Marillion – Happiness Is The Road
Essence –“Happiness ain’t at the end of the road. Happiness IS the road.”
The Hard Shoulder – “We can see the madness perfectly from here.”
Five days following the release of Marillion’s 14th album Somewhere Else the band set back out on a 44 date tour to support it. The tour began on April 14 2007 in Gibraltar and ended on June 23 2007 in Oslo, Norway. This time out only Europe and the UK were included. Again the material played was all from the h era with the exception of three performances of Sugar Mice and one of Garden Party. The majority of the songs played were from the new album and Marbles with a selection of songs from the remainder of their post Fish catalog. Apart from a couple of performances of Three Minute Boy and The Answering Machine, no material from Radiation or Marillion.com was played. A short 12 date “Snow-where Else” Tour was also conducted in December of 2007. One new song, Happiness Is The Road, was debuted this tour, as well as three performance of the b-side Circular Ride. Also the last performance to date of fan favourite The Most Toys was performed on December 13th.
Between these two tours the band reconvened at the end of September to begin work on their follow up to Somewhere Else. This time the band would again call on fans to pre-order the album they had just began working on, knowing it wouldn’t be completed for another year. They already knew in October that it would be a double album at this point so their creative juices must have been flowing. The pre-order promised a deluxe 2 CD special package with all contributors having their names again included within. Here is the full post announcing the pre-order from Halloween day 2007:
“Hellooo.. and… Greetings from the studio!
Well, the cycle has started once again.. We’re back in the Racket Club oiling up the Marillion machine (or strange engine..) for the erratic journey to ALBUM FIFTEEN (!) and the ideas are really flowing now. We’re here jamming and experimenting with new ideas while Mike Hunter runs around trying to record it all and feed back his own suggestions and enthusiasm. We’re pleased to report some very interesting music is still emerging. This should see the light of day next Summer.. AND it will be another double album!
It’s an inspired and exciting time for the five of us as artists, but also – with our “Intact” record company hats on – a time to reflect on the successes and failures of the last album release. We have had a lot of feedback about the lack of a “pre-order” or any kind of special packaging, extra material, or the popular “my name in the credits” versions of the last album. We thought you might have got tired of the idea, but the majority of you told us we were wrong!
So here’s what we’ve decided to do..
You’re going get what you asked for: We are planning to create an exclusive Special Edition of Album 15 which we are making available as a PRE-ORDER directly from us. Based on the success of the “Marbles” pre-order, we plan to make 2 different versions available: a ‘Deluxe Campaign 2CD Edition’ in super-sexy packaging with YOUR NAMES in the booklet – this will be priced at £29.99 and only available to pre-order; and also the Standard Release – the double album split into Volumes 1 & 2 available separately as ‘normal’ 1CD-in-a-box releases priced at £9.99 each.
When will it be released? What will be on it? Will there be extra music? When can I order? What about a tour?
Yes, you have questions, and we already have (some) answers. Just like previous pre-orders, we have set up a page on our website to answer all of these, and will continue to add to the list as we get feedback from you by email and on our Forums.
What we CAN tell you, though, is that we expect the album to be ready some time between July and September 2008 (but are not setting a firm release date as with previous pre-orders!) with an extensive tour to follow starting in September 2008 (more information about the tour on the website, but the album WILL be out before the tour.)
You are able to pre-order the album NOW, and each pre-order for the Deluxe Campaign 2CD Edition will enter you in to a variety of prize draws – including sound check/front row passes to the Snow-where Else tour, a visit to the Racket Club studio, gift vouchers, meet-and-greets, MORE sound check/front row passes to the Album 15 tour, and the STAR PRIZE (wooo..!) of an all expenses paid trip to the Marillion Weekend 2009… PLUS more as we think of them – phew!
Why do we want your money so far in advance? Many of you may be aware that the writing sessions for “Somewhere Else” were prolific, but there came a point where we had to decide which ideas to follow through for the album, and which to put to one side to develop to their full potential later on. Well, even though we do have several songs “on the shelf” which are close to completion, we’ve also recently hit something of a creative streak and have a lot of exciting new ideas that we’re developing, and these inevitably entail a few months locked away in the studio. Once ready, we need to let people know about the album and the tour with advertising, posters, interviews… and of course we have the small task of manufacturing one hundred thousand albums, too.. (!)
