HOLIDAYS IN EDEN

Everyone knows that except for the kingly "100 Nights", Holidays in Eden was a sorry album for the once great Marillion, so I will not get too much into the songs. Briefly, may I mention that the opener "Splintering Heart" is somewhat a good track and is thus quite deceptive with regard to what comes after. The core of the album consists mostly of short, bad pop songs, such as "Cover My Ears", "No One Can Listen to this Song", or "Waiting for the End to Happen".

100 Nights is another story. This is a textbook great prog classic song that gives me the best thrills that music can offer each time I hear it. But one great song does not make an album good.

The booklet included in the 2CD remastered version gives some insights about what lead to this more-than-disappointing album. First, this was the first album entirely written and recorded entirely with Hogarth (some material for the excellent Seasons End was written while Fish was still with the band). The two parties had different creative processes, and Hogarth's was more "rushy". Also, the producer for this album happened to be a big name on the pop scene who "likes a verse and a good chorus". He was fun to work with though... Finally, according to Pete Trewavas, EMI put pressure on the band to produce a more commercial album with three singles on it.

Anyway, good excuses or not, this was not a good album, and almost every fan was disappointed. I bought it for "100 Nights" and for completion purposes, that's all.