4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rare combination of emotive and instrumental power., Sep 1 1998
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Misplaced Childhood (Audio CD)
For about a year, Misplaced Childhood was the most cherished album in my then 250-disc collection. It isn't now (for sake of musical discovery), but it still has an unfletching connection to me. I don't think this album - or the band - can truly have wide appeal, but for those of us who fall for the charms of Fish & Co., musical ecstasy rarely gets much better. MC is a very personal album and isn't one that bears the need for song-by-song critical evaluation. The album is the distillation of a band's raw emotion at its creative peak. MC is the kind of album where you just let go and allow it to carry you over its soaring peaks and through its deep chasms. What makes this album so important to its fans isn't the playing or the instrumentation or the arrangements - even if these are all excellent in execution - but its ability to grab ahold of your innermost soul and transmit incredible emotive power through the lyrics of a rock poet in his prime. I even cried during one listening session. Very few albums can connect to a listener like Misplaced Childhood. I know a few people who listened to the album and didn't think much of it, but this isn't mass-market music. It isn't a challenging listen - Marillion has great ability to write gorgeous melodic music - but the album precludes passive listening. MC is one of those albums I think everyone should experience. If it grabs you, you'll likely place it as one of your most essential albums.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masterpiece, Jun 20 2005
By Luis "Chori" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Misplaced Childhood (Audio CD)
Its hard to find an album with only good reviews.
You are going to have a hard time finding someone who has heard this record a couple of times and feel unchanged.
There is no childhoods end.
Enjoy.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Will blow your ears away, May 24 2005
By A. Foulks "Neandertal maven" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Misplaced Childhood (Audio CD)
I got this album in Egypt, in the late 1980s, from a friend there who was up on European bands. From there, I took the cassette on all my travels; it is one of those rare albums you want to listen to-in entirety-dozens of times in a row.
Marillion's songs (on this album; I've not heard their others) have the haunting quality of some Alan Parsons, and the first album by Pearl Jam. Because there are no strong breaks between songs, this seems to be a "theme" album, in the vein of "The Wall" or "Sgt. Pepper"...here the theme is stream-of-consciousness reminiscences. Listening while reading the lyrics bears this out, such as when the last lines of "Lost Weekend" segue into the subject of "Blue Angel".
If nothing musical has "electrified" you in awhile, get this album! It won't be cheap, because its an import, but it will be worth it. I just got a CD, because my cassette was worn clear out; and the music is as beautiful as ever.