Afraid of Sunlight | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 26 June 1995 [1] | |||
Recorded | January – March 1995 | |||
Studio | The Racket Club (Buckinghamshire, England) | |||
Length | 51:25 [nb 1] | |||
Label | EMI | |||
Producer | ||||
Marillion chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Afraid of Sunlight | ||||
| ||||
Alternative cover | ||||
Afraid of Sunlight is Marillion's eighth studio album,released in 1995. It was their last for EMI (who would,however,continue to release back-catalogue material on compilations and re-issues,as well as distribute some later recordings).
Afraid of Sunlight was the first Marillion studio album to fail to reach the Top 10 in the UK Albums Chart,peaking at number 16 and falling out of the Top 75 after two weeks. [2] Despite this,Afraid of Sunlight became one of the band's most critically acclaimed albums and was included in Q magazine's "Recordings of the Year" for 1995. [3] It was retrospectively described by Jeri Montesano of Allmusic as "the peak of Marillion's growing,impressive body of work" and by colleague Jason Ankeny as "the most consistent Marillion release to date". [4] [5] The album is ranked at #90 on Prog Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Prog Albums of All Time.
Although not a concept album as such,Afraid of Sunlight repeatedly examines the destructive side of celebrity. In particular,"Gazpacho" lampoons the Hollywood lifestyle and seems to refer to O. J. Simpson. "Cannibal Surf Babe" is a Beach Boys pastiche inspired by late-night horror movies. "Out of This World" is dedicated to world land and water speed record holder Donald Campbell,killed in 1967. The song later inspired diver Bill Smith to look for the actual wreckage,and the main wreckage of Campbell's Bluebird K7 hydroplane was recovered from Coniston Water on 8 March 2001. Both Steve Hogarth and Steve Rothery were present at the raising. [6] The title track refers to self-destructive thrill-seekers such as James Dean,while "King" is about Elvis Presley,Kurt Cobain and Michael Jackson. "Beyond You" is reminiscent of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound productions and,in homage,was mixed in mono. [7]
One reviewer noted the 1980 Martin Scorsese film Raging Bull ,about a boxer's inability to deal with fame,as a strong influence on the album. [8] He also cited O. J. Simpson,on trial for murder at the time Afraid of Sunlight was recorded,as another influence on its concept;the wind-down of "Gazpacho" ends with a sample from a news report on Simpson's infamous flight from the police.
Afraid of Sunlight was released in Europe on 24 June 1995 by EMI Records on CD [nb 1] ,LP [nb 2] and cassette,and in the U.S. on 4 July 1995 by El Dorado,a subsidiary label of I.R.S. Records. [9] It climbed to number 16 in the UK and spent only three weeks in the charts,the shortest chart residency of any Marillion studio album by then. [10] The only single from the album,"Beautiful",peaked at number 29 in the UK Singles Chart. Afraid of Sunlight reached number 8 in the Netherlands,the country where the band has one of their largest fanbases.
As part of a series of Marillion's first eight studio albums,EMI Records re-released Afraid of Sunlight on 22 March 1999 with 24-bit digital remastered sound and a second disc containing bonus tracks [nb 3] . [9] A new 180g heavy weight vinyl pressing [nb 4] identical to the original 1995 edition was released in 2013. [11]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [12] |
Q | [13] |
AllMusic critic Alex S. Garcia has retrospectively given Afraid of Sunlight a four-out-of-five star rating. He noted that the album has "some very beautiful melodic moments and perhaps a better mix between calm and agressive[ sic ] melodies than on previous albums made with Steve Hogarth". [12] Jeri Montesano called it "the peak of Marillion's growing,impressive body of work" while reviewing Seasons End (1989). [14] His colleague Dale Jensen has named the album "the most consistent Marillion release to date". [15] In a review from Q magazine,Afraid of Sunlight has been described as "a 40-minute journey that touches on the legacy of Brian Wilson,Todd Rundgren and The Beatles,while hinting at the experimental trivialities of Jellyfish or Split Enz". [13]
