MARILLION AND THE POSITIVE LIGHT - TALES FROM THE ENGINE ROOM

An interesting trance-formation

In recent times, both Yes and Emerson Lake and Palmer have been the subject of remix albums, which if truth be told, were not particularly good. Some years previously however, "The Positive Light" undertook a similar treatment of tracks from Marillion's "This strange engine" album.

The original album being one of the band's more progressive albums, the choice at first seems rather odd. For me however, the results are largely successful. The main difference between this album and the Yes and ELP reworks is that here the tracks are more faithful to their original counterparts. The resulting product is more in the mould of extended versions, with perhaps a dance backing track or an accentuated bass and drum rhythm.

This album will not be everybody's cup of tea I grant you, especially many of the devotees of this website (for obvious reasons!). For those like myself however, who enjoy the occasion burst of trance, and indeed feel that some trance music has a relationship with progressive rock (and vice versa), this album makes a valid statement, and is well work seeking out.

Marillion and the positive Light - Tales from the Engine Room

As a first note I think I should state that this is better of being classified as electronic music. The album is a collection of 5 (or 6, depending on which version you obtain) ambient dance remixes of songs that were originally release one year earlier by Marillion on their "This Strange Engine" album.

This remix album has been worked on in agreement with the band and they stated that they liked the results. I bought it even before I owned the original versions of the songs, without knowing that this was a remix album, I just thought it was a discount version of "This strange Engine", but it was not ;-)

I hope that the word 'remix' or 'dance' does not scare you off. If there's one thing that someone who likes progressive music should be, it would be open-minded. You do not have to expect typical electronic music as available in any country's basic music charts. Here it is mainly "ambient dance" music. The point of this musical experiment was to recreate the songs, while maintaining their original vibe and mood. Perhaps the fact that the people behind the artist name The positive Light are fans of Marillion themselves might take away some of your doubts about the quality of songs, regarding the typical moody song writing that Marillion is famous for.

And believe me, I still like this remix album even more than the original "This strange Engine" album!

Marillion's album of electronica oriented tracks from This Strange Engine. In a word, not something that a casual listener should purchase. Why? Because this album has really no purpose, unless it is to show that Marillion were always trying to be creative and go down avenues that they had not gone down at the time. The result for this album is successful, but the original feeling that the band had obtained in the original versions of the songs on this album is lost in a sea of droning dance beats and accentuated drum notes, often resulting in extended versions of the songs from This Strange Engine. Most tracks also sound very very similar, but that doesn't really affect my rating of it.

Expect the versions on this album to remain somewhat faithful to their This Strange Engine counterparts, because for the most part, they do not stray away from the original structure of the song, minus the obvious addition of dance beats and more electronic tendencies. The only song that I think is truly improved on this album is Estonia, mainly because I absolutely love the drumming on this track, and the bass is also superb, and help make the chorus (which is among my favorite choruses of the band) so much better than the original album's (which is already incredibly strong). The rest of the songs, though, aren't really improved, and they aren't really brought down either. They just have a different feeling to them, in fact, a totally different feel from the original versions.

Overall, this album is really only recommended by me to fans of the group and people who like music that can be danced to. If you also like remix albums, this may be something to check out. But for me, I'm left with a feeling of why, mainly because I'm not exactly sure why this album really had to be made. Kudos, though, to Marillion for trying something new. I like the album, but I really question it's worth. 2.5/5.

I remember buying this album on sale. I had never heard of it before, but seeing the name "Marillion" I thought this could be something worthwhile getting. Well, what a big mistake! This is a disco/trance album! After listening to it once I thought I would give it another try because it´s Marillion after all. Well I listened to it again and then gave it away for free. This is definitely the worst album I have ever heard! Avoid at all cost!

Hold your indignation here, this is not a Marillion album, it's a remix of some of the tracks from the This Strange Engine album, made by a project called The Positive Light. Tales from the Engine is indeed an "album" for the Marillion completionists. Estonia is very enjoyable and honours the original, Memory of Waters is just a techo-house remix (nothing much), This Strange Engine is sort of a chillout track, quite good but unfortunately longer than the original song which definitely is a drawback; if One Fine Day and 80 Days are decent songs, I have to express my shock and indignation for the remaining track called Face 1004 (?!), whatever Marillion song is remixed here only God knows (I'm not sure He knows either) - a boring awful techno track.

Only Estonia may be considered a great song (remix) here; therefore this remix album gets 2 stars for the decent songs that I've just mentioned. Unless you want to have anyhting that Marillion put on the musical market, better stay away from this release.

