MISPLACED CHILDHOOD

I go back and forth on this one. On the one hand, Marillion is full of great musicians and they play with great gusto. On the other, something about this album seems like it's been stitched together from lots of random ideas. I read recently Fish came up with the idea while on a 10 hour acid trip... which makes sense. It's technically a concept album, but it's also sort of a mess. I'm going to go song by song to try and sort out where the issue lies.

Pseudo Silk Kimono: good stage setting overture of sorts, minor key synth melodies, very pretty. Lyrics describing someone hiding within themselves, good imagery and mystery

Kayleigh/Lavender: Very catchy rock melodies and great solos, and the lyrics have shifted to describing a young romance that failed. All strong, good stuff.

Bitter Suite: This is where it always starts to fall apart for me. Atmospheric noodling is not really what Marillion is good at, so it's inclusion is fine, if puzzling. Then we get the music kicking in, spoken word lyrics VERY much seeming to be written on acid, then shifting to a sung portion about, something? Then a reprise of the lavender melody with more wonderful imagery that just... seems randomly chosen rather than purposefully fitting a theme. Look, the music and the instruments are all good, singing good, it's just like, all put together at random.

Heart of Lothian: melody starts to pick up and kicks in for another upbeat rock song... but again, if this is all supposed to be a concept, none of the lyrical themes feel of a piece with one another. The Lamb Lies down is surreal and random but there was a narrative that held it together. As a CONCEPT album, this one is failing.

Waterhole: Side 2 kicks off with another minor key melody, sort of linking to Heart of Lothian, Fish doing his sort of "arch" vocal tic that brings a sinister edge.

Lords of the Backstage: More upbeat rock with good musicianship and great imagery, serving nothing. It's great to listen to, but it also makes it all sort of feel like it runs together.

Blind Curve: Another long piece made up of a couple disconnected pieces. Good guitar solo from Rothery, strong work from all involved, but still seeming indistinct from the rest.

Childhood's End?: Nice guitar riffs chiming to start, upbeat rocking, with lyrics trying to tie it all together. Pretty good.

White Feather: Pretty much continues from the last song, uplifting ending.

Perhaps this gets highly rated due to it's influence, but that shouldn't change the rating in my opinion. An influential album must also stand as excellent in it's own right, this one is good but not great. In my opinion, Clutching at Straws is the true Marillion masterpiece, achieving what they tried to here on every level.