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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
PARADISE FOUND, 5 Aug 2005
'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.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Moving on, 7 Dec 2006
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.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but not that good, 16 Jul 2003
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. This album is full of 3-4 minute pop songs, well crafted and performed with some great melodies, but is really lacking the depth of previous and later work. I like it though, so if you're a Marillion fan you don't want to be without it.
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