Two considerations to introduce this review :

1. "This Strange Engine" was one of the record that I could live with from the Mark II Marillion. Not a great one (there won't be any to my standards) but good.

2. I have never been keen on remixes.

Therefore, I had lots of apprehension before listening to this record. The six songs featured here, are quite extended versions of the original tracks available on "This Strange Engine".

"Estonia" has gained almost 50% in lenght and although the aerial mood is not bad, I quite prefer the original song. Still, this adaptation is pleasant and is by no means boring. but that's probably because I like this song pretty much. Hogarth's voice is almost a prefect match with the music here. I deliberately say so because I really do not like his type of singing, so when I feel that I like him, I just say so.

"The Memory Of Water" starts almost as spacey as "Estonia" here, but what I was fearing was bound to happen. This remix is a dance, disco one. Needless to say that it is rather awful. I just hate it, nicely.

"This Strange Engine" was probably the most elaborate Marillion Mark II song. A fifteen minutes piece of music full of originality. This version starts like the other first two of this album : keyboard-oriented and fully space-rock for about two minutes. And then the same kind of poor beat sets the stage. Tchak, boum, tchak, boum. Almost as worse as the previous number although less aggressive. Still, to be able to enjoy these twenty minutes is completely beyond my reach.

I never could stand this style of music (almost house). Even less those remixes of nice songs. An extremely poor interpretation, indeed. The last four minutes are good, only because they are more faithful to the original.

I'm afraid that this album won't please any Marillion fan. I guess that not too many of the genuine band ones have gotten here and the Mark II ones will probably remain sceptical.

"One Fine Day" was a very nice and melodic song on the original album. Fortunately, this version is more respectful. The re- arrangement is more in the style of "Estonia"; which is a kind of relief, really. It is the second average song featured here. The "bonus" track "Eighty Days" is also acceptable. Keyboards again add a special touch.

My global feeling is that this is a rather crappy album. I honestly believe that one star is the maximum rating I can use for this "effort". Do stick with the original album of course.

This is an impulsive review, not planned at all. I just read two reviews from Mandrakeroot and Elizabeth about this album. I agree with both reviews. In fact this was my GREATEST DISSATISFACTION in any CD purchase that I have made in my life. It cost me USD 12 to purchase and I got a totally boring music and even worse ... I could not believe that this is an album by Marillion! How could it be? I have been a fan of the band (indeed a "die hard fan" during Fish era) and it is now being destroyed by Mr h? I am sure people who read this site would not favor this kind of music because it's basically a trance music with no clear direction at all. And I have to be honest to give only one star for this. AN album that must be avoided by whoever who loves prog music. And I hope you still keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Oh, my god! I should have known better. I bought this album on a sale for less than $4, still sealed, brand new. It was just too good to be true. But since I´ve been always a big fan of Marillion, I had to try. And I could never guessed it was an album of trance remixes of This Strange Engine. In fact, even This Strange Engine is not one of Steve Hogarth-era Marillion best CDs. And still I tried very hard to at least understand this CD, maybe even like it. But to no avail. I was never a fan of trance music and this is for the hardcore ones. This electronic/dance frankenstein stripped the songs of everything that was originally recorded, saving only Hogarth´s voice and one or two guitar parts from Steve Rothery.

There is not much more to say. Ok, it may be an interesting and valid experiment for some, who am I to judge? But let me give you a piece of advice: forget to find any Marillion, prog or even pop music if you´re going to buy this album. If you´re a fan of the three aforementioned things, avoid at all costs.

This is an experiment on the part of Marillion and trance music duo The Positive Light, remixing material from This Strange Engine to create a trance reinterpretation of the album. On the whole, I'd say it's an intriguing idea; The Positive Light don't restrict themselves to using sounds solely from that particular album, mining a few other recent Marillion works to add the odd accent here and there (listen carefully and you might hear the French-speaking Cannibal Surf Babe say a line or two), and they generally tackle the material with sensitivity to the general emotional and conceptual direction of the pieces in question.

Once things really get underway, you have an interesting situation where sometimes the music will drift closer to the original, whereas sometimes the Positive Light will zoom off in their own entirely trance-based direction. The end result is a unique musical trip which I personally enjoy, but which I will readily admit is not for everyone. The big thing here is that it's first and foremost a trance album, so if you really have no enjoyment of that style of music at all you're not going to enjoy this one, even if you're a big Marillion fan.

But if you are a fan of Marillion and you like a bit of trance now and then, you might find that the two flavours go better together than expected. I wouldn't call this a particularly essential Marillion release, or even a highly recommended one, but it is an experiment which was worth doing and may entertain you if you have especially broad tastes.