MARILLION – Baubles – Christmas 2004 (2004 Racket Records)
And now we have arrived at the worst Marillion “Christmas” album. There had to be one, didn’t there? Unusually for a Christmas CD, this one contains almost zero seasonal content. Which, you know, that’s no so bad in and of itself. Unfortunately, the 2004 Christmas CD is all remixes.
Marbles-era Marillion went a little remix-happy. They had singles remixes. They had a fanmade remix album (Remixomatosis) with a bonus CD of also-rans. They had a 12″ promo single under the band name “Remixomatosis” with even more remixes. And for the diehards who had a fanclub subscription, the annual holiday album was choked with nine more of these fanmade remixes.
The only Christmas content is the usual “Christmas Message”…which is, due to the unavailability of the band, just a remix of previously recorded Christmas messages. Amusing? Yes. Disappointing? Indeed.
The liner notes explain that Marillion received over 500 remixes from fans, and Remixomatosis represented the winners as voted for from the band. Baubles, then, are the best of the rest. It starts well enough, with the “Ordnance Survey Mix” of the excellent song “Map of the World”. This one is decent because it doesn’t just mix in more drum loops, but oodles and oodles of string arrangements. It’s “Map of the World” reimagined for strings, but unfortunately suffocating some of the regal vocal melodies in exchange.
Next is the “Demystified Mix” of “This is the 21st Century”, which begins by reducing everything to basic piano and percussion, and then adds the bass and accoutrements. The chorus has a strange floaty quality. Then the “2.5 Hearts in the Groove Mix” of “Fruit of the Wild Rose” is like coming down into the mud. Very little of the original song remains, drowned by lofty beats and bass. The funky chorus is good but the rest loses the plot too much.
“Number One” is a cool song for remixing, and this one is interesting. Fast synth and beats turn it into something new, a pounding dark dance number. They call it the “Whatever Mix” but it’s better than the name suggests. It blends seamless into the “No Monsters Remix” of “If My Heart Were A Ball It Would Roll Uphill”, which doesn’t leave much of the original song intact. I would have called it the “Boring Disco Remix”. Moving on, “When I Meet God” is still recognizable in form of its “Ontological Mix”, with changes made to the guitar and drums. It’s a good alternate mix to the original.
The “Latino Freak Mix” of “Separated Out” is surprising. Taking the heaviest song on the album and making it into a mambo? OK, I’ll give you points for that. It’s not my cup ‘o hot chocolate, but to each their own. The normally wonderful single “Between You and Me” is put into a laid back snooze on the “Martini Mix”, a failed (if jazz) experiment. Finally the CD gratefully closes on the “Hard Time Mix” of “Quartz. That aptly describes how it feels listening to this whole CD front to back.
1.5/5 stars
- Happy Christmas Everybody! (1998 – Webfree 1)
- marillion.christmas (1999 – Webfree 2)
- A Piss-Up in a Brewery (2000 – Webfree 3)
- A Very Barry Christmas (2001 – Webfree 4)
- Santa and His Elvis (2002 – Webfree 5)
- Say Cheese! Christmas With Marillion (2003 – Webfree 6)
- Baubles (2004 – Webfree 7)
- Merry Xmas to Our Flock (2005 – Webfree 8)
- The Jingle Book (2006 – Webfree 9)
- Somewhere Elf (2007 – Webfree 10)
- Pudding on the Ritz (2008 – Webfree 11)
- Chile for the Time of Year (2014 – Webfree 17)
- A Collection of Recycled Gifts (2014 – Compilation with new Christmas material)
- Christmas Tour 2014 – Live at the Forum (2014 Abbey Road “instant live”)
- A Monstrously Festive(al) Christmas (2015 – Webfree 18)
I have a real aversion to remixes and particularly remix albums, so this would automatically drop into my avoid pile.
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Money saved.
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Urghh… sounds more bollocks than baubles. Only remix stuff I’ve got of theirs was that Engine Room thingy. Never listen to it.
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Yikes! That does sound pretty bad…Still great review though. I might have to skip that one which won’t be hard since I have no Marillion. Still gonna check them out though on their normal releases.
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Hey John… what would you be interested in trying? A studio album? A best of? I could tailor an upcoming review to your needs….
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I could start with a best of then go to the best studio.
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I tend to struggle with remixes – so perhaps this isn’t the one for me!
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Hard pass, Geoff!
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I think they should have called it the ‘Ladano Freak Mix’ personally!
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I just listened to Remixomatosis (via Bandcamp) and surprisingly enjoyed it a lot. More so than Tales from the Engine Room, which I find too cold and technical sounding as a whole.
Unfortunately, Baubles isn’t up for streaming anywhere, so I can’t say whether I agree with your assessment or not. I think Kostia Rapoport did some great work on the tracks selected for Remixomatosis – no less than four of his mixes made it – and he’s absent from Baubles.
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Thanks Jules. Keep in mind though, I am notoriously not a fan of remixes most of the time. So all my remix reviews really need to be read with that in mind. If I rate something a 3, it might be a 4 to someone who appreciates remixes more than I do. Cheers!
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I’m just glad I could find some opinion on this set! After all, I’m still doing the Marillion ABA thread on the Steve Hoffman forums. (I’m sloooow.)
I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a fan of remixes but some of those were really done well (although both versions of “Between You and Me” didn’t work for me). You can read my review here: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/marillion-album-by-album-thread-continued.947903/page-29#post-28722077
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