HAPPINESS IS THE ROAD

Rather than being a wannabe-pop album, as some state, Happiness Is The Road: Essence should be regarded as one song: each track flows on into the next one...

Essence commences with an introduction consisting of 2 beautiful tracks (Dreamy Street / This Train Is My Life), which let us know what, according to h, the problem is with us.

The solution-track (Essence) brings us a powerful intro, which changes into a bit cheesy chorus, yet the theme of the track is obvious, which is its sole purpose. All songs on Essence evolve around this thing which clearly had been on h's mind for quite some time: where has the pure essence -The Happiness- gone?

The closing song (apart from the bonus track Half Empty Jam) is where it all comes together: h explains, after a short recapitulation of the entire CD, where this concept of his all started: Utrecht, Netherlands. (NOTE: the whole key-vocal intro was in fact just a jam!)

"Happiness ain't at the end of the road: Happiness is the road." - h

Happiness Is The Road: The Hard Shoulder

The second disc of this MARILLION album is just a bunch of songs, with some outstanding highlights as: "The Man From The Planet Marzipan", "Asylum Satellite #1", "Especially True" and "Real Tears For Sale".

The Man From The Planet Marzipan starts after some tingling with a powerful, a bit clumsy sounding bass line, however if you carefully listen to the bass you'll notice some nice loops, etc., which you would probably haven't noticed due to the fact that they simply don't stand out next to the overwhelming base-bass-line of the song. It has a beautiful MARILLION bridge at 3:08, and builds nice and slowly to a climax, with yet another bridge in the bridge just before a gentle, pre-climatic explosion penetrates your ears.

Asylum Satellite #1 creates a nice spacey environment in its instrumental prologue, gentle vocals and sad lyrics accompany the listener through a timeless space, the understanding depth of the vocals summons sympathy for those left there. A beautiful, epical song.

Especially True is just an ordinary love song, about some guy and girl who could never be together due to the different environment where they were raised. It's a typical Romeo & Julliet story, yet in a modern way. It commences fairly tranquil to fall in a wave of anger and frustration at 2:50.

Real Tears for Sale is the story of Britney Spears, just take a listen to this song: emotion will surround you.

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