By being part of the Album 15 Pre-Order Campaign you will once again be acting as our “global family record company” by contributing to the recording, manufacture and marketing of the album without us having to resort to the inevitable headaches which happen when we get into bed with “blokes in suits”. Frankly we’d rather make this album with you. We did it before, and it felt good. It also inspired a few other tasty bands to “a better way of life” too..
So there you go – your pre-order is back! If you have any QUESTIONS, please, PLEASE go to www.marillion.com/preorder (where most issues will already be addressed) before writing to us. It’ll be quicker, and you can also join the discussions on the Marillion Online Forums if you have any outstanding queries.
As we said earlier, things are going really well in the studio and there’s much excitement here over the music we’re making, so we’d better get on with it. We’ll see you very soon – perhaps on the “Snow-where Else” tour at Christmas.. Good luck with the draw – we hope you win a prize or two!
One love,
One family,
One Better Way Of Life.
Toodleoo,
h, Ian, Mark, Pete, Steve”
In January of 2008 the band announced that Volume 1 would be a “theme” album. While Volume 2 would consist of songs that didn’t fit with the theme, essentially creating two different albums in one release. In March they announced that the album would be titled Happiness Is The Road with Volume 1 titled “Essence” and Volume 2 “The Hard Shoulder”. Communication about the progress of the album was regular and detailed throughout 2008 which kept fans up to date on song titles, development and basically provided an ongoing dialog to keep people informed and engaged in the process. Prior to the release of the album the band announced a DIY video contest with a chance to win £5000 . It involved anyone who was interested to produce a video for the single Whatever Is Wrong With You, with the most views being the one selected as the winner. An additional 5000 was added for the favourite video selected by the band as well. In another Brave move, the band did something that I don’t believe had been attempted before. Knowing the prevalence of illegal downloading, the band decided to try an experiment and release their new album directly to Peer To Peer networks, knowing it would end up there in the end anyway. The idea was to include a video message to anyone who downloaded the album illegally telling them about the new album, latest news, forthcoming tour and merch available as well as the option to join their mailing list. This was in no way intended to condone illegal downloading but more an attempt to broaden their reach to a market of people who may or may not be familiar with the band in an ever changing and challenging music landscape. I don’t recall hearing in the end how successful this plan was. It did upset some people who pre-ordered the album, feeling they paid in advance for something they felt the band basically ended up “giving away”. I also don’t know how much that affected anyone in the long run. At least they were continuing to attempt to stay ahead of the curve and the intention, as always, was more about reach and survival.
The double album Happiness Is The Road was finally released on October 20 2008, one week before my 40th birthday. For Marillion the turnaround between albums had been increasing between releases with the exception of Afraid Of Sunlight and Marillion.com. While the longer time needed for the band to come up with new material has mostly paid off, at times the results have been a bit more disappointing (by comparison). The 108 minutes of new music was (mostly) written and recorded over a relatively short period…about a year, and released 18 months after their previous album. Would it be as good as Afraid Of Sunlight…or Marbles? Let’s dive in and see how this massive work stacks up.
Alright lets start off with HITR Volume 1: Essence. This album is a loose concept album partly inspired by the book The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle. I have not read the book but I’ve Wiki’d myself up to knowing that it is essentially a guide to spiritual enlightenment. In fact it says so right on the cover. The core idea is living in the present as it is the only thing that is actually real. Time spent dwelling on the past or worrying about the future can only result in stress and anxiety. Focus on the now and don’t dwell on trying to control what might happen. That’s about all I want to say about it. Personally I’m not really into spiritual philosophy but if that’s your thing…good on you. I must say that I’ve never really approached the album with the “concept” in mind and I’m sure on assessment the personal manifestation of h’s life will reveal itself. What I do know is that in an interview with Scott Kahn in MusicPlayers.com he did indicate “(Essence) is really the journey of life: What’s life about? What are we doing here? What is it all for? What can make us happy? What should we be focusing on? What is the world like? Why is it like it is? and what’s wrong with the world? How can we save the world before we destroy it? So all of those themes together make up CD One.”. He also indicated that he had read the book after seeing a Dutch doctor while physically and mentally falling apart on tour, who wrote him a prescription that simply had the title and author of the book written on it, and told him to read it. I would make him better. So I’ll pivot to the review with this in mind.
