HAPPINESS IS THE ROAD

I must admit I'm an album scanner - when I get a new CD I like to skip through, see if there's some really accessible material and make my first judgement. That was my mistake with Happiness is the Road, sure 'Whatever is wrong with you' is good, and 'Half the World' and 'Real tears for sale' stood out, but the album didnt grab me. Skipping through the Essence CD failed to deliver, then I gave the album more time, in fact about ten repeat plays of CD2 to start with and it really grew on me, until giving CD1 a go and I suddenly realised that this is an album on a par with, dare I say, Marbles. The Essence CD holds together so well - tracks like 'Woke Up', 'Trap the Spark' and 'A state of mind' are great and the album just gets better with each listen. Give this album some time, it may not be an immediate rocker but like Marbles it holds together so well and will stand the test of time as one of h-era Marillion's better albums.