MARILLION: Popular Music

Cover	Release	Style
	2005	progressive rock
	Label
	Racket Records
	Website
	Marillion
	Contact

	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	57:30 / 58:24	Racket 25
	Review by	Rating
	Edwin	9/10
nederlands	Review
For Marillion fans who can never have enough material of their favourite band, there’s no need to look for it in the bootleg market. There’s more than enough official stuff around. First of all there are of course the regular studio and live releases. There’s also the “Front Row” club, which you can join (for quit a hefty price, unfortunately) to regularly receive ‘official bootleg’ recordings. And then there’s Marillion’s own record company, Racket Records, which releases cd’s and dvd’s through their website. The latest release on Racket Records is this “Popular Music”. For the second edition of the fan convention, the “Marillion Weekend”, in 2003, the band asked the fans to compile a top 10 of songs, which they were to play during the show. As it turned out, it was not exactly a ‘best of’ list, but more of a ‘songs we would like to hear again’. It does make for a great show, and it is finally available on cd. “A Few Words For The Dead” opens the concert, a track from my probably least played Marillion album “Radiation”. In fact, I haven’t listened to that album for quite a while, and it is great to re-discover this very emotional song. Much better than I remembered it. “Dry Land” is still a great ballad, and shows Steve h in fine form. “When I Meet God” is another moody piece, from their then-current album “Anoraknophobia”. The trilogy “This Town/The Rakes Progress/100 Nights” and “Berlin” are also excellent choices. It’s a joy to hear the Fish-era songs “White Russian”, “Sugar Mice”, “Warm Wet Circles/That Time Of The Night” and “Script For A Jester’s Tear” again. They rarely play these anymore, but anything for the fans, right? True, they can’t match the versions of the Fish lineup, but still, these songs fit nicely between the more recent stuff. “This Strange Engine” is just SO good. It has so many layers, such beautiful parts, such a brilliant build-up. And that guitar solos is definitely one of the best ever. This is truly one of THE ultimate Marillion epics. But then, they have so many of those. And “The Space”… what can I say…? A classic. This album contains quite a few of my own favourites. In fact –if I remember correctly- I did send in my list at the time. Even if you’re not a die-hard fan of the band, this is an album that I can truly recommend. This show, along with the 2002 edition and lots of extras, is also available on a massive 4 DVD box: “Wish You Were Here”.
Musicians
Steve Hogarth: Vocals, keyboards, guitar Steve Rothery: Guitar Mark Kelley: Keyboards Ian Mosley: Drums Pete Trawavas: Bass, guitar
Tracklist
CD 1 A Few Words For The Dead Dry Land When I Meet God White Russian Estonia This Town The Rakes Progress 100 Nights Sugar Mice CD 2 Berlin Warm Wet Circles That Time Of The Night Script For A Jester’s Tear This Strange Engine The Space
Discography
Racket releases (cd): Live At The Borderline (1992) Live in Caracas (1992) Live in Glasgow (1993) The Making of Brave (1995) Marillionrochester (1997) Tales from the Engine Room (1998) Piston Broke (1998) Unplugged at the Walls (1999) Zodiac (1999) marillion.co.uk (2000) Crash Course - Marillion Sampler (2000) ReFracted! - The Making of Afraid of Sunlight (2001) Another DAT at the Office - The Making of This Strange Engine (2001) Fallout - The Making of Radiation (2002) Caught in the Net - The Making of marillion.com (2002) Anorak in the UK Live 2CD Edition (2002) Brave Live 2002 (2002) View from the Balcony - Front Row Club Sampler (2003) Crash Course - Marillion Sampler (2004) Popular Music (2005) Racket releases (dvd): Shot in the Dark (2002) Brave Live 2002 (2002) Before First Light (2003) Marbles on the Road 2DVD Extended Edition (2004) Wish You Were Here (2005)


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