It was the mids, heavy metal and new wave were dominating internationally, and MTV was changing the game in terms of image and marketing. So naturally, the group did what they thought best. They abandoned any pretense of commerciality and made a concept album.
If this were to be the swan song, why not go all in? But against the odds — and pushback from their label — Marillion finally broke big. A little background is in order. Marillion formed in as Silmarillion the name of a J. Tolkien literary collection. By then, lead singer and lyricist Fish Derek W.
For the follow-up, Fugazi , Pointer was replaced by Ian Mosley. Despite being unfashionable with the times, their Genesis-influenced sound with a darker, heavier twist and well-produced thanks to the punchiness by Nick Tauber had made some waves. Their debut was certified platinum in the UK, and the sophomore album went gold.
British rock magazines like Kerrang! They sounded more modern for the time, and the lyrics were more personal. Retrieved 1 September Classic Rock. March Q Classic. July Retrieved 24 October Interviewed by Jason Ritchie.
Retrieved 16 August Marillion Setlists Site Retrieved 2 September Hung Medien. GfK Entertainment Charts. Official Charts Company. Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 9 October Music and Media. American Radio History Archive. Retrieved 1 January Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file.
Download as PDF Printable version. There are dark overtones but it feels uplifting simultaneously. Listen to Fish build to the crescendo climax as he reflects on the dark memories - "the childhood, the childhood, the childhood, oh please give it back to me" and there is a significant break in the meter where the jagged guitar solo launches into full volume.
It is an amazing track and one of the best I have heard from Marillion. It is the end or the beginning of innocence? The concept is heavy handed but the real star of the track is Fish who wails up a storm with an amazing vocal performance: "it was morning and I found myself mourning for a childhood that I thought had disappeared - I saw you Hey you, surprised I love the guitar riffs and the lead breaks over Fish's vocals "There is no Childhood's End, There is no Childhood's End, oh lead me on".
Then the iambic pentameter changes completely in order to segue immediately into: "White Feather". A low key track that is a low point on the album but it certainly wraps it all up concluding the CD, fading away in true 80s style.
How to conclude this review is to simply state the fact. This is as about as good as Marillion gets. The first few albums are all great but this is the masterpiece make no mistake. I would even be bold enough to state that if this album does not appeal to you, Marillion is perhaps not for you. But on the other hand for those of us who have discovered the genius of this band, this CD is truly a pleasurable experience.
Great headphone music and one of the best outright examples of Neo Prog. It's also truth that the selection of keyboards is not the best, specially because in they got rid of their Mellotron and used an emulator that didn't sounded remotely as good But we must focus in the music, they were able to make excellent Prog in a decade that despised Prog and keep the genre alive, and "Misplaced Childhood" is one of the top albums of the decade.
At this point Fish makes a radical change from storyteller to singer and does it with amazing proficiency, only minutes but sometimes less is more, great song.
Maybe they loose a bit of surprise but prove how carefully elaborate each song is. Strong, perfectly structured, dramatic when required, everything is in it's place and sounds great.
The album ends with "White Feathers" an excellent and surprising finale. Some people may believe I go too far with my rating, but if "Script for a Jester's Tear" was the birth of Neo Prog, "Misplaced Childhood" completely defined the sub-genre and raised the bar so high that the new bands would have to work very hard to reach this level.
If this is not essential, I don't know the meaning of the word, so 5 stars is my rating. I'm sure this album and especially the popularity of it, is a thorn in the flesh of prog purists but what is the relevance of that debate? Aren't we just after discovering and enjoying outstanding music whatever genre it is? Even if that genre could be tagged pop-prog.
To be honest I never liked neo-prog music and don't like it till now. For me there were Rush till their Signals , then Saga , then -some silence, and then - Marillion. Just more modern form of progressive mainstream rock. I was happy with their few first albums, and Misplaced Childhood possibly is the one, where they got their peak. Unhappily, the band didn't stay at their top for too long. After Fish left the band, they became not too much interesting, and what is much worst gave inspiration for myriad of faceless boring clones, which later formed the basis for so named neo-prog.
This album could be recommended for widest range of listeners as one of the best neo-prog examples ever. And the best Neo album I've personally ever heard. Events in my personal life have had me thinking about the past a lot lately, I suppose it's just the next midlife crisis. Some would say I look backwards too much but I would counter that too many people seem to be running from their past, which is no better frankly.
