Customer Reviews

Misplaced Childhood

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A heavy drug binge equipped Marillion frontman Fish with the lyrical ideas that would anchor the band's concept album, an artistically challenging little project. Misplaced Childhood gives rise to tales of painful childhood experiences, lost love, and rock star lavishness. Fish's brilliant deftness with acerbic poetry and his distinct voice, supported by a very accomplished group of musicians, produced a great, great album.

Typical of neo-prog, Misplaced Childhood features lush musicianship but without the grandiosity and sophistication of a "true" progressive rock band. Some prog rock fans find Marillion (and the genre) boring. But this album is challenging from a thematic standpoint, and musically it is engaging because it dexterously straddles the line between low-key prog and enterprising pop/rock. The result is an album that attains a remarkable element of accessibility, but concurrently it fairly repays the intensive time it demands for the album to truly sink in and expose its greatness. This album is seductive, musically and especially lyrically; the songs compels exploration. The sonic surfaces are stylishly sad, but it's infectious at the same time. The album ends with "White Feather," a song with a hopeful note. It leaves you feeling good.

To conclude simply, if you're a neo-prog fan or an intelligent rock fan, I recommend picking up Misplaced Childhood.

I have owned this album since it was originally released. I have owned it in vinyl, cassette, and now CD. Why do I continue to buy it when my old version wears out? Because "Misplaced Childhood" is simply one of my very favorite albums ever.

This is a concept album, composed after the progressive rock style. This is a intelligent, variable, engaging music. The musicianship is superb; the songwriting is oustanding; and the lyrics are mesmerizing. I own many (if not all) Marillion albums, and "Misplaced Childhood" stands out far above the rest, in my opinion. This album is simply brilliant.

All the songs flow together so that they sound like one continuous piece of music. The moods range from gentle introspection to agressive defiance. Fish passionately sings lyrics that are often cryptic but allow the listener to conjure up his/her own individual interpretation or images of what each song is about. Other songs, such as "Kayleigh," are more straight forward lyrically, dealing with more obvious themes. And the band adds beautifully to Fish's words, creating a variable and always appropriate musical ambience.

You simply have to listen to all songs on this album in order in their entirety to get the full magnitude of Marillion's work. Every song is unique. Every song is majestically performed. Every song contributes to the magnificence of this album.

I cannot say enough good about this disc. I LOVE IT!

I have owned this album since it was originally released. I have owned it in vinyl, cassette, and now CD. Why do I continue to buy it when my old version wears out? Because "Misplaced Childhood" is simply one of my very favorite albums ever.

This is a concept album, composed after the progressive rock style. This is intelligent, variable, engaging music. The musicianship is superb; the songwriting is oustanding; and the lyrics are mesmerizing. I own many (if not all) Marillion albums, and "Misplaced Childhood" stands out far above the rest, in my opinion. This album is simply brilliant.

All the songs flow together so that they sound like one continuous piece of music. The moods range from gentle introspection to agressive defiance.

Fish passionately sings lyrics that are often cryptic but allow the listener to conjure up his/her own individual interpretation or images of what each song is about. Other songs, such as "Kayleigh," are more straight forward lyrically, dealing with more obvious themes. And the band adds beautifully to Fish's words, creating a variable and always appropriate musical ambience.

You simply have to listen to all songs on this album in order in their entirety to get the full magnitude of Marillion's work. Every song is unique. Every song is majestically performed. Every song contributes to the magnificence of this album.

I cannot say enough good about this disc. I LOVE IT! Definitely a recommended pick for you Amazon.com listeners!

I've never been much into progressive but this album rocks! I bought it almost 10 years ago and I've never grown tired of it, I keep finding something new each time I put it on,there's such a perfect of lyrics and music,such an intensity,it still leaves me wicked after all this time. The moment Fish yells out "A childhood...please,give it back to me" and the band launch into Treshold is so good you have to listen to it to understand what I'm talking about,and there's so much more on this album,of course Kayleigh is almost an all-time favourite but Heart of Lothian(Fish's unconventional tribute to his homeland) and Lords of The Backstage alone are worth the price of the cd,not to mention the energetic closing numbers,Childhood's End and White Feather,although this album is to be appreciated in its entirety,really. I also recommend the Clutching at Straws album and many songs both with Fish and Hogarth,but Misplaced Childhood is something unique indeed,you don't have to be a Marillion fan to enjoy this masterpiece,this record can't be labelled,it's neither progressive nor metal or pop...it's simply great,unforgettable music.

