Before recording “Anoraknophobia,” Marillion turned to their fiercely loyal fan base for a cash injection that would allow them to record the Marillion way, on Marillion’s terms.  In return for shelling out cash for the new, (and don’t forget - unrecorded) CD a year ahead of release, the band promised shipment and a few extra perks that the public wouldn’t get from a record store.  The response? Over twelve thousand paid orders!  Not only did this overwhelming response cause the whole industry to do a double-take, but it landed Marillion back in the good graces of EMI, the European powerhouse who abandoned the boys years ago against lagging sales and a bleak future.

So what did the band create with the capital investment of their fans?  “Anoraknophobia,” an album that stands as a testimony of Marillion’s musical development – an absolutely brilliant sixty-three minutes worth of pure, sometimes-you- get-more-than-you-pay-for musical genius! 

“This is the Twenty-first Century” was released before the album and exclusively on MP3.com.  This song was a teaser for what would come a few weeks later – a drum loop and hard-to-hold guitar tinkering to start, turning into an intense lyrical venture and a jamming crescendo.  Lyrically, Steve Hogarth’s brilliance never disappoints as he pits science against sensitivity, discovery against fear for the future. “This is the 21st century/ I heard everything they said/ The Universe demystified/ Chemicals for God.” 

So the rest of the Anoraknophobia hit the stands on May 7, 2001 amidst allegations that Hogarth had gone off the deep end of pretense, turning a Prog-rock standby into a bully pulpit for his own agendas . . . 

Bullshit!  I say it here and the rest of the band’s fans said it to every detractor in a media blitz that puts even the Madison Avenue pros to shame! 

Ian Mosely (drums) is inspired!  Steve Hogarth’s voice is polished and the lyrics are as poignant, deep and personal as ever!  Steve Rothery (guitar) attacks with renewed life!  Mark Kelly (keyboards/samples) carries Marillion’s melodic subtleties to new depth, but without letting subtle equal quiet -- receding beneath the current of the mix.  And Pete Trewavas (bass)?  Tight bass lines and wicked hooks (“Quartz”) that don’t just occupy the mind, they invade! 

So what’s the skinny on the eight tracks on Anoraknophobia?  Quartz fucking rocks.. no two ways about it. It’s one of the most perfectly crafted rock songs I’ve ever heard – with a addictive, hooky bass line to start, quickly evolving into an overdrive fuel-injected bash that I just can’t stop playing!  It’s all about parallels and contrasts and the lines that burn between them: “Although I always said/ We were basically the same and all one/ All one/ It's so easy to persuade myself/ I'm clockwork and you're quartz.” 

 “If My Heart Were a Ball it Would Roll Uphill” is kind of a bizarre name for a song and I’ll be damned if I can figure out what the name means or how it pertains to the song itself, but nevertheless this is just about the best track on the CD.  This discordant harmony that rips through the chorus latches itself to the base of your brain and holds on for dear life.  With a lyrical transmogrification that begins with the question, “Did you ever fall in love,” morphing to “Did you ever dream of falling?”  There’s a sequence  about nightmares that so eerily describes the event, it gives me chills!  The typical Marillion formula of “we don’t follow no stinkin’ Pop rules” is right on target here … it’s just a masterpiece and I get really stoked every time I hear it. 

“When I meet God” is the one certifiable ‘slow song’ on the Anoraknophobia and, not surprisingly, another one of the most introspective, personal tunes in H’s ever-increasing library of achievements.  For me, the highlight of this song is the bridge, in which the desperate H reflects inward, his conscience whispering behind him with dark and foreboding admonitions  “Never do that!”  This is another Marillion moment (like the bridge in “Interior Lulu” - Marillion.com) that just .. has to be experienced, I guess. 

“Fruit of the Wild Rose” and “Map of the World” are mellow tunes with the former being a pretty, introspective journey and the latter containing just the right sound to make a hit single. 

“Between You and Me” is another sing-along with a great, catchy chorus and a tendency to be radio-friendly.  Though some of the lyrics lean toward the psychedelic, it’s a quirky, unpredictable and fun tune that, like all the others, gets into your head and starts rearranging the furniture! 

I’m not going to talk a lot about the version of “Anoraknophobia” that went out to the gang of fans who pre-paid for the venture, other than to say that I, for one, feel I got what I paid for:  A forty-plus page, hardbound book with liner notes and pictures galore, as well as all the lyrics to the songs; and a bonus CD which includes lots of goodies … even a couple videos!  If you didn’t pre-order, you won’t be able to get this limited edition package, so don’t start scouring your local record bins – it ain’t gonna be there. 

I’m not prepared to say that “Anoraknophobia” is my favorite CD, though it’s damned close!  I still have this .. connection.. with “Afraid of Sunlight” that nothing else they’ve done has (yet) surpassed, but let me just tell you that if we didn’t have a rule around here that kept us to five stars in a rating, there’d be at least a couple extras tacked on to the end of this review.