F E A R Marillion

• 1 El Dorado (i) Long-Shadowed Sun 01:26
• 2 El Dorado (ii) the Gold 06:12
• 3 El Dorado (iii) Demolished Lives 02:23
• 4 El Dorado (iv) F E A R 04:07
• 5 El Dorado (v) the Grandchildren of Apes 02:35
• 6 Living in F E A R 06:25
• 7 The Leavers (i) Wake up in Music 04:27
• 8 The Leavers (ii) the Remainers 01:34
• 9 The Leavers (iii) Vapour Trails in the Sky 04:49
• 10 The Leavers (iv) the Jumble of Days 04:20
• 11 The Leavers (v) One Tonight 03:56
• 12 White Paper 07:18
• 13 The New Kings (i) Fuck Everyone and Run 04:22
• 14 The New Kings (ii) Russias Locked Doors 06:24
• 15 The New Kings (iii) a Scary Sky 02:33
• 16 The New Kings (iv) Why Is Nothing Ever True? 03:24
• 17 Tomorrows New Country 01:47
• Total Runtime 01:08:02

Info for F E A R

Das Album, es ist das 18. Studioalbum der Band, enthält 5 brandneue Songs und es ist das erklärte Gefühl der Band, dass es ihr bisher bestes ist. Marillion zeigen definitiv keine Alterserscheinungen; im Artwork des Albums ist das Akronym „F E A R“ auffällig in einen Goldbarren geprägt, die Songs selbst zeigen alle Merkmale echter Qualität.

Natürlich ist der Albumtitel selbst provokativ, er ist aber auf keinen Fall beleidigend gemeint. Er ist Teil einer Textzeile des Songs „New Kings“, vorgetragen in klagender Falsettstimme. Steve Hogarth sagt dazu: „Wir haben den Titel ‚F E A R‘ schon einigermaßen genüsslich verwendet, in erster Linie, weil er zeigt, dass wir nichts aus dem Weg gegangen sind, aber dabei mit einer gewissen Traurigkeit. Im menschlichen Verhalten gibt es zwei grundsätzliche Impulse: Liebe und Angst – und alles Gute kommt von der Liebe.“ Auf „F E A R“ widmet sich Marillion den großen Lebensthemen, aber sie halten es nicht für ihre Aufgabe, den Menschen zu predigen. „New Kings“ wirft einen Blick auf die mörderische Bestie, in die sich der moderne Kapitalismus offensichtlich entwickelt hat, „El Dorado“ untersucht die Vorstellung des politischen Anspruchs und die modernen Herausforderungen des Vereinigten Königreichs, „The Leavers“ behandelt die Wirkung des flüchtigen Lebens on the road auf die, die immer wieder Abschied nehmen. „Der Job ist simpel,“ sagt Hogarth, „Wir nutzen das großartige Privileg, dass wir sowohl eine Plattform wie auch ein Publikum haben, um die Leute zu ermutigen, in den Spiegel zu schauen und sich die großen Fragen zu stellen – indem wir genau das selbst tun.“

Mit dem Auftrieb, auf “F E A R” sowohl mit der Musik wie mit den Texten einen Volltreffer gelandet zu haben, freuen sich Marillion darauf, das neue Material live vorzustellen. Der Fokus der Produktion lag darauf, diesen Blitzmoment des kreativen Prozesses einzufangen, dabei bewusst die Sicherheitszone zu vermeiden und es genau richtig hinzubekommen. Hogarth: „Wir wissen nicht, wie viele Alben wir noch machen werden, oder wie lange wir leben. Alles muss daher so gut wie irgend möglich gemacht werden.“

Nach dem letzten Feinschliff an der Produktion zeigen Marillion mit „F E A R“, dass sie so lebending und stark sind wie eh und je. Unvergleichlich und furchtlos… 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.