MUSIC REVIEW: Marillion - Radiati0n

"I was horribly surprised."

Almost invariably, I tend to really enjoy the Marillion albums everyone else seems to rag on. Holidays In Eden, This Strange Engine, and even Marillion.com are all good or great albums to my ears. (Of course, they don't hold a candle to Afraid of Sunlight or Brave.) So when the chorus of derision descended on Radiation, I was comfortable in thinking it would be at least pretty good despite the criticism.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. While there is some good songwriting present, it is low in volume, with a more limpid production than any other Marillion album. In fact, the production is one of the big detriments to the CD. The individual notes of Rothery's guitar gets buried under the thick, messy sound quality; Kelly's keyboards barely have any presence in the mix; and Hogarth's great voice is suffocated by murky textures. But even if this album had a crystalline and visceral production, it wouldn't help much since the songwriting lacks the magic of their better work. Songs like "Under the Sun" and "These Chains" exhibit catchy songcraft, but the lyrical matter is frequently uninspired (especially "Under the Sun"). "The Answering Machine" is the worst song they've ever done, with a cluttered arrangement and lyrics so bad I am embarrassed on the band's behalf. It's affixed to an ugly riff that seems to characterize most of the songs, and all throughout Rothery's soloing -- one of the best elements of Marillion's music -- is emotionally tepid, inciting no more reaction than Hogarth, whose voice the production can't seem to get up into the forefront.

I love Marillion. They are one of my favorite bands, and many of their albums are all-time favorites of mine. It's very disappointing to me that I can't "connect" with any of the songs here. "Now She'll Never Know" is nice to listen to...it's quiet and soothing...but while it's easy on the ears, I can't say I actually like it. The ten minute piece "A Few Words for the Dead" is interesting and eclectic musically, with some Arabic drumming, ethereal synthesizers and good vocal melodies, and I like listening to it, but I don't feel that "pull" I feel with the band's better writing. "Under the Sun" is swell...I like the whistling synth, the chorus is simple, but catchy and fun to sing with, but it doesn't have that same endearing quality of similar songs that they've done, largely due to the production, but also because there's undertones of weak writing. I don't want to say "passionless," because that word is too strong, but it does creep into my mind as I write this.

It's strange though...for an album that I don't find terribly good, I've listened to it quite a bit. Go figure. I guess I was just optimistically thinking the album was good and I couldn't recognize it as such. Unfortunately, the album just isn't all that good at all. Disappointing Marillion release overall.