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Marillion - Happiness Is The Road CD (album) cover

HAPPINESS IS THE ROAD

Marillion

 

Neo-Prog

3.36 | 639 ratings

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Cristi
Special Collaborator
Crossover / Prog Metal Teams
4 stars Marillion's latest album is better in my opinion than their previous Somewhere else (2007) album but nevertheless not as good as 2004 Marbles. There are no major surprises, the album sounds in the manner of their post 2000 albums, some songs remind me of Anoraknophobia (The Man from the Planet Marzipan), other of Marbles (the title song especially) and Somewhere Else (Woke Up, Trap this Spark, Especially true to name a few).

The first CD is more mellow, dreamy, dominated by lush keyboards and hints of guitar work (I wish i heard more of Rothery on the first cd, maybe I'm mistaking), Trewavas' bass is great as usual, the drums are surprisingly good; Hogarth's vocals are not as great as they were in the 90s, but still really good. The highlights are for me This train is my life, Essence, Wrapped in Time, Liquidity (I love Kelly's keys here), Trap the Spark and the title track.

The second cd is dominated by guitars, has more energy (which is great). The rhythm section Trewavas/Mosley is really good, Kelly does some nice keys textures, not as dominant as on the first cd though. Rothery's guitars are quite good (although I for one wish there were more solos); Hogarth again does a good job on vocals. Highlights - Thunder Fly, The Man from the Planet Marzipan, AsylumSatellite # 1, Real Tears for Sale - there's nothing wrong with the rest of the songs, the ones I've mentioned just stand out IMO.

I recommend this album to any listener that enjoys the Marillion Hogarth era; as i said, although this release may not be as good as Marbles, there are a lot of great songs to enjoy, the songwriting is really good and I say the same thing goes with the musicianship. Therefore, 4 stars from me.

Cristi | 4/5 |

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