RADIATION

I am in the minority here, but I think "Radiation" is one of the five best Marillion albums (up there with "Marbles", "Brave", "An Hour before It's Dark", and "Afraid of Sunlight").

I understand why the band might dismiss (it to a certain extent) as it was released in a difficult period after they had been dropped by EMI and were basically broke. But the fact that fans dismiss it speaks more about them than about the album. In a nutshell, some bands are not expected to experiment too much. Now, how 'progressive' is that, ey?

Two things set this album apart from the other Marillion albums. First, it is more indie/alt rock oriented, so the songs are mostly short and concise. Second, the production is less keyboard-centred. But when you focus on the songs themselves, each of them is at least very good, some are excellent.

See, as much as I like "Happiness Is the Road" and "Sounds That Can't Be Made", the albums epitomise a trend in the band's output that made me appreciate pre-"Somewhere Else" albums more ? the songs stopped being instantly recognizable and unique. The main reason is probably Steve Hogarth playing keyboards in addition to Mark Kelly. The keyboard-heavy arrangements make the songs sound very similar production-wise. On "Radiation", on the other hand, every single song is in its own world as far as the arrangements and production go, from the murky and frenzied "The Answering Machine", through the Beatlesque piano-driven "Three Minute Boy", to the sound-collage palette of "A Few Words for the Dead". Together with the short playing time, this is one of the things that keep the listener interested throughout. The listener, however, must approach the album with open ears.

As I said, each song has unique element that set it apart from the rest (and from any other Marillion song). Let's see: "Born to Run" is extremely bluesy, "Now She'll Never Know" is sparse and fragile, with the acoustic guitar and vocals panned hard left and right, "Cathedral Wall" has this unique approach to vocals and a disturbing atmosphere, and so on.

As for highlights, I love "Under the Sun", "Three Minute Boy", "Cathedral Wall", and "A Few Words for the Dead". But, really, all the songs are great.

There is also the wonderful 2013 remix. It's not better than the original, but as far as remixes go, this one is the best ever I've ever heard, along with Pink Floyd's "A Momentary Lapse of Reason". Now, why remix an album? I think it makes sense only as far as it adds something to the original, reimagines it in a certain way. The "Radiation" remix does exactly that. It answers the question: how would the album have sounded if it had been produced more Marillion-like? The answer is: bloody brilliant. BUT, this exercise wouldn't have worked if they had just changed it into yet another "Brave"-sounding affair. Fortunately, they managed to retain the songs' character, sometimes even emphasizing some elements that were originally buried or adding new sounds ("Now She'll Never Know is the best example of the latter). Also, by cutting out all the between-song elements (which add to the atmosphere of the original), they made it even more concise (as opposed to the typically late-period drawn out Marillion), which again, is in tune with the original. I just wish they had left the reprise of "These Chains" after "Cathedral Wall".

I have had this album ever since it came out in 1998 and my opinion has always been the same ? it's an underrated masterpiece.