Marillion - Afraid Of Sunlight Deluxe Edition review

After deluxe editions of Misplaced Childhood, Clutching At Straws and Brave, Warner’s repackaging of Marillion’s EMI catalogue continues with this standout title. By 1995 the band’s relationship with the label had soured and they would soon move on, but they still owed EMI one more album (and £500k), so over an uncharacteristically short period of a few months Marillion holed up in their own, newly kitted-out Racket Club studio and (in their words) ‘knocked out’ Afraid Of Sunlight. 

And what a knockout it is. Out of its mid-90s cultural context the timelessness of its themes of toxic fame, self-destruction and Icarian hubris shine anew. There’s so much content here. It’s anthemic in parts (the widescreen title track; opener Gazpacho with its references to OJ Simpson and Mike Tyson) and quirky in others (ersatz Beach Boys tribute Cannibal Surf Babe; Phil Spector homage Beyond You). The big, hit ballad Beautiful is gorgeous, the lilting Afraid Of Sunrise wears its 13/8 time signature lightly, and – up there with the finest songs in the Marillion catalogue – Out Of This World is just that. Telling the story of Donald Campbell’s fatal Bluebird crash in 1967, it’s a hauntingly atmospheric meditation on the lengths Man will go to for extreme achievement. 

King is a tough look at fame’s poison chalice, inspired by Elvