Marillion Album Discussion Volume 4: Anoraknophobia
-
Friday, January 27, 2006 2:50 AM
This week’s discussion will focus on Anoraknophobia. A somewhat controversial release, more for its business plan than the music it contained, this album nevertheless served to spark Marillion’s career in the 21st Century. As many of you know, this album was financed directly by the fans, 12674 diehard fans (myself included, I’m on page 9 of the names, 22 rows from the bottom, last name on the line!) that dropped money on an album before a note was written (I bought two copies). Ballsy? You bet! But I had faith in Marillion. They asked for 10,000 people, hoping to get 8000, and ended up near 13000. No wonder they call us Freaks!
One aspect that I find appealing about this album is that Marillion had no pre-existing ideas for this album. .com had used up all the leftover bits from Radiation, and so the band really was starting from scratch. If there’s one thing I didn’t like about Marillion.com is that it overall, it felt like Radiation’s B-sides. But, I’ll save that for the Marillion.com discussion. Anyway, this album was written entirely from scratch, and with Dave Meegan back in the producer’s chair, and the fact that Marillion felt they had to live up to the pressure of 13,000 people having already paid for this album, we were bound for beautiful things. So on to the songs.
Between You and Me- Starting off with a Mark Kelly piano intro, this song then jumps into a pretty tight little groove, with Ian, Pete, and Steve Rothery joining up in fine rhythm section form. Steve Hogarth nails a pretty solid vocal melody, and we’re off to a good start here. The middle section shows the band hitting a late period Beatles vibe before switching back to a great bridge. The chorus returns, and we are treated to a simple yet brilliant Steve Rothery guitar solo. Mark’s Hammond splashes add a bit of grit to the proceedings, and we’ve just gotten the best Marillion album opener since Gazpacho.
Quartz- Hmm…I wonder if Marillion were listening to much Massive Attack whilst making this album, in particular this song. Sort of trip-hop-ish. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album. Marillion starting working with drum loops on this album, and Ian does a masterful job of blending his playing with the loops to create this great sense of motion on this song. Pete lays down a slinky bass line on the verses that serves as yet another fine example of his underrated bass playing. I love the sarcasm and bite in H’s lyrics as well, especially in the opening lines. At 9 minutes plus, this song feels like it goes by in 4.
Map of the World- Okay, slow starter here, but it ends well. Nick Van Eede, of Cutting Crew fame (I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight) helped H finish this one. A bit poppy, it nevertheless features some fine performances, in particular Mark Kelly’s string patch on the middle section and into the last chorus. Great patch.
When I Meet God- Also known as The Drugs Don’t Work by The Verve, well at least the first half anyway. Mark Kelly again shines with his patch selection on this song, adding great textures that really make this song. I don’t quite understand what the band was trying to achieve with this song. I really don’t get the change into the second half of the song. Oh well. Not every track is a stunner I guess.
The Fruit of the Wild Rose- Listening to this track right now, I realize I like it a lot more than I give it credit for. During the writing sessions for this album, H took a vacation to Barbados to visit Nick Van Eede and get help with Map of the World. This song, to me anyway, captures the vibe of lazing around the pool in a tropical location, with a brightly colored alcoholic beverage with an umbrella in it. Very loose and jazzy, I really like Steve Rothery’s guitar playing throughout the song. This shows his versatility and consummate musicianship. Definitely a chill out track.
Separated Out- The out and out rocker on this album, this one is dedicated to the fans. Lyrics are fun without really meaning anything. But for me, the highlight is the Who-ish chorus. I love the contrast of Pete’s Motown styled bass line on the verse against the driving rock of Rothery, Kelly and Mosley’s Stones-ish groove. Again, Pete Trewavas is a badass on bass, and this song proves it.
This is the 21st Century- H says that every album has a problem child and a song that pretty much writes itself. Map of the World was the problem child on this album, and This is the 21st Century was the one that wrote itself. The prominence of the drum loop I’m sure threw many people upon first listen, but I’ll tell you this, the way Ian Mosley sneaks into the song is absolute brilliance. I entered the Anoraknophobia remix contest, and this was one of the songs I did, and while I replaced the loops on this song with my own, I kept Ian’s drum track in its entirety, and made it the crutch of the second half of the song. Listening to it by itself, it really is incredibly musical. If I can find someone to host it, I’ll post my remixes for this, Between You and Me, and Separated Out somewhere.
If My Heart Were A Ball it Would Roll Uphill- I love the cocktail, garden party-ish nature of the first 28 seconds of this song. It feels so sophisticated, and it’s a nice contrast to the chaos that ensues. The layered vocals on the chorus are quite cool. Plus, we get a widdly widdly Mark Kelly appearance after the second verse. In fact, I really dig Mark’s playing on this song. He throws in organ stabs, Mellotron flashes, widdly synth leads, and some great textures that just give this great, “I’m going to use every patch at my disposal on this track and make it musical†vibe to this song. I especially dug the Chelsea Monday reference. The build into the third chorus “Wake Up you’re falling!†section is one of my favorite moments on this record. A moody song, but a great closer in my opinion.
As I said earlier I did try my hand at remixing a few of the songs from this album for the project. I learned to appreciate Marillion on a whole new level doing this, because I got to reassemble the puzzle, so to speak. Their parts fit together so perfectly, that it was really hard to pull some parts out to put my own in, especially on This is the 21st Century. I spent a lot of time on that one, just because it was more of a chance to “jam†with Marillion than anything else. It really felt like I was a part of the band while working on those remixes. At the same time, it taught me a lot about song construction, arrangement, and so on. It was very educational.
One thing worth mentioning is the packaging. I’m not talking about the store version; I’m talking about the limited edition here. As a recording major, I love reading about how this album came about, the tricks in the studio, and the nuts and bolts of the recording process. With each member contributing thoughts in the liner notes, I really got a strong sense of how this particular album journeyed from thought to finish. The packaging overall is incredibly well done. Marbles is the only thing that tops it in Marillion’s catalog if you ask me.
So there’s Anoraknophobia. I listened to this album a ton when it came out, and I really felt that, while not perfect, it was a return to form after .com. There are several great songs on here, songs that I would include among the best that Marillion has ever done. It was definitely worth my pre-orders.