Dreamy Street starts off the proceedings in a mellow piano based manner. It is a short little song that with a wonderful run by Mark Kelly much the way Pseudo Silk Kimono kicks off Misplaced Childhood before quickly moving into This Train Is My Life. Hogarth really works his falsetto on this one as he weaves a beautiful melody through this mid-tempo tune. The song builds nicely as he sets the stage for the rest of the album asks us/someone to “take my hand, squeeze it tight, make some light in the darkness. I’m glad you came on this trip”. Nice little Rothery solo on this one. Also the heartbeat in Dreamy Street is an ultrasound recording of his son Emil, who was born June 12th 2008.
This Train Is My Life moves right into the title track Essence, which is again piano driven. Moody, slow and a gentle majestic build leading to the crux of the idea of the album which is “choose life, choose living, go digging for essence”. I love this song. It is simply beautiful and h’s vocals again move all over the vocal spectrum as it builds up into a powerful crescendo ending. “Live in the moment or you’ll never be free” is the message as the song fades.
Quick on the tail of the title track is Wrapped Up In Time which begins with a short keyboard intro before moving into the body of the song. By this point it is clear that the album is one steeped in atmosphere. This is probably my second favourite song on the album. It is an absolutely incredible piece of controlled release. If anything this album masters the art of the mid-tempo build. It is one of those songs I wished they played more often live, but I recognize that what Hogarth has to do on vocals in this song is remarkably difficult, jumping octaves into the top end of his falsetto range.
Liquidity is pure Mark Kelly. A beautiful piano based instrumental with a little bit of high hat and guitar flourishes. It sounds like something that could be played in church and not feel out of place. It is only a couple minutes long but it does display two things for me. First is my love of piano in music and second is the fact that musically this is Mark Kelly’s album. He is all over this one in a way I’ve not heard before and it is pretty fucking great. It leads right into Nothing Fills The Hole which reminds me very much of The Slide from Brave. Actually much of this album reminds me of Brave. It has a very R&B feel to it but it doesn’t sound like R&B. The song shifts part way through and the last minute is almost like an intro to the next song Woke Up which is another amazing song from this disc. Again it is a slower mid-tempo song like most of the album but it is gloriously positive. It might be the most positive song they have ever written. I love pulsating keys/guitars in the verses and how the choruses just explode with joy. Again this song has vocal gymnastics that make it extremely hard to do well in a live setting, especially in the midst of other belters that rip away at a singer’s high end night after night. It is pretty short as well as is pretty much everything on this first disc.
Trap The Spark is next and is another phenomenal song. As much as the previous material is hard to perform, this song is a monumental feat. This is my favourite song on the album. Actually it is my favourite song on both albums. I just fucking love it. What Hogarth does vocally on this song is truly chilling and gives me goosebumps every time. Vocally I would say this is probably my favourite performance by him simply due to how immensely difficult it is from a technical perspective. Yet he executes it with just the right amount of delicateness, strain and eloquence. I know there is incredible music in this song but honestly I only really ever hear the vocals and melody on this one. Again the theme of the album is reflected in this song…trapping the spark being the key to living in the moment. I love the part of the song when he sings “I’ve opened the box and I’ve touched the treasures of the earth. They’re buried on the island far away. And I’m here in England with the map burning my pocket”. I’ve always thought the line was “with a blackbird in my pocket”. I still sing it that way, same as I sing “Darth Vader agitator” in the Genesis song Dodo.
Next up is A State Of Mind. Again a lot of falsetto by Hogarth – if you don’t like his falsetto then this album might not be the droid you are looking for. But what a wonderfully restrained vocal gymnastic he pulls off. The multiple backing vocals on this song are excellent and help elevate it. It is a lush, gorgeous song that gives the album a kick after mostly slow performances. Rothers has a few nice guitar solos on this one but again it is all very restrained.
Finally we have the title track to the whole 2 disc package “Happiness Is The Road” which starts out almost like a religious hymn and the words “The greatest blessing that we have is the dawn of each new day. A chance to finish what we started”. Actually the beginning of this song is almost identical to the song Happiness by The Blue Nile. There is no way that this is a coincidence as Hogarth has often professed to be a huge fan of that band. At 10 minutes in length it is the longest song on both discs. The first three minutes are pure solemnity (not mock) until the song breaks into a restrained beat and tells the story mentioned previously of how this album came to be. It is an intensely funky song that builds and builds and builds and builds. H’s vocals change with each verse, increasing in intensity from a whisper to a desperate wail. The song hits its climax after the line “Your mind will find a way to be unkind to you somehow. But all we really have is happening to us right now” when the music stops and h sings “HAPPINESS IS THE ROAD”. The next line floors me at it’s simplicity and beauty “and each baby a human sunrise”. I know I’ve listed two other songs as my favourite on the album already but I gotta say this song is an absolute fucking tour-de-force of a monster of incredibleness and joy. I’ve seen this song performed live a few times and it is an un-fucking-believable experience. Thousands of people openly weeping while singing “Happiness Is The Road” at the tops of their lungs for minutes after the song has ended is, I kid you not, everything that I love about live music. It is the feeling of pure unrestrained joy and I really REALLLY fucking miss it. So just to be clear…hearing the song Happiness Is The Road live is the Essence of my love of live music. One of the best songs they’ve ever written.