There is a huge problem with progressive music fans...they are far too critical! If a Marillion album bares the slightest resemblence to a Genesis record, it's bashed. Would these same people bash an ELP recording if it sounded like Gentle Giant? The carriers of the progressive torch are bound to show their influences on their sleeve to a degree, but is that any reason to degrade a masterpiece such as this? Yeah, Marillion sounds like Genesis...and Porcupine Tree sounds like Pink Floyd, and Spock's Beard sounds at times like Gentle Giant, etc. With that being said...

Misplaced Childhood is a masterwork on par with Dark Side Of The Moon, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, and Close To The Edge. And while the musical elements of this are characteristic of early period Genesis, to me it blows away most anything they did with Peter Gabriel. And to the reviewer who stated that vocalist-genius Fish sounds like a Gabriel clone: you didn't listen closely! For one, Fish is a far superior lyricist to Gabriel...rivaling (IMHO) Dylan, Lennon, and Waters. He is far and away closer in depth of meaning and vocal styling to Peter Hamill of Van Der Graff Generator fame, albeit with much better tone.

It has been noted that this recording was a "turning point" or "deeply meaningful" to people that hear it. I feel the same. If fully appreciated, this can be a deeply moving piece of music, touching the misplaced child in many of us. Anyone who has had a relationship gone bad can appreciate the depth of emotions expressed here.

Extraordinary musicianship, haunting emotion, and undeniably brave for it's time (coming out in the age of Duran Duran and Culture Club), this is the definition of a desert island disk.

Although Marillion had other brilliant recordings (Fugazi, Brave, Script...)none would achieve this level of perfection. Despite your interpretation of progressive music, Misplaced Childhood must stand among the Top-5 best progressive releases by the second wave of this genre, post-1980. Call it neo-prog, call it Genesis Jr., it's damn near perfection!

My breakdown:
5 stars - if you like intelligent, emotional, well-played music, or if you are new to Marillion or the progressive genre.
4 stars - if you like prog music, but don't like neo-prog or Genesis.
3 stars - if you think all prog released after 1980 was bad.
2 stars - if you are glad that bands like The Clash and Sex Pistols killed the progressive genre.
1 star - no one with any musical sense should give this 1 star.

Overall: An absolutely essential disk from the progressive genre, and if it the last piece of music I hear before I keel over I will die with a smile on my face.

For the uninitiated, Marillion is the best and longest lasting neo-prog group to come out of the 80's revival of that genre. Misplaced Childhood is in my opinion their finest hour. A continuous, conceptual piece of music constructed in the model of Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick and Passion Play records, with nods to the genius of Pink Floyd's Roger Waters and classic Gabriel era Genesis. Challenging music and deep introspective lyrics. This even contains the groups closest aproximation to a U.S. hit single in the extraordinary Kayleigh. Indescribably essential.

Marillion's Misplaced Childhood stands the test of times and it is an example of a well though and putted togheter recording. In todays music and specially prog rock is hard to find a piece of work that is both musically and lyrically concise as this recording.

Some argue that this is Marillion at its best. I think that this is the best that Marillion did with Fish as they moved in other direction with their replacement H. (which I think has made a wonderfull job all these years!!) Misplaced Childhood has that something that makes a classic album. This is excelent performance and concept behing the songwritting which links the music to the ideas expressed in the lyrics. Just the three first tunes (Pseudo Silk Kimono, Kayleigh and Lavender) will go down in prog history as the best melodies/songs to start an album and hypnotize the listener.

The remastered edition of this and all the other Marillion records from this era is simply beautifully done. EMI has made a great effort to really bring added value to fans by putting relevand information and interviews as well as, in this CD, 17 tracks of new, alternate or previously unreleased material that is both good and essencial to the comprehensive understanding of the recording and writting process.

