MISPLACED CHILDHOOD

Once upon a time, i loved Genesis. Listening to Genesis sent me to musical heaven like no other band had ever done before, and The Musical Box was the best song i knew in the whole world. Then, some time ago, that stopped.

I haven't been into prog that long, two years ago i discovered Genesis through my sisters copy of Peter Gabriel's lates release, "UP". I wasn't too sure about whether i actually liked it or not, but i knew that this Peter guy was someone i definitely had to check up more on. A while later, Genesis was my favourite band, and stayed that way until pretty recently. I like to think that i simply have listened too much to Genesis and that i needed a break, rather than that simply didn't enjoy their music any more, and the fact that my least heard album, The Lamb, is currently my favourite, gives support to that theory.

Anyway, since then i've gone totally over to Marillion, and while i can see how people prefer Genesis, i still feel obliged to come to their defense and say why i think that the son is better than the grandfather.

First of all, all of you who read my reviews know that the number one factor in music for me is emotion, and while Genesis has a lot of it musically, with Hackett being an extremely talented player whose guitar can send shivers down even my spine, the emotion is just totally misdirected and wasted thanks to the either too obscure, or simply meaningless, lyrics of Peter Gabriel. Hackett's best solo spot is arguably on the song "Firth of Fifth" on the album "Selling england by the pound" and while i can agree that it is an absolutely breathtaking solo passage, the lyrics of "Firth of Fifth", while poetic in a romantic sort of way, are pretty much nonsense. It's as if Gabriel had nothing at all to say, instead shouting words that just sound good in the context of the song, much like Jon Anderson of Yes.

All of Marillions early albums sound a bit plastic, partly due to the instruments, partly because of the production, and the lyrics are absolutely not the most profound in any way, but at least they give Misplaced Childhood an honesty that few other albums in my collection are blessed with.

I understand how you could be bored with Marillion's music. It's not very hard to "get", Fish's lyrics are very in-your-face, his singing does sound a bit contrived in certain parts, and the 80's feel of the music did turn me off at first as well. It's simply a matter of taste, and whether you can identify or not. I'm not saying that every word Fish sings true to me personally, i should be very frightened if they did, but the whole concept makes so much more sense to me on a personal level than most albums by Genesis or Camel do.

Yes, the musical creativity takes a backseat to Fish's lyrical aspirations, Marillion breaks no new ground in the way that the classical 70's bands did, and i wouldn't dream of calling Genesis bad or overrated, as they were truly one of the pioneers of symphonic prog, it's only a matter of taste, and i know am in the minority.

My favourite track on the album is undoubtedly "Childhood's End?", one of the most hopeful pieces of music i have ever heard (or maybe it seems that way because the rest of the album is so hopeless), and an excellent way for Fish to end the soul-searching journey to find identity that is Misplaced Childhood.

(Also, Fish is soo much more Hammill than Gabriel. Seriously..)