That being said Essence as a whole, is probably the most restrained album and music, the band has ever created. It is all about mood and atmosphere. No one is jockeying to be out front and maybe that’s also why some don’t connect with it. It is more the sound of a cohesive unit trying to create a tapestry to support the vocals. Hogarth and Kelly are the stars of the show on this one. I know a lot of people feel it is too sleepy or boring. I really don’t see it that way at all. In fact Essence is one of my favourite Marillion albums. Since I first heard it I’ve been in love with it. It’s funny cause the songs are pretty short overall and other than the song Happiness Is The Road, it really doesn’t ever rev up in tempo. There aren’t any songs that are as immediate as those like The Great Escape or Afraid Of Sunlight. In some ways the whole album is like a long build up to the finale, but everything about every song, for me, is simply breathtaking in every way. One of the best concerts I’ve ever seen was when they performed this album in full at the 2019 Montreal Weekend, though it coulda been the Willie Nelson and it coulda been the wine. That’s a Canadian music reference – Bobcaygeon by The Tragically Hip. Look it up then listen to the song you. I try to do with The Hip to my non-Canadian friends, what Marillion fans try to do with…well everyone I guess. Find a way to convert them. This album is not the album that would do that, though actually maybe come to think of it, it isn’t actually a bad place to start with those outside the Garden Party. I just want to mention that there is actually a song on Essence following the final song Happiness Is The Road. It is called Half-Full Jam and is exactly that. It is a jam that was added on to the end of the record. I mean it is fine and all … in fact it is quite good for an unfinished song… but honestly, it totally throws off the end of record. Apologies to anyone involved but it shouldn’t be there. Lyrically it is clearly a working idea for the song Woke Up but it is something that should be on a making of disc instead of the on the actual album.
The second disc of this double set is “The Hard Shoulder”. In case you aren’t aware the hard shoulder is the part of the road where one will pull off in the event of a problem. What does that mean in relation to this set of songs? No idea actually but I’m convinced it means SOMETHING. Maybe if Essence is how to get one’s life in order…The Hard Shoulder is the baggage…the songs that are more about why one needs help…I don’t know I’m making this shit up as I go. Like I said I’m shitty with metaphors and symbolism so maybe it is obvious. In the MusicPayers.com interview Steve described the second disc as “… simply a collection of the songs we were writing that have nothing to do with (the first disc). So anything that didn’t fit on CD One went on CD Two. So CD One was a journey. It’s a concept album. Call it what you want to call it. Maybe “concept album” is not a cool thing to call something; I don’t know. But that’s essentially what it is. And a rose by any other name is still a rose. And CD Two is more like the kind of albums other people make.”
Album 2 starts out with Thunder Fly, the most effective rocker that the band recorded since Anoraknophobia. It is all a solid chunk of guitar and Hammond organ based rock and roll with an amazing drum/bass rhythm and some trippy soundscapes intertwined. The song definitely sounds confidant and reminds you after the low key Essence, that the band are still capable of kicking things up a notch when they want to. I have tried to figure out what this song is about and I have no idea. It is either a metaphor about freedom or it is about Corn Flies being a nuisance. Either way it is a solid start to disc 2.
