Sometimes, you just do need to spend the whole of Sunday afternoon listening to Marillion albums. I got through this lot over the course of six and a half hours.
- Marillion.com
- Somewhere Else
- Marbles
- Anoraknophobia
- Afraid of Sunlight
- Seasons End
Some of those I hadn’t listened to for ages, and I’d forgotton how great those albums are. I still love the much-maligned Anoraknophobia (nothing containing ‘Quartz’ or ‘The is the 21st Century’ can possibly be considered a bad album), and even dotcom, which I used to hate, has got better over time. And the oldies AoS and SE (the last of which is 19 years old!) haven’t dated at all.
Anoraknophobia is a great title.
Good point about the ‘oldies’ not having dated – they sound as fresh now as when I first heard them.
That’s the h-era oldies, though. I do think the real oldies, from before 1988, are more of a problem, with very Eighties production standards and slightly (only slightly!) cringeworthy lyrics. They do strike me as strongly ‘of their time’.
Though how a session which omits ‘Brave’ could be termed a proper Marillionathon defeats me.
Brave really should have been added to the list, but it was getting late by then, and Brave is an album that need to be played loud.
As far as F-Marillion goes, I think “Clutching at Straws” stands the test of time better than the others, although those still hold a certain charm for me. It seems to have more in common musically with both H-Marillion and Fish’s solo career than it does with the three albums that preceded it.