All tracks are written by Steve Hogarth, Steve Rothery, Mark Kelly, Pete Trewavas, Ian Mosley and John Helmer, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Gazpacho" | 7:28 | |
2. | "Cannibal Surf Babe" | 5:45 | |
3. | "Beautiful" | Hogarth, Rothery, Kelly, Trewavas, Mosley | 5:12 |
4. | "Afraid of Sunrise" | 5:02 | |
5. | "Out of This World" | 7:54 | |
6. | "Afraid of Sunlight" | 6:50 | |
7. | "Beyond You" | Hogarth, Rothery, Kelly, Trewavas, Mosley | 6:11 |
8. | "King" | 7:03 | |
Total length: | 51:25 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Icon" | Hogarth, Rothery, Kelly, Trewavas, Mosley | 6:05 |
2. | "Live Forever" | 4:34 | |
3. | "Second Chance" (aka "Beautiful", mixed by Dave Meegan) | 5:14 | |
4. | "Beyond You" (demo) | 5:18 | |
5. | "Cannibal Surf Babe" (studio outtake) | 6:00 | |
6. | "Out of This World" (studio outtake) | 7:28 | |
7. | "Bass Frenzy" | Hogarth, Rothery, Kelly, Trewavas, Mosley | 1:17 |
8. | "Mirages" (demo) | Hogarth, Rothery, Kelly, Trewavas, Mosley | 6:02 |
9. | "Afraid of Sunlight" (acoustic demo, edited by Lucy Jordache with Peter Mew) | 6:50 | |
Total length: | 48:48 |
CD 1 Michael Hunter 2019 Remix
CD 2 Original 1995 Dave Meegan Mix
Tracklisting for discs 1 and 2 as above
CD 3 Live At The Ahoy, Rotterdam (29 September 1995)
CD 4 Live At The Ahoy, Rotterdam (29 September 1995)
Blu-ray Disc
2019 Michael Hunter remix in stereo and 5.1 surround
Bonus Tracks
Chart (1995) | Peak position |
---|---|
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [16] | 8 |
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) [17] | 33 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [18] | 52 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [19] | 34 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [20] | 34 |
UK Albums (OCC) [21] | 16 |
Chart (2019) | Peak position |
---|---|
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [22] | 22 |
Marillion are a British neo prog band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the most commercially successful neo-prog band of the 1980s.
Fugazi is the second studio album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in 1984. Produced by Nick Tauber, it was recorded between November 1983 and February 1984 at various studios and was the first to feature drummer Ian Mosley, following the dismissal of the band's original drummer Mick Pointer.
Brave is the seventh studio album by Marillion, released in 1994. It charted at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, being the last of the band's albums to reach the Top 10 in the United Kingdom until F E A R reached number 4 in 2016. The album is ranked at #29 on Prog Magazine's "Top 100 Prog Albums of All Time."
Marbles is the 13th studio album from rock band Marillion, released in 2004. Unlike their previous studio album, Anoraknophobia (2001), which was financed largely by a preorder campaign, the band funded the recording, and it was the publicity campaign that fans financed for the album. Those fans who pre-ordered the album received an exclusive 2-CD "Deluxe Campaign Edition" with a booklet containing the names of everyone who pre-ordered before a certain date. The public release date of the retail single-CD version of the album was 3 May 2004 while a plain 2-CD version was made available from the band's website. A limited edition was released on white multicoloured vinyl by Racket Records on 13 November 2006.
Script for a Jester's Tear is the debut studio album by British neo-prog band Marillion, released in the United Kingdom on 14 March 1983 by EMI Records. The album reached number seven and spent 31 weeks in the UK Albums Chart, eventually achieving a platinum certificate, and produced the top 40 single "He Knows You Know" and the top 20 single "Garden Party". Prog Magazine ranked it at #40 in its list of the "100 Greatest Prog Albums of All Time."
Seasons End is the fifth studio album by British neo-prog band Marillion, released in 1989. The album was the first to feature current lead vocalist Steve Hogarth, following the departure of former vocalist Fish in late 1988. It reached number 7 on the UK Albums Chart.
Holidays in Eden is the sixth studio album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in 1991. Recorded at Hook End Manor in Oxfordshire and Westside Studios in London, it was the band's second album with vocalist Steve Hogarth and the first completely written without previous lead singer Fish.