I mentioned in my last post that there is a reference in the liner notes of the song The Wound that states “Now there’s some sad things known to the man from the planet Marzipan”. Well here is the song that picked up on that line. I’ve tried to figure out what this song is actually referring to and the best I can come up with is that it is lyrically along the same lines of Watcher Of The Skies by Genesis. It seems to be a sci-fi futuristic view of humanity and destruction in the name of religion by an alien visitor.. A Man…From Planet Marzipan. I’m probably wrong but the lines “What the hell is going on here? Earth creatures. Amazing, beautiful and mad. Monkeys trying to be stars. Monkeys carrying their Gods around. Lies and murder in the name of heaven. Seen it all before in the kindergartens of the Universe. It would be quaint if it wasn’t so damned scary”. Regardless this is one awesome song and has a distinctly different feel from most other Marillion songs. The harmonic guitar picking is amazing and sets up a very spacey vibe, which the phased lead lines reinforce. This song is pure mood executed perfectly and grounded by Pete’s super funky slapping bass technique which is pretty wicked and a rare sound for him on record. It sets up the otherworldliness of the choruses that just soar in a way that the most sublime Marillion moments do. Per Hogarth “For me the slap bass on “The Planet Marzipan” takes me into a kind of … I don’t know. It makes the whole thing sound like an outtake from Scary Monsters by Bowie, because I think of “Ashes to Ashes” and the slap bass on that. So it’s given it a kind of… it’s a vaguely Bowie-esque kind of feeling along with the subject matter. Bowie tends to be associated with space aliens, so it’s got a touch of that about it for me somehow”. This is probably my favourite song on The Hard Shoulder. Glorious stuff and what an amazing sense of push and pull tension it evokes both musically and vocally. The ending is one of their best on record. I have tried and failed to figure out the connection between this song and The Wound. Maybe there isn’t one after all.
Keeping with the space theme is Asylum Satellite #1 which is one seriously amazing mood piece. After a deceptive start that feels like something from maybe Radiation or dot com, the song slides into a seriously deep cavern of sound. There is an airiness as well as a heaviness that pervades this song. Lyrically the song uses the idea of shipping anyone who voices dissent or opinion against “them” (the government? The people in control?) off planet to “Asylum Satellite #1”. This song is almost 10 minutes long and is fabulously constructed with some truly evocative and inspired soloing by Rothery in the back half. It is one of my most favourite solos by him and I must say seeing this song performed live, which is VERY seldom, is an absolute treat. The song is a masterpiece of mood and live it just overwhelms. They really should play it more often cause it is an inspired piece of writing that sits on the shelf far too often. In fact it has only been played 44 times live. The equally shamefully ignored Man From Planet Marzipan has been performed even less, with only 29 live performances.
Next up is Older Than Me which is a song that some fans dislike a lot…which I can’t really understand. I mean it is totally different from what they have done musically to date. It is an airy gentle, glockenspiel/xylophone framed song which is only a few minutes long but I find it extremely effective….almost like a lullaby. I’m not 100% sure but I have a feeling that this song is actually about his parents both of whom passed away prior to and during the recording of this record. It could be interpreted in the first person from h’s perspective about dating an older person…but It really reads to me as a reflection of father to mother. Whatever the truth it is clearly a deeply personal song. It is also one of the few songs never performed live by the band.
Same goes for the follow up song Throw Me Out which again seems to divide fans for some reason. This one is derived from the same Hogarth well of personal relationship strife songs as Beyond You, The Only Unforgivable Thing, Now She’ll Never Know, House and Genie. For the first time, an accordion sets the song up. This one is much more powerful sounding than Older Than Me but still manages to retain a slower waltz like beat. Lots of symphonic sounds from Mark on this track. I really like this song a lot, which is maybe in contrast to many fans. It kind of reminds me a bit of something late 70s era Billy Joel might do, but with a much more personal lyric. I know that sounds weird and I don’t mean it in a way to suggest it is shitty cause I happen to like late 70s Billy Joel material. It just has a bit of that kind of flavour to it. Again totally different from what one might expect from Marillion but by the same token it is one of the things that I love so much about them. They aren’t any one thing. They have developed and changed over many years and that change is part of the amazing journey they have been to follow. Colin Price (guitar tech), Erik Nielson (former Racket Records employee), Linette Peterson (h’s wife), Lucy Jordache (co-manager), Nial Hogarth (h’s son), Shaz Sparks (aka Sharon Dawn Bronnimann), Sofi Hogarth (h’s daughter) and Stephanie Bradley (Communications Assistant and Convention Coordinator) all provide backing vocals on this song.
Half The World is another musical turn for the band which finds them in a bit of a shuffle beat mode. The song builds up nicely. Nothing too complicated but something that either pisses you off if you don’t like left turns for the band, or it is a nice addition to the tapestry of styles on this record. If I read this one correctly I’d say it is the recovery song to Throw Me Out. Much more upbeat and positive and further down the road of dealing with the detritus of a relationship. Past the point of anger and more mutual respect and hope for the future. Rothery has a nice solo on this track as well and I love Mosley’s delicate playing. Not a seminal song but still a solid tune. They’ve played this song exactly three times live…at the three 2011 conventions. I was at the Montreal Weekend so lucky enough to catch this extremely rare live outing.
