HOLIDAYS IN EDEN

Marillion's second Hogarth era album was really the first to be devoid of any Fish influences, given that he had been involved in the rehearsals for much of the "Season's end" album. "Holiday's in Eden" is however a natural follow on from "Season's end", with no major change of sound or direction. That said, the tracks are among the most commercial and straight forward recorded by the band, and about as far away from prog as they ever got.

I know the track lengths are something Marillion feel their fans are "obsessed" with, but there's a definite effort here to make an album of shorter tracks which will have a wide commercial appeal. There's little in the way of instrumental breaks, time changes, structured works, etc.

The opening and closing tracks, "Splintering heart" and "100 nights" are the most adventurous, both being slow powerful pieces, with some decent guitar. "Cover my eyes" has echoes of U2, being an upbeat and overtly pop based piece.

Melodies are strong throughout the album, especially on tracks like "No one can", "Dry land" and the sing-a-long title track. The band must have felt spoilt for choice when it came to the selection of a single from the album with so many obvious contenders.

While "Holiday's in Eden" can hardly be described as challenging, the music is pleasant and well presented. As a melodic pop rock album, it is highly enjoyable. As a Marillion album however, it is far removed from their prog foundations. Fortunately, on future albums, the band were to move away again from playing safe.

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