MARILLION – Christmas 2002 – Santa and his Elvis (2002 Racket Records Christmas CD, free to Racket Club members – webfree 05)
This is the fifth of 11 Christmas CDs that Marillion released free to fanclub members. I have physical copies of nine, and legal downloads of the others I am missing (the first two). I thought the 2002 installment, Santa and his Elvis, would be make for an enjoyable review.
The intro “Christmas Message” seems to be delivered by an intoxicated band, recording in October! Laughing and doing voices, the members deliver their own personal Christmas messages to fans, if you can make out what they’re saying. For fans only! Then of course the band do an Elvis classic, “Lonely This Christmas”. Although it’s not too polished (it was recorded live in the studio) it does have some pretty cool performance moments. Hogarth’s singing is like butter but Steve Rothery’s guitar is delicious. Then, as a surprise, they do it again as a Pistols-esque punk version. Very cool.
Some recent live tracks round out of the album. From 2001 in Manchester is “Fruit of the Wild Rose” representing the then-new Anoraknophobia. This laid-back steamy number is extra slinky live. At almost eight minutes, it’s the longest track here. Surprisingly, this transforms into a heavy version of “Cannibal Surf Babe” and the two songs become one. Merry Christmas, indeed.
Then it’s off to a 2002 radio broadcast, with the two lead tracks from their new single: “Between You and Me”, and “Map of the World”. These tracks exemplify the new sound Marillion were going for at the time. They are concise, powerful pop rock songs featuring light experimentation with loops. I recall they were listening to a lot of Massive Attack and Radiohead at the time, among other artists, and usually this kind of modernization doesn’t work. Marillion pulled it off. They managed to combine the more melodic rock sounds of Holidays in Eden with a modern ethic without sounding too contrived. As much as I prefer the progressive, darker side of Marillion, they do write really great pop rock from time to time. It’s not like they sold out; there’s enough good playing here to satiate the old fans. These are the singles, after all. “Map of the World” is a particularly lush, excellent song.
The radio broadcast continues with an older track from Radiation, “The Answering Machine”. This is a song that exists in two separate live guises equally well: acoustic and electric. The original album version was electric, and that’s the version played here. I’ve become so used to the acoustic version that hearing an electric one is music to my ears. This dense rocker smokes in this version, a bit faster than usual. Then finally a duo from Afraid of Sunlight: the title track, and its epic closer “King”. “Afraid of Sunlight” fits well with the set, because it too benefited from drum loops back in ’95. It remains as powerful and classic as ever, though Steve Hogarth’s voice is raspy and hoarse in spots. As for “King”, it sounds intimate, bare and incredible as ever.
4/5 stars
mikeladano.com 
These are really cool CDs to get with the fan-club membership. You are totally drowning in Marillion lately! I’m having a similar experience with Queen, just got about 14 CDs worth!
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14 CDs as in 7 albums and 7 bonus discs?
Yeah I do an annual Marillion flood. I order everything that’s come out in the past year, once a year. There’s another instant live that just came out that I also ordered.
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That’s cool. I was trying to keep up with Marillion stuff for a while but I just lost track. Too much! They’re almost as bad as Deep Purple… actually, maybe worse?
Yes, I got 5 albums with the bonus EPs and two 2CD live albums as well. Um… and a Blu Ray too!
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Actually just realised it’s 16 CDs! I forgot Hot Space.
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You realize of course that this means I’ll probably be crashing on your couch for a week or so, right? I was listening to Queen recently and realized I did not have nearly enough Queen in my life and now you have tons and so yeah. Couch. Stereo. Go!
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Those are just the ones I bought recently. Plenty more where that came from already in the HMO Vault!
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So… yer sayin’ it’ll be 2 weeks, then. OK, I’ll buy extra Doritos.
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Mmm… Doritos…
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Exactly! I’ll be right over.
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Ya know I’m not much into Chrostmas music, Mike, but you write this up in a way that makes me wanna hear it!
e.g., among many: “…laid-back steamy number is extra slinky …”
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Wow, will you have to quit work to keep up with all their new music?
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No because I need my job in order to buy more Marillion!
Just got the new Christmas CD in the mail today. Has a new cover of Happy Xmas by John Lennon. Looking forward to that song. All the rest are previously released (though one only digitally).
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I like the original of that so much too. Flash back to 1988 and I’d have been surprised that Marillion would still be going 26 years later, let alone as more than a nostalgia act. Good on ’em.
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No doubt. I remember the press at the time were speculating, “What will Fish do solo? What will Marillion do without Fish?” And now look. Marillion have continued on with a fiercely loyal fanbase.
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Sorry to nitpick here, but do you mean the Mud song “Lonely this Christmas”?
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I’m not sure?
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“It’ll beeee lonnnneleeeeeeee, this chriiistmassss, without yoouuu toooo hoooold…”
That’s a Chinny-Chap song originally a hit for Mud in the UK. Another tune we hear FAR too much during the Primary Gifting Season over here. It’s just sung in the style of Elvis :)
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Well then, yes I stand corrected! When I can I shall revise this.
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Dude, it’s not something to rush to revise :D
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I just have niggling hatred for my own mistakes!
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