F E A R Marillion

• 1El Dorado (i) Long-Shadowed Sun01:26
• 2El Dorado (ii) the Gold06:12
• 3El Dorado (iii) Demolished Lives02:23
• 4El Dorado (iv) F E A R04:07
• 5El Dorado (v) the Grandchildren of Apes02:35
• 6Living in F E A R06:25
• 7The Leavers (i) Wake up in Music04:27
• 8The Leavers (ii) the Remainers01:34
• 9The Leavers (iii) Vapour Trails in the Sky04:49
• 10The Leavers (iv) the Jumble of Days04:20
• 11The Leavers (v) One Tonight03:56
• 12White Paper07:18
• 13The New Kings (i) Fuck Everyone and Run04:22
• 14The New Kings (ii) Russias Locked Doors06:24
• 15The New Kings (iii) a Scary Sky02:33
• 16The New Kings (iv) Why Is Nothing Ever True?03:24
• 17Tomorrows New Country01:47
• Total Runtime01:08:02

Info for F E A R

“F E A R”, is the the band’s eighteenth studio album, features 5 brand new tracks and the feeling within the band themselves is that they may well have produced their best ever work. Marillion has certainly not mellowed with age; the album artwork shows the acronym “F E A R” embossed on a gold ingot, and the songs themselves bear the hallmark of true quality.

Whilst the album title itself is certainly provocative, it’s not meant to be offensive. The title itself features as a line in the track ‘New Kings’ and is delivered as a plaintive falsetto. Steve Hogarth said, “We’ve used “F E A R” as a title with some relish, but only as it shows that we haven’t shied away, but it’s said with sadness. There are two basic impulses behind human behaviour: Love and Fear, and all the good stuff comes from love”.

“F E A R” sees the band taking on the big themes but they do not see it as their place to preach to people. ‘New Kings’ looks at the ravening beast that modern capitalism seems to have evolved into, ‘El Dorado’ examines the notions of political entitlement and the modern challenges for the UK, ‘The Leavers’ examines the impact of a transient life on the road for those constantly waving goodbye. The job is simple says Hogarth, “We use the amazing privilege of having both a platform and an audience to encourage people to look in the mirror and ask themselves the big questions – by doing just that ourselves”.

Buoyed by the feeling that on “F E A R” they have very much nailed both the music and the lyrics, Marillion are looking forward to touring the new material. The focus has been on bottling that lightning that typifies the creative process, staying away from the safety zone and getting it right.

As Steve Hogarth says, “We don’t know how many more albums we’ll make, or how long we’ll live. Everything has to be the best it can be”.

With the final tinkering and finessing done, with “F E A R.“ Marillion show that they are as vital and potent as ever. Peerless and, yes, fearless…

Steve Hogarth, vocals, keyboards, guitars, percussion
Steve Rothery, guitars
Mark Kelly, keyboards, samples, effects, backing vocals
Pete Trewavas, bass, backing vocals, additional guitars, samples, effects
Ian Mosley, drums, percussion

Marillio
You may not have heard of Marillion but either directly or indirectly, however, you have almost certainly felt the influence of one of the UK music scene’s best-kept secrets. Today, any musician, artist, writer, or budding entrepreneur can quickly set up a crowdfunding campaign using established specialist companies like PledgeMusic and Kickstarter. Of course, this wasn’t always the case and previously, artists in need of finance and exposure had little choice but to sign their rights away in often exploitative and one-sided business deals. It can be argued that every artist today owes Marillion a debt of gratitude because now there is another way forward.

As far back as the late 1990s, Marillion’s fans sponsored an entire US tour responding to an appeal posted on the fledgling Internet, donating $60,000. In 1997 the band responded creating its own website (the first rock ‘n’ roll website in the UK) and began what was to change the landscape of music. With the support of its passionate fans, Marillion bypassed the conventional music industry, took control of its future, and forged its own path, naming their album marillion.com, banishing the spectre of record company pressure and influence once and for all. Marillion launched its own record label, the aptly named Intact imprint. In so doing, the band freed itself up to produce some of the finest music of its career.

In 2001, Anoraknophobia saw Marillion take the groundbreaking step of asking fans to pre-order an album a full 12 months before release. Anyone doing so would receive a specially packaged CD, which would include their name in the “Thanks” list. An amazing 12,000 people signed up, helping not only to finance the recording, but also to create a budget to launch the album. In doing so, the band invented “Crowdfunding”. This was anything but a one-time event and the band has since funded a number of albums this way. The crowd-funded business model has since been embraced globally to finance music, film and art which otherwise might never have existed.

Marillion’s music is, by its nature, tough to sum-up but perhaps can be approximately described as musically-experimental-yet-emotional Rock, married to thought provoking, soulful lyrics - a powerful and moving cocktail which, for those who "get it", elicits extraordinary devotion. Its global fan base is impressive and hyper-engaged, with fans often travelling thousands of miles to attend live shows. Little wonder then, that the band was well-placed to harness this faith and trust to provide an alternative way of operating.

On September 17th 2012, Marillion released its 17th studio album, Sounds That Can't Be Made. During that same year, the band toured extensively in North America, South America, and Europe. After over thirty years, the band shows no signs of slowing down and new generations of young fans are discovering the music for themselves. And there’s plenty of it. With a catalogue of 17 albums behind them, having written music that draws on every genre Marillion can be considered Progressive not just musically, but in just about every sense.

The band is unique not only for what it has done, but how it has done it. Over the course of its career, Marillion has displayed little regard to the vagaries of the musical fashion police or mainstream radio but innovated the ways and means to stand apart from music-business pressure, media pressure and its attendant artistic compromises.

In 2015, Marillion returned to the studio to begin writing its 18th studio album, which is scheduled for release in 2016 with a world tour in the planning stages for 2016. Marillion have recently announced that they have joined forces with PledgeMusic for this release thereby endorsing PledgeMusic as the foremost platform within the Crowdfunding model.

The band has evolved into a vibrant and international musical force. To those who already love Marillion, the band is something special. To the uninitiated, it’s a potential love affair waiting to happen.

This album contains no booklet.