Marillion Happiness Is The Road: The Hard Shoulder Vol. 2 CD

 May The Road Reach Up To Met You
HAPPINESS IS THE ROAD 1 & 2 (1 – ESSENCE / 2- THE HARD SHOULDER) arrived in my mailbox Friday night and I immediately dropped it to my IPOD and spent the weekend with it. By the way it makes great background music for football games. I gotta tell ya, this is some fine music! I got the double disc of MARBLES and was extremely impressed with their range and inventiveness and HAPPINESS IS THE ROAD 1 & 2 ranks right there and after a few more days of listening may surpass it. Hard to believe these guys have been at this for 30 years and this is their 15th studio album. The premise of the music was based on the book THE POWER OF THE NOW by Eckhart Tolle which was prescribed to H by a doctor that he saw after suffering exhaustion from touring. The meaning of the reading was not lost and HITR 1&2 is the result. It’s really too bad that Marillion have never made major inroads into the US like other bands but then their music is not for the masses and I honestly think they like it that way. Their efforts put them on the same scale as many of the rock pioneers. I can hear many influences from Floyd, Winwood, Morrison, to some of newer indies bands making a mark for themselves. I hope that H and the boys invest in a tour to support this work in the US. I for one would welcome the chance to see them upfront and personal. As good as their DVDs are it ain’t the same. Between MARBLES and HAPPINESS 1 & 2 these guys are still hitting their stride after 30 years of working magic for their devotees of which I am proud to call myself one!!!
Submitted by Kent (Stateside By The Seaside)
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 Good but not as good as Vol. 1
Well you get the two hidden tracks on Vol. 1 twelve overall and only nine on Vol.2. There are some great cuts on here but two or three that aren't up to snuff. Overall it just doesn't flow like Vol. 1 and tends to meander. I would venture to say Vol. 1 is more of a concept work while Vol. 2 is multi-themed.
Submitted by mheinen3 (oklahoma city, ok, usa)
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 A Worthy Companion to Vol 1 - Essence
If you are only planning on buying one volume of this new release, buy Volume 1 - Essence. But if you do so, you will still be missing out on a lot of incredible music. The Single "Whatever Is Wrong With You" is a decent song, with some fun lyrics, but IMHO it is the weakest song on the two discs. Their last release, Somewhere Else, left me tepid, but Happiness Is The Road was worth the wait!
Submitted by Seth (Nashua, NH, USA)
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