I think there is much to be learned by thinking about events and outcomes of decades gone by, as I've found they can be clues to explaining things in your midst today. Is it coincidence that this old friend found its way back into my rotation after many years of not hearing it?
But the rush of memories and emotions it brought back were nothing short of intriguing. The album comes from the high point of the first Marillion era, when the band members said they were confident and happy, and stated that the album pretty much "wrote itself. The thematic concepts of the album come primarily from one wild night when Fish took a double hit of some solid LSD and spent the night writing between bouts of freaking out, providing yet more evidence that some of the best rock music ever written was assisted by chemical inspiration, as much as some would like to deny that fact.
Inside there was a short letter from an old girlfriend with the recommendation to digest the accompanying contents - a tab of very strong acid. Very Alice indeed! Not having indulged for a while I swallowed a cautious half, and after a few hours and with a pleasant euphoria, I took the other - setting off on my bike to Steve Rothery's house. Very bad mistake Steve had to drive me home and after locking all the doors I set off into a long white-knuckle roller-coaster of a night I immersed myself in a warm bath for a while, returning to the womb and trying to reassemble myself.
I spent the rest of the night crouched on the floor listening to music, watching walls breathe I'd started to doodle and scribble in my lyric book on the off chance of catching something from the trip. It was sometime during the night that I was visited. I knew he was dressed as a soldier and vanished as soon as he entered the corner or my eye. Perhaps it was my muse; perhaps it was the drug. It was enough to propel me into reaming off a large scrawl of prose.
Contained within were the diamonds and structure on which would hang up the entire concept of Misplaced Childhood. Not literally of course, the names and places will be different, but you catch my drift-we internalize the tracks to our own experience. He delivers the storylines masterfully and with incredible passion. The band rises to his challenge of performance here delivering heartfelt melodies, interesting proggy interludes, beautifully linked songs and transitions, recurring themes, and spirited jamming.
When you consider all of the elements the album can compete with works like Dark Side or Trick of the Tail while it falls short of Floyd for me it easily bests TotT. But think about Dark Side's recipe: great transitions, poignant lyrics, interesting proggy moments and great melody The difference is mainly in the "sound" of the two bands and the time periods.
Some proggers will blast the album for being too overtly accessible but in reality it is not so different than those highly approachable '70s albums. I love how dynamic and briskly paced everything is kept. From the mysterious beginning of "Pseudo Silk Kimono" to those amazing first chords of "Kayleigh", which if you listen carefully perfectly sound-simulate the effect of time travel leading to the "do you remember? They dive right into another contagious track with "Lavender" showcasing Rothery's abilities to mimic that gorgeous, transcendent Gilmour quality of pleasurable note production.
Mark Kelly lavishes the album cover to cover in beautiful texture and mood, while Pete Trewavas delivers this huge, thumping bass throughout The second side tries to best "Bitter Suite" with a minute emotional bloodbath in "Blind Curve" which deals with the death of a close friend I believe.
The interlude between "Mylo" and "Perimeter" is fantasticand the pain, loss, and anger expressed through the suite is deep. Just when it begins to get a bit much at the end they pull it back nicely with a refrain of the pleasing "Lothian" riff. If only they had ended with the upbeat and natural sounding conclusion of "Childhood's End" which so perfectly wrapped it. The one black eye of this album is the tacking-on of the dreadful last track "White Feather" with its cringe-worthy, utopian lyrics, which was simply so unnecessary.
My rating of 5 stars is tainted by the fact that I hate the last track, so I must qualify that I stop the disc after "Childhood's End. I can't penalize such a treasure like this for one dud track. Get yourself a remastered version of this album and hear one of the best rock albums of the s. The cynical of which I often include myself in their ranks may mock you, but when you get this disc in your car alone, you'll enjoy it just like the other guilty pleasure albums people sometimes diss This is a difficult album to review because it was meant to appeal to classic era prog fans such as myself but the quality of the music is way inferior to any of the classic bands they are trying to emulate.
First of all, I have to make clear that I don't doubt of the capabilities, talent and potential of each and everyone of the musicians involved in this album since I've seen what they can do, specially on "Script for a Jester's Tear", which is almost the "lost Gabriel era Genesis album".
Here, again, Marillion displays their Genesis influence to an extent that it becomes a clone, but this time they add a Pink Floyd "The Wall" era element to the music. As I said before, these influences and overall sound would appeal to prog fans but the compositional quality is quite diminished in comparison to their debut in an accomplished effort of making prog more accessible indeed, it peaked on the charts.