Made Again is a 1996 double live album by Marillion, their first live recording with singer Steve Hogarth. The first disc contains material recorded in London on the Holidays in Eden tour (1991) and in Rotterdam on the Afraid of Sunlight tour (1995); the second disc consists of a full live version of the album Brave recorded in Paris in 1994. Outside of the UK, distribution would be handled by the then independent record label Castle Communications, who would also release the band's next three studio albums.
The Best of Both Worlds is a two-disc compilation album by British neo-prog band Marillion released in 1997 by EMI Records, who the band had been signed to from their debut in 1982 until being dropped in 1995. The title refers to Marillion's two distinct "eras" with lead singers Fish (1980–1988) and Steve Hogarth. By the time this compilation was released, both line-ups had recorded four studio albums each.
This Strange Engine is the ninth studio album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in April 1997 by the Castle Communications imprint Raw Power. It was the first of the three recordings that Marillion made under contract with Castle, after being dropped by EMI Records in 1995 and before eventually going independent in 2000. The album was recorded at The Racket Club in Buckinghamshire, England, between August and November 1996 and was produced by the band themselves.
Radiation is the tenth studio album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in 1998. Recorded at The Racket Club between November 1997 and June 1998, it was co-produced and mixed by Stewart Every. The album was remixed by Michael Hunter in September to November 2012 and a reissued remastered version was released in 2013.
Unplugged at The Walls is an album by British rock band Marillion released in 1999. It was recorded in a small restaurant in Oswestry, near where they were mixing Radiation, on 25 and 26 June 1998 as a strictly acoustic set. Lead vocalist Steve Hogarth is reported to claim "We offered to play a gig in there for a free meal and some beers."
Dave Meegan is an Irish record producer, born in Dublin in 1963. Meegan is best known for his work with Marillion.
Anoraknophobia is the 12th studio album by the British rock band Marillion, released in 2001. It is regarded as the first instance of a music recording completely financed by fans in a then-unique fundraising campaign, as 12,674 copies were pre-ordered before the album was even recorded.
The Wishing Tree is a music project by Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery and vocalist Hannah Stobart. Their debut album, Carnival of Souls, was released in 1996 and a second album, Ostara, was released 23 March 2009.
Anorak in the UK is a live album by Marillion released in April 2002 and documenting the previous year's Anoraknophobia tour. Most songs were recorded on three nights in May 2001 using a mobile studio, while two tracks were recorded in front of a small private audience at the band's own studio after the October leg of the tour. The album was released in two versions: A two-disc set only distributed via Marillion's own mail-order business, and a one-disc retail edition distributed by EMI. Under this deal, EMI required the band to provide one exclusive song on the retail edition that would not be found on the two-disc version. The band chose "Easter" from 1989, as it is available on several previous official and semi-official live albums and therefore would not "force" fans to purchase both versions of the album. Anorak in the UK is Marillion's first official retail live album since Made Again (1996), and the second with Steve Hogarth. The title takes its cues from the Sex Pistols single "Anarchy in the U.K." and, self-mockingly, the British slang term anorak often applied to Marillion fans. The cover shows a crowd consisting of "Barry" featured on Anoraknophobia.
"Hooks in You" is the first single from British rock band Marillion's fifth album Seasons End, released in 1989. It was the first single to feature lead singer Steve Hogarth, who joined the band the same year, replacing Fish.
"The Damage" is a song by British neo-prog band Marillion which appeared on their 13th studio album, Marbles, released in May 2004. In October 2005, a one-disc live album containing a subset of the full two-disc studio version entitled Marbles Live was released to retail shops in the UK. The recording was made at the London Astoria in July 2004. To promote this album, the track "The Damage" was made available as a digital download; it is thus the third song to be released from Marbles and the only track to be released from Marbles Live. Download-only releases were not yet eligible to chart on the UK Singles Chart at the time, but the single did reach #2 on the UK Official Download Chart. There was no physical release available, but a one-track CD version was sent out as a promo.
Fuck Everyone and Run (F E A R) is the eighteenth studio album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in 2016.
"Man of a Thousand Faces" is the lead single from British neo-prog band Marillion's ninth studio album This Strange Engine, released on 2 June 1997 by Castle Communications imprint Raw Power. It was the band's first single since they departed from EMI Records in 1995. Reflecting the decline in popularity for Marillion, the song reached only the number 98 on the UK Singles Chart. A music video was created for "Man of a Thousand Faces".