Introduction: Marillion.Com is the seventh Marillion album with Steve Hogarth, and their eleventh overall.
There isn't a cohesive theme to the album. Some songs carry on the themes of domestic upheaval seen on the preceding Radiation; indeed Interior Lulu and Tumble Down The Years were originally intended for the Radiation album but were held over as the band felt they required more work. Tumble is a little more optimistic than the Radiation material, whilst you can tell that House would have fitted in well with the feelings of despair that pervaded the previous album.
Having said that, there’s also a sense of liberation and freedom seen in songs like Rich, Go! and Enlightened. These songs continue from the themes in the previous album's A Few Words For The Dead and These Chains.
Musically, the album veers from Who-like rock, to ambient dub and a full-on Prog extravaganza. The name of the album, Marillion.com, was meant to promote the feeling of community the band felt had developed around their Internet presence - about the time of DotCom and when, off their own backs, the fanbase clubbed together to finance an American tour for the band. The album name was very deliberately chosen because the band knew that their three album deal with Castle Communications was coming to an end and the tour fund had given them the first inklings of how vital the Internet might be to their future. As such, it was deliberately intended to drive people to the website, as was an offer of a free bonus disc, Marillion.co.uk that could be had in exchange for providing one’s details for the band’s mailing list.
All the songs have explanations, but for most this is simply the fact that the band wrote a few short lines about each song on their website. I've lifted 'em and plonked 'em here.
Cover notes: Featuring model Justine Leyland standing at the junction of Garrick Street and Long Acre in London, looking up Great Newport Street in London, holding an illuminated laptop, the cover juxtaposes the cold real world with the enticements of the Internet and computers - although Interior Lulu is not all positive about such things. Overlaid are long exposures tail lights. The pose of the cover model echoes that of the woman on the cover of Radiation.
The rear cover shows a barcode down the right side, whilst the tracks and album information are listed in a mono-spaced font over an aerial picture of skyscrapers. The interior sleeve features hundreds of passport photos of fans.
Songs with a link have explanations.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for your comments.
All comments are moderated, so apologies if it doesn't appear right away!