I have always said that if you want to emulate a classic band without being dull you should, at least, be able to keep the musical standard and be somewhat original. But now, Marillion embarked the pretentious project of making Gabriel era Genesis accessible to the masses but by doing that they sacrificed their Genesis-like musical standard and saying this is a enormous compliment to their debut and everything that made this prog classic's music interesting.
I have nothing against pretentiousness when it makes things interesting, but this time it bores me to death. At the end, the pretension of this album, unlike classic-era prog, is to simplify the music.
So, instead of being progressive they are being regressive! Something common among several Neo-Prog bands. This album is considered a masterpiece by many and I can understand its appeal: it caries the essence of some of our favorite bands, it is easy to comprehend and has interesting lyrics. Not only that, it was one of the few sources of prog in the 80's and it got some airplay, therefore it produced the illusion and hope that the progressive rock era wasn't over.
But we have to realize that: 1 The music lacks originality, 2 Is simplistic and 3 If you wanted to get 80s prog King Crimson, Rush and other authentically progressive bands where active during the decade. Now to the music. Fish has a voice outstandingly similar to Peter Gabriel's and that is another big compliment , his performance and lyrics are the highlight and only interesting aspect of the album.
The guitar work is actually closer to David Gilmour's than to Steve Hackett's, but nothing really noteworthy comes out of it. The rhythm section is apt but, again, uninteresting. The keyboards are not bad, creating an atmosphere with lots of unexploited potential and some pleasant piano interventions appear every now and then.
There is actually no technical flaw here, but the uninteresting and boring music makes me want to give the lowest rating. Nonetheless, the great vocal performance, technically flawless playing, pristine recording and, to a lesser extent, historic significance of this record it kept the symphonic prog sound tradition alive made me reconsider.
Total: 2. Two stars for a decent, boring, unoriginal and regressive album. Just for collectors of prog history. For my th review here at ProgArchives, I've wanted to discuss an album that is really special to me. After some tough decision making, I've decided that it was finally time to review one of my all-time favorite albums - Marillion's Misplaced Childhood.
I have been holding off this review for a long time, for an almost unexplainable reason. I've been afraid that after I put my own critical spin on such a special album that it might loose a little bit of its luster. Misplaced Childhood has been one of those albums that has really shaped my life recently. I have been listening to this album on a nearly twice-a-day basis for well over two months, memorizing every word and note until it is engraved into my head.
Words can't describe how fantastic I think this album is, but I'll try my best to explain how awesome Misplaced Childhood is throughout this review. But if you really want to know how good this album is, just go out and buy it - you won't be disappointed. After a slight stumble with Fugazi , Marillion comes back stronger than ever with this masterpiece. On Misplaced Childhood we here a much more mature and developed band.
The production is better, the compositions are fantastic, and the band sounds even better on their respective instruments. When you add on the beautiful lyrics from Fish, a well-crafted concept, and some of the most heartfelt music on the face of the earth, it really makes for a fantastic album.
I'm usually a sucker for concept albums, so that does increase my enjoyment of Misplaced Childhood quite a bit. This is an extremely well-crafted concept, and should set an example for other bands. It reuses just enough musical and lyrical themes to give the listener a great emotional impact without ever becoming repetitive or derivative. I just can't praise the seamless flow of this album enough. All of the songs flawlessly flow from each other. I wouldn't have the song order any other way.
The musicianship is fantastic, as we're always used to from Marillion. Of course, Fish takes center stage on this album with his emotional lyrics and fantastic vocals, but the other four musicians have no shortage of great material on Misplaced Childhood. Steve Rothery plays some of his finest solos ever on this album.
He really is a fantastic guitarist and suits the mood of the album perfectly. Mark Kelly's lush and melodic keyboards set the mood of the album perfectly.
He doesn't have as many solos as Steve Rothery, but he sets a fantastic rhythm and sometimes lead section. Ian Mosley's drumming has gotten much better since Fugazi.
I found his drumming a little uninteresting on the previous album, but that isn't at all the case here. He does a great job throughout the entire course of the album.
Pete Trewavas does a great job as well. That man really knows how to play the bass, and he shows that he's the master throughout all of Misplaced Childhood. None of the musicians ever "shred" or show off, but they don't need to. Marillion is made up of top-notch musicians, and you can tell that from their distinct melodic style. The production is unquestionably from the 80's. The synthesizers, electronic drum sound, and guitar tones may turn some people off, but I really enjoy it.
