DISTANT LIGHTS - PORT ZELANDE

Like many Marillion fans, I have many Marillion live albums that span their entire career. From "Front Row Club" releases, official titles such as "Made Again" or "The Thieving Magpie", and a whole slew of racket releases across the years covering various Marillion Weekends and other significant events. With the possible exception of "Live at the Royal Albert Hall", which should surely stand out as a 5-star release, this "Distant Lights - Port Zelande" release may well be the finest of them all.

For a Marillion live album it is an unusual setlist. Focussed on the "Happiness is the Road" album which is rarely anyone's finest Marillion choice, it has a selection of songs that might typically not be chosen if one were to try to put together a favourites list. Even when it steps outside of the "Happiness..." tracks for the second half of the concert, the choices are odd. "Invisible Ink", and "The Sky Above the Rain" are again, songs which are on the rarer side. Thus, this is far from a greatest hits treat, but is all the better for it.

The opening moments of "Man from Planet Marzipan" immediately send chills down the spine, with some anticipation-building keyboard work that really drives excitement. This is followed up by the first half of "Happiness...", where every track played with real passion. Each instrument is crisp and clear, and Steve H performs well, with rarely a wobble. Other highlights include "Somewhere Else" which blasts in the later portion of the album and the always- wonderful "Real Tears for Sale". Amazing stuff.

The production and sound quality are excellent, the level of audience sound is spot on and though some of the chatting pieces become a little boring when listening to the album multiple times, they are not so bad as to detract from the overall whole.

I love all Marillion albums and have listened to each and every one many hundred times. During the period where "Happiness is the Road" was the latest release, it saw many spins on the CD player and I feel I know the songs very well indeed. I can say with surety, that the emotion I get from the songs sung here surpass that original recording. Even when this album is on in the background, while I am working, for example, it keeps reaching in and making me stop what I am doing to listen.

There is so much Marillion material to pick and choose from that any individual release these days has to have something special to warrant multiple listens, especially the live recordings. "Distant Lights - Port Zelande" has this important quality, allowing it to compete with many incredible albums when choosing to listen to the band.

An additional mention does have to go to its sister release, the "Distant Lights - Leicester" release that covers a completely different setlist with songs from the first four Hogarth albums. The two albums complement each other nicely, and the Leicester choices are again excellent (and extremely nostalgic played in that order). Really, you should put aside a full four hours and play the lot! Yet, if you only have time for one, "Port Zelande" is definitely it.