Release date: November 29, 2019
Label: earMUSIC
Production: Marillion and Michael Hunter
Length: 79:44
Genre: progressive rock/art rock
Rating: 9.5/10
While most fans of what various media like to call ‘the most carefully guarded British musical institution’, the legendary English prog rockers Marillion, are waiting for a studio album of new songs, their heroes have recorded “With Friends from the Orchestra”: a nostalgia-tinged effort on which vocalist Steve Hogarth, guitarist Steve Rothery, bassist Pete Trewavas, keyboardist Mark Kelly and drummer Ian Mosley teamed up with the members of a Belgian string quartet. Together with the orchestral foursome, a French horn player and a flautist, Marillion decided to re-record nine songs from their incredibly rich catalog, which, with the added symphonic arrangements, have come back to life in an even more intense and dramatic form.
For this they picked nine songs from the ‘H era’ that rank among their most emotional and epic creations, such as the opener “Estonia”, originally from the album “This Strange Engine” (1997), which, with the addition of orchestral elements, has gained even more of the dramatic, melancholic atmosphere typical of this Marillion classic about the tragedy of the ship of the same name.
Next up is the symphonically rearranged version of “A Collection”. This is without a doubt the biggest surprise of the freshly replayed selection of Marillion classics, since it’s a song that wasn’t on the original release of the album “Holidays In Eden” (1991) and only turned up on its reissue, even though it was written the same year. Still, this melancholic-romantic song about the band’s friend John Helmer, who had the odd habit of photographing his (ex-)girlfriends at the same location (without their knowledge, of course), has become quite popular among Marillion fans over the years and has already made it onto setlists a few times.
The “Marbles” (2004) classic “Fantastic Place”, on the other hand, is not a surprising choice. With the addition of strings and winds, this optimistic love song only gains in grandeur. “Beyond You”, from the current Marillion album “F.E.A.R.” (2016), was probably chosen as a great contrast, since compared to “Fantastic Place” it’s a darker and more melancholic piece, where things between two former lovers end badly. The “Brave” (1994) standard “The Hollow Man”, one of the saddest ambient moments in the Marillion story, and the no less melancholic yet at the same time ‘uplifting’ and optimistic “The Sky Above the Rain”, from the album “Sounds That Can’t Be Made” (2012), are also among these contrasting moments that only gain in intensity with the orchestral elements.
“Seasons End”, from the album of the same name, already had symphonic elements in its original version, so it’s no surprise it sounds so convincing in its new guise. But the songs where the orchestral elements truly come alive in full are the two re-recorded epic treats, namely “This Strange Engine”, from the previously mentioned album of the same name, and the “Marbles” masterpiece “Ocean Cloud”, which is (still) the most ambitious creation in Marillion’s catalog to date, and the song that most of their fans would probably want to hear ‘live’ if you ran a poll on their favorite concert track. For understandable reasons, the Fish era was shunted onto a ‘side track’ this time, though there’s no doubt that plenty of Marillion pieces from that period would sound great with orchestral additions.
“With Friends from the Orchestra” is aimed first and foremost at all the loyal Marillion faithful who have long wondered how some of the best pieces in the prog-rock champions’ story would sound with string and wind arrangements. As you’d expect, the whole thing turned out wonderfully, so all the band members listed above, together with the string and wind crew, deserve congratulations for a brilliantly executed project. It’s almost odd that Marillion didn’t do a similar orchestral project earlier, since so many of their past creations already had symphonic elements and were practically ‘begging’ for this kind of ‘makeover’. At the same time, you can’t accuse this release of being calculated or an easy cash grab at the expense of loyal fans who are already impatiently waiting for a ‘proper’ studio album, because you can feel the band played and sang all these songs afresh from the heart, and that this is a decidedly non-commercial effort.
Review by: Peter Podbrežni
Track list:
1. Estonia (7:57)
2. A Collection (3:04)
3. Fantastic Place (6:01)
4. Beyond You (5:25)
5. This Strange Engine (16:20)
6. The Hollow Man (4:23)
7. The Sky Above the Rain (10:33)
8. Seasons End (8:00)
9. Ocean Cloud (18:00)
Marillion:
Steve Hogarth – vocals
Steve Rothery – guitar
Pete Trewavas – bass guitar, backing vocals
Mark Kelly – keyboards
Ian Mosley – drums
Guest musicians:
Emma Halnan – flute
Sam Morris – French horn
Annemie Osbourne – cello
Margaret Hermant – violin, harp
Maia Frankowski – violin
Nicole Miller – violin, viola