I honestly love the production of 80's neo-prog albums like this, and I think it gives Misplaced Childhood some of its charm. This album contains 10 songs, all of which are fantastic and worth hearing. I realize that I've mentioned half of the songs, but they are all so fantastic that I can't narrow it down any more. Keep in mind that all of the songs segue into each other, and are meant to be listened to together.
My only complaint with this entire album is the closing track, White Feather. It's a good song, but I don't think it's a great way to end such a fantastic album. If it were placed somewhere in the middle of the album I would be fine with it, but it isn't as strong of a closer as I would've liked it to be.
It's a minor complaint in the big picture, however. This is a fantastic album, and one mediocre track can't change that. Conclusion: Misplaced Childhood is a masterpiece of progressive rock, and is one of my all time favorite albums. I can't stop praising this fantastic album, and I don't think I ever will. You aren't a true prog fan until you own Misplaced Childhood , so do yourself some justice and go out and buy it now.
Of course my rating will be 5 stars for this absolutely essential progressive rock album. This is one of the defining albums in the genre. But it also had negative side effects. In the long run. Misplaced Childhood was also seen by hardcore prog fans as a sell out, Marillion going pop. And I cannot help to think that the prejudice so many people still have against neo prog derives from the fact that Kayleigh was a hit single.
This narrow-mindness would be later enhanced by the fact that most neo prog bands were then pressed to follow suit, every recording company asking for its prog acts to come up with something similar. It may explains why so many new groups did try to do it at least once certainly IQ, Pallas and Twelfth Night tried - and failed. The fact that bands like Yes and Genesis at the heigh of their careers did have hit singles on the pop charts never crossed the minds of those who critize neo prog.
Go figure! But what about the album itself? Was it really something intentionally commercial? The music might sound softer and more accessible, but it is still a symphonic prog album and no one could predict that it would be such hit. Thank God the band prevailed. With this CD they proved the world that prog music was not only alive and well, buit it also had a whole new market.
So this CD has a history. However, Misplaced Childhood with all its importance is not one of my favorites.
I still think it is a great album, like everything this group did with former singer Fish. I loved the concept too.
It was something quite bold and new for the time. However, the second side was not that inspired and it lacked the tremendous energy side A had plenty of. Besides, the production is far from perfect.
While Fish was on board, they could do no wrong. And I really like this CD with all the flaws I mentioned before. So although I still think it is not their best, it is also a fantastic work, then and now. Maybe I should give it an extra half star for its historical importance. I guess it is also a classic. But Marillion did even better ones. Thank you, guys. I love you. Then we transition into a rumba-like dance groove for an excellent Rothery solo maybe the first one I've ever been impressed by.
Brief Encounter - II. Lost Weekend - III. Blue Angel - IV. Misplaced Rendez-vous - V. Getting excited about singing about "wide boys"?!?! The continuous wailing of Rothery's guitar feels quite at conflict with Fish's impassioned vocal. They may be expressing their passion about the same thing, in different ways, but it's like putting apples with onions. Wide Boy - II. Glad to have that guitar in the background: This mix works! The talents and personalities still seem very built upon the members of GENESIS, but they've finally come up with a song that, for the most part, feels as if they might be breaking free of the themes and motifs of their inspirateurs.
Passing Strangers - III. Mylo - IV. Perimeter Walk - V. Where's the prog? White Feather Oh, good! Even so, the sound engineering is definitely a step up from their debut album I can hear everything!
The album starts very strongly, with the sinister "Pseudo Silk Komono" yielding to the appealing "Kayleigh". The latter's verses are magical, as is its lengthy instrumental break, but the chorus is almost tragically uninspired in every sense. But the highlight here is the grandiose "Heart of Lothian" where the Scots singer one-ups Peter Gabriel and stands almost on his own, notwithstanding continued stalwart support from Steve Rothery.
The closing numbers are similarly varied with alternating delicacy and potency. While I cannot deny the import of this disk independent of its colossal popularity, I think "flawed masterpiece" might be an accurate description.
That is, for fans of this style, it's a TKO, but for those more into a collective approach to prog, "Misplaced Childhood" seems anchored around an oversized Fish. Perhaps I should be "Brave" and look at the Hogarth era again? The direction the band had taken in Fugazi, heightened commerciality fused with progressive rock, reached its zenith with this album.
