Radiat10n - Introduction

Introduction Radiation is the sixth Marillion album with Steve Hogarth, and their tenth over all. It is the first album produced by the band themselves and it must be said that the sound is not as dynamic as fans have come to expect. The band have commented that they were restricted by finances and even re-used old tapes rather than using new ones.

Talking about the album to Roger Lotring in February 1999, in an interview entitled A Conversation with Steve Hogarth of Marillion, Steve Hogarth was asked to comment on the fact that Radiation seems to create an atmosphere that is simultaneously relaxed, and at the same time sad.

Costa Del Slough

'Costa Del Slough'
The Costa Del Sol is a strip of coast in southern Spain well known for its holiday resorts. The name means the 'Sunny Coast'. Slough is a town in Berkshire of just over 100,000 people on the north bank of the River Thames. It was perhaps most famously name-checked in Sir John Betjemen's 1937 poem of the same name. It starts:

Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!
It isn't fit for humans now,
There isn't grass to graze a cow.
Swarm over, Death!

...and doesn't get any more complimentary! It was prompted by the rapid industrialisation of the town in anticipation of war with Germany. Betjemen reputedly regretted his harshness in light of the war.

'The hole in the ozone layer'
Martin Holroyd pointed out on Facebook that the hole in the ozone layer does not cause global warming. The ozone is a greenhouse gas and thus a contributory factor to global warming; the hole actually reduces global warming by allowing more heat out. However, the ozone layer does stop harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching the Earth's surface, which is why a hole is such a problem.

Under the Sun

'The Northern Line'
The Northern Line is part of London's underground railway network. It runs from Edgware and High Barnet in north west London to Morden (near Wimbledon) in the south. Although it crosses the Thames, it does not go near any beaches!

Quiet speech at the end
Pete: "Thank God we didn't do that on stage, eh?"
Steve R: "Good evening Amsterdam!"

Three Minute Boy

Introduction: From A Conversation with Steve Hogarth of Marillion, February 3, 1999 by Roger Lotring.

Steve Hogarth: "I was trying to create something that had the feel of, y'know, like, an outtake from Hunky Dory. That's exactly what I was trying [to do], in terms of the kind of ghost of it, rather than what it actually is. I wanted it to have that feeling. And when we mixed it, I made that point to the mixing engineer too. I said, "I want it to sound like Hunky Dory at the beginning. And then I want it to turn into Hey Jude at the end. [Laughs]

These Chains

Introduction: Steve Hogarth in the Radiation press release said: "I think with These Chains and the album generally, a lot of it's to do with my reaching forty, and watching my friends' lives as well. You're twenty and you've got your dreams and ambitions; in your thirties, you begin to feel like you're a proper person; then when you get to the end of your thirties, it all starts to fall apart again. This sudden disillusion of things that you thought were solid and sorted.

Born To Run

Introduction: Steve Hogarth said: "I was thinking of the north of England and the little working class towns - one of which I grew up in - and about people who run away from their roots; people who go, "God, I'm getting out of here," and run away and try and make a bigger life or a better life for themselves, and travel and experience the world. At the end of the day, if you deny your roots, the day will come where you realise you are actually nonetheless a product of where you grew up and how you grew up. And you can't run from that because it runs with you.

Cathedral Wall

Introduction: During a period of insomnia, Steve Hogarth would imagine himself lying at the foot of a giant church or cathedral. Somehow, he found the building comforting, and was able to sleep there. The following extract is from an interview with Steph Perry for Rock Notes On-Line.

"It's a song about insomnia. Quite a lot of what's on this album consists of words that have come out of quite a painful period in my life, which I'm coming through now but I'm nearly there. I had a bad couple of years, and I went through a point where I wasn't sleeping at all. Cathedral Wall is about insomnia and that also turns up in These Chains and Now She'll Never Know. I guess all those three songs are inspired by the same kind of pain.

A Few Words for the Dead

The Spoken Intro
Lee Smith said: "The intro is a sample from Douglas Spotted Eagle, a Grammy-winning Native American musician based in Utah.

Jørn Linné discovered that the song is called Dii'Saad'beh (With These Words) from an album called Closer to Far Away: