HOLIDAYS IN EDEN

In 1991, 'HIE' brought cries of horror, as many believed it to be a betrayal on the part of the group. Indeed, what was proposed here did not correspond to a real reinvention, nor to the relevant proposal that we had the right to expect after the 'Season's End' parenthesis (for this, we had to wait for the publication of 'Brave '). The fault lies in a lack of synchronicity between the band members, and a mini-crisis regarding the methodology of writing a Marillion album. However, while the group has released many opuses after this one, it is now possible to calmly re-evaluate 'HIE'.

And my opinion is that... ...the most important problem comes from the lyrics, which here are singularly lacking in depth, compared to what we had been used to. The gap between what Fish proposed and what Hogarth sings is so great that there is little left but the music to cling to to identify Marillion. Just goes to show that a very beautiful voice is not always enough.

That said, regarding the corpus of Marillion mark II albums, this one has aged quite well. The pop songs are very successful (except perhaps the too conventional "Dry Land") and the prog songs are of excellent quality. When we listen to the entire record today, we realize the fragile balance that the group had managed to find here, at a time when it was fighting to find a solution to the lack of chemistry between itself and its singer. .