The only single released from the album was Whatever Is Wrong With You which as previously mentioned was also the focus of the fan video contest. I can’t actually recall what happened but for some reason I think they had to ultimately give the money to a charity as there was some voting irregularities in the competition. Someone can correct me here if my memory is off. There were, however, some very creative videos created by fans for this song. The single was a download only apart from radio promo copies. I don’t believe it charted anywhere which is a shame cause it is actually a very good song and probably my favourite single by them since You’re Gone. For me this song is like a better version of the previous singles See It Like A Baby and Thankyou Whoever You Are from Somewhere Else. It is a powerful driving mid-tempo tune which would be further improved upon with the song Power on the 2014 album Sounds That Can’t Be Made.
Especially True is the second last song on the album and retains some of the intensity of the previous song, though a little lighter and stylized. This is the song I mentioned in my prior post, with the baseball references. Actually this entire song is riddled with American references such as Shock and Awe, House Of Blues (aka the Hard Rock Café’s concert venues) and Central Park. The song to me reads like a diary based reflection of an experience h had with someone on a US tour. It doesn’t imply anything specifically untoward though it does allude to something…for all I know it is about the Gulf War.
Final song on The Hard Shoulder is the broody Real Tears For Sale aka Lucy Jordache’s favourite Marillion song. It begins as a stark guitar based song and quickly develops through a series of musical ups and downs into a monster track. Real Tears ends the second disc much the way Happiness Is The Road ends disc one (Half-Full Jam aside). I’m pretty sure the first half of this song is about Sinead O’Connor while the second half is a first person narrative. The song has a really nice middle part that reminds me of sections of Ocean Cloud and This Strange Engine while the ending vocals remind me of the last part of Interior Lulu. In the end it feels like the song is both a sincere observation of someone’s pain but at the same time the last words are “Boo Hoo”, so maybe with a bit of “woe is me” thrown in as well. This song gets pulled out once in a while, usually at Lucy’s urging, but has only been performed twice in North America. The first time was at the first Montreal Weekend in 2009 and the second at the most recent one in 2019. I was there for both. It’s a great song live.
Happiness Is The Road is an experience in two parts. Or maybe it is two separate experiences. Neither album requires the other to feel complete but I do feel that Essence is maybe more successful in isolation than The Hard Shoulder, due to the concept nature of it. Hogarth noted “Well, it’s not really a double album. What it is is two albums fastened together by packaging and not much else, or fastened together by the period of time they were written in, I suppose, and not much else. They don’t have much more in common than that conceptually, anyway”. There are a lot of people that debate over how good this/these albums are, as well as Somewhere Else. I think it is pretty impressive that for a band known to take a long time between records that hey managed to produce 5 albums worth of new material in 4 years. Is it all great? That’s a matter of personal taste and opinion. I think the important thing to remember with Marillion is that everything takes time to grow on you. Maybe more so I find than any other band I know. I do think that to fully enjoy their work as a longtime fan one really needs to approach each album with an open mind because although there are stylistic similarities between them, each one is pretty unique, though distinctly different for the most part. None of this is the same kind of music as they created in the 80s…or even the 90s for that matter. It has elements of both but the band has progressed in many ways and their output is more a continuum of change than any particular drastic turn. That inherently is something that will appeal to some and not to others which is probably the single biggest reason for so much disagreement among fans as to the worth of later period Marillion. Whereas most agreed on the greatness of Marbles…each album that has followed has had their fair share of both supporters and detractors. Neither is really right or wrong. Like I’ve said music is a subjective thing. Me personally I love both of the records that make up Happiness Is The Road, for various reasons. Mostly though I think the songs are all consistently good…sometimes great…and I love their boldness to always try to do something different. I would find them quite boring if they kept repeating the same formula over and over. I don’t need Marbles II or AOS II or Brave II…I’ve already got what I need from those records. Freedom in music should allow for the ability to follow your own path and inspiration as musicians and that is exactly what Marillion have been doing. Happiness Is The Road is a great accomplishment in my eyes.
Recommended Listening Essence: All of it really
Recommended Listening The Hard Shoulder: Thunder Fly, The Man From Planet Marzipan, Asylum Satellite #1, Whatever Is Wrong With You, Real Tears For Sale
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