A good collection of prog rock both past and present should included this CD.

This album is an absolute masterpiece which has unfortunately been overlooked and so is not as well known as other prog rock masterpieces. This is a shame because it deserves to be up there.

Even though the songs are primarily about Fish's experiences they open up and allow anybody to enter who has a touch of melancholy about there childhood experiences.

The album starts off with the protagonist experiencing a 'morning mare' which is the spirit of his misplaced childhood. The vision then takes us on a journey, the first part being the remembrance of lost love 'Kayleigh' with it's beautiful melody. This breaks way into another love related song 'Lavender' where children singing remind the protagonist of the lost love song that he always wanted to write.

Things turn a little darker then when we are taken on the memories of the protagonist visiting a prostitute in Lyon to try and erase the pain of a broken relationship. Instead the protagonist ends up 'falling' for the prostitute as a substitute for his lost love. But he is stood up by the prostitute and has a 'misplaced rendevous' with the parallel of his lost love, who never boards the plane.

So the protagonist goes back home and tries to drown his sorrows in shows of bravado and drinking "Heart of Lothian" but this doesn't really help the protagonist and he is left facing himself with sad eyes in the mirror. Thus endeth side one.

Side two then takes us on an even darker journey as the protagonist starts to fall apart and finds the world a very dark place to live in indeed. But from this breakdown come the seeds of hope (in an almost alchemical type process) and the protagonist realises that he hasn't misplaced a childhood at all, but has misplaced direction, and now that he has found direction there is no childhood's end. And so ends the second half on a positive note.

So the album takes us through the whole process of relationship breakdown to falling apart to finding hope through it all.

Ans that's just the story.. The music behind it all is nothing short of magical.

One hell of a listening experience that everyone should go on at least once.

If you have heard Marillion at some point in your life, chances are this is the album you've heard. "Kayleigh" and "Lavender" became pervasive songs of their time, and forever after. But truth be told, they only tell part of the story of this, one of the best prog rock albums ever to be released.

Marillion started in the early eighties, with a strong influence from Genesis and Pink Floyd, and a lead singer (Fish) who imitated Peter Gabriel both visually and sonically. "Misplaced Childhood" was the band's third full length album, following "Script for a Jester's Tear" and "Fugazi". With this album they showed everyone what they were capable of, by displaying a concept album telling the story of Fish's broken heart through the album's ten songs.

From the opening chords of "Pseudo Silk Kimono", all the way into the famous "Kayleigh" and "Lavender", the album prepares you for the musical trip that lies ahead, broken into two main parts (which constituted sides A and B of the album). "Waterhole" starts a fast-paced 'side B' leading into the album's high points, with the multi-part "Blind Curve" standing out above the rest for its change of rhythm and melody in a way that had long become part of the Marillion signature sound by the time of this release.

If you want to start your Marillion collection, this is an excellent place to do it. Plus it's also a fabulous starting point for a prog rock collection too, if you haven't started yours by now. Other references to look for: in Marillion discography, "Brave" and "Marbles" (both post-Fish); other modern pro rock bands, IQ and Flower Kings.

An album more famous for it's great single "Kayleigh" than as an album, which is a shame. A fine blend of stylised metal and progressive rock, Marillion conjure up a sound which is unusual, but strangely listenable. Not as inaccessible as Yes, but progressive enough to remain interesting, with some great toe-tapping moments and air-guitar opportunities (like the excellent soloing in "Kayleigh" and "Heart of Lothian").

The album is in two halves (ie two long tracks, sub divided into songs) which at times feels contrived, and not as smooth as (say) Pink Floyd or Yes (who are the masters of two-track-albums), but does lend a feeling of coherency to the album and hangs the reciprocating themes together. It does benefit to being listened to in one go, preferably with the lights down... then the whole thing makes a lot more sense. The production is clear and taut, hiding the albums age (15 yrs now!) extremely well.

If you like rock, but want to dabble in the dark waters of progressive, this is a great place to start.