HIGH VOLTAGE

You won't find this album on Marillion's discography page on their website, but their communications manager Lucy Jordache has assured me it's a legitimate release - the band regard it as an "unofficial official" release because it wasn't released by them but by Concert Live, who put out a range of live recordings of bands from the High Voltage festival. Whilst some releases in this series have had mixed reviews - ELP's one in particular has come in for some criticism - Marillion come off very well here, providing a great set designed to focus on the proggier side of their sound.

In fact, there's absolutely no songs from Radiation, Marillion.com, Anoraknophobia, Somewhere Else or Happiness Is the Road in the set list, the band clearly opting to concentrate on albums which where well-received by the prog audience. (Well, there's a few cuts from the much-derided Holidays In Eden, but those songs come across much proggier when performed live.) With decent performances all round and a fantastic festival atmosphere, this is no embarrassment to the band, though due to the nature of the recording process the sound quality and mix isn't as good as their more official releases.