Whoever would have thought that a concept album revolving around an autobiographical account of life's ups and downs and societal ills would have been so popular in the era of post punk and new romanticism? The second is a great poem set to music, although the only minor gripe I have about Lavender is the fact that the single version which was extended from the album version features one of the most achingly beautiful guitar solos ever committed to vinyl of all time, let alone by Steven Rothery, and was absent from the album.
Hearts Of Lothian is a simple barnstormer of a song, with Fish wearing his heart on his roots sleeve and the band playing as if their lives depended upon it. By this time, they were so massive that the pop video even featured TV celebrities doing star turns. The end of the track slows down to a sensitive backing track with Fish baring his soul to us all. The other tracks on side one are Pseudo Silk Kimono, a slow and thoughtful introduction to the work as a whole, and Bitter Suite, which is a superb progressive ballad and leads nicely into the Hearts track.
Side two can comfortably be called the more progressive side, and proceeds to give Fish's, at times, exceptionally bleak view of the world.
I remember more than a few letters in music papers at the time bemoaning the fact that at least Roger Waters was old enough to moan about all in sight, whilst Fish was a mere stripling. I find it utterly brilliant, with a relentless pace virtually unchecked throughout. Waterhole leads into a massive rocker, Lords Of The Backstage, one of the finest tracks the band ever recorded. The main epic of the album, Blind Curve.
Nine minutes of dark and lyrically poetical symphony. Childhood End and White Feather close the album, in which all of the demons are finally exhaled. There are no standout performances on this. This is the sound of a band playing together at the top of their game and all in the same direction.
It all culminated in a fantastic festival called Garden Party held at Milton Keynes Bowl with, amongst others, Jethro Tull supporting to a massive audience. As most of the band have said since, they should have stopped there and rested for a couple of years. This is an essential album, and easily deserves the full five stars. There is not a weak moment on it, and for those who do not own it, it is extremely important to the understanding and appreciation of progressive rock at the time of its release.
Misplaced Childhood is the first Marillion's concept album so exhamining it track by track has a little sense even though "Kayleigh" has become a hit single and gave them a lot of popularity. The structure of this album has something of The Dark Side of the Moon. This is the only pence that I can add to what has already been written about this album Said so, the music itself has very few of Pink Floyd apart some Rothary's solos but unlike the two previous studio albums it has also less of Genesis.
Fish is in an excellent shape and all the album is very well arranged. Good lyrics and consistent melodies complete the picture. One of the very few progressive acts of the early 80s released very closely to another great concept album: Camel's Stationary Travellers. Misplaced Childhood is one of the best "album long suites" ever conceived.
Unlike some bands, these guys take their influence mainly Genesis and create something totally unique out of it. The product is something truly amazing, this great piece of work. The album itself consists of several shorter songs that flow into each other pretty much seamlessly. Although they are all practically eighties pop music, one can't help but indulge in the beauty that the band creates. With eighties pop music, mind you, one of my least favorite genres of rock music. When you add Pink Floyd, Gabriel-era Genesis, and Van Der Graaf Generator influences to pop music, this is what you get, an amazing record of emotional brilliance that can be easily played on the radio.
What a package! I love each listen, 5 lovely stars. PS Will go more in-depth with an edited review at some point. This went 1 in the UK and featured two top ten hits.
The music on this album is hardly 'prog' at all, instead just slightly adventurous commercial 80s rock. Not until the fourth track do you really hear anything proggy.
Not a bad song but very 80s and very poppy. Instead of sounding like Gabriel, Fish instead sounds like Phil Collins solo during the chorus. Nice mids style guitar solo. A piano-based ballad that's nothing special to my ears. Very PG-era Genesis sounding when the rhythm section enters. Features narration in a Scottish accent; not sure if Fish is Scottish or not or if he's just acting. Interersting drumming in the middle.
The last two or three minutes are good but also very Genesis sounding. Three distinct sections in this song. Almost sounds similar to Gabriel solo musically and Peter Hammill vocally. The Scottish narrator is back.
Kayleigh 3. Lavender 4. Bitter Suite 5. Heart Of Lothian 6. Waterhole Expresso Bongo 7. Lords Of The Backstage 8. Blind Curve 9. Childhoods End? Emerald Lies intro 2. Script For A Jester's Tear 3. Incubus 4.
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the CD release of Misplaced Childhood on Discogs. Label: EMI - CDP 7 2 • Format: CD Album, Reissue • Country: UK & Europe • Genre: Rock • /5(43).