Marillion: Misplaced Childhood

Years ago, I saw this band’s name mentioned in a book (probably a Queen book, to be honest), and, after doing some research on their discography, went looking on Acquisition to, er, acquire some samples. One of the files was “Misplaced Childhood (entire album).mp3″ so, deciding that I might as well start with their best-regarded album, downloaded it, listened to it, and didn’t think much of it. However, as with most of the bands that I listen to for the first time, it needed time to grow, and, earlier this year, I decided on a whim to give it another try. This time, something clicked, and after mentioning my appreciation for the album to a correspondence in Scotland, he generously offered to send me CDs of this album and their first, Script For A Jester’s Tear. (If you’re reading this, Davie, many thanks!)

With the CDs came informative and in-depth liner notes, as well as a bonus disc of outtakes, single versions, and demos (at least, Misplaced Childhood did), so I was able to learn a lot about the making of the album and what the band were going through at the time. But this would all mean nothing if the music was bad, and, thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised with what the band were doing.

It should be said that Marillion, good as they are (and they are good), is not original. There are elements of other bands in their sound, with their most obvious influence being early Genesis. (Lead vocalist Fish’s voice sounds alarmingly similar to Peter Gabriel’s.) However, this doesn’t detract at all from the music; it’s almost like how Genesis would have sounded in the 1980s if Peter Gabriel hadn’t decided to go solo, and they hadn’t gone so mainstream. Also, the year that this album was released, 1985, wasn’t a particularly big year for progressive rock, especially after the New Romantics movement and lightweight chart toppers like Duran Duran, Culture Club, and whatever other alliterative band names you can think of made the shift toward disposable pop singles. So it’s particularly jarring to hear Misplaced Childhood, a sprawling conceptual work that draws on memories of the halcyon days of childhood and the torture of lost love, in context with other bands of the day; as a result, it’s refreshing and rewarding for people looking for more substance, yet is impenetrable for anyone with short attention spans.

‘Pseudo Silk Kimono’ serves as a brief introduction to the album, and is dominated by synthesizers and the ethereal vocals of Fish; then come the two singles of the album, ‘Kayleigh’ and ‘Lavender’. The former was a surprise hit for the band, and it’s easy to see why, with its punchy chorus and guitar hooks that give it an almost U2 feel, though it’s the latter that’s more impressive: a short piano ballad that is almost heartbreaking with its chorus of “Lavender blue, dilly-dilly, lavender green” and the repeated refrain of “I.O.U. for your love”, followed by an absolutely gorgeous guitar solo. (Recommended listening is the extended single version, which wasn’t released on the bonus disc but can be found on their greatest hits compilation.) Anyone who has ever had true love taken away from them will be affected deeply by this song.

The album missteps slightly with its two longer “suites”, ‘Bitter Suite’ (clever!) and ‘Blind Curve’, both nearing ten minutes in length. However, there are particular sections of those suites that are more memorable (‘Windswept Thumb’ from the former and ‘Threshold’ from the latter, specifically), so it’s worth sitting through the lengthier sections for such payoffs. In fact, there aren’t really any bad songs in particular on the album, though the two tracks that start side two, ‘Waterhole (Expresso Bongo)’ and ‘Lords Of The Backstage’, aren’t all that spectacular, and would be worth skipping if time is short.

The remaining three songs – ‘Hearts Of Lothian’, ‘Childhoods End?’, and ‘White Feather’ – are all excellent and worthy of the album’s purchase. The first title leads in from the lengthy ‘Bitter Suite’ with a quotation of The Who’s ‘Love, Reign O’er Me’, and is spliced into two parts, forming a wonderful anthem with a memorable chorus. ‘Childhoods End?’ is a wrapping up of sorts, and after the especially dark and depressing ‘Blind Curve’, serves as an almost sunny, optimistic conclusion, while ‘White Feather’ is a short plea for peace and pacifism.

While I have yet to purchase any of the other Marillion CDs, I get the impression that this was original vocalist Fish’s meisterwerk, and that he made the following album, Clutching At Straws, knowing full well that his time with the band was coming to an end. While the band still endures with new vocalist h (given name Steve Hogarth), Misplaced Childhood remains their most well-known album, though I look forward to exploring their back catalog in more depth. Prog rock fan that I am, there’s only so much Genesis I can listen to before I get tired of them, and Marillion dances that fine line between freshness and familiarity, and for that they get my approval.

Essential listening: Kayleigh, Lavender, Hearts of Lothian, Childhoods End?, White Feather