieve, is nothing remarkable. Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2000
More love songs than on any other Marillion album.
Is Steve Hogarth the most talented frontman in pop in the last ten years? He may well be. HIE was Marillion's effort, released in the early nineties, to gain recognition as a... Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2000
Another good album by Marillion.
Holidays in Eden is the second Marillion album with Steve Hogarth on vocals. They had dropped the old logo that evoked memories of the cult progressive rock band of the early... Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2000 by graeme.d@virgin.net
Good pop-rock album.
Marillion get a really hard time from people and I have yet to hear a reasoned argument against them that doesn't include the Genesis tag (a criticism that quite frankly belongs... Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2000 by mihall@tinyworld.co.uk
Marillion's most commercial album ever!
What about this album then? Well, No One Can is a true love song and Dry Land sees Steve Hogarth singing to the most amazing melody you will hear in a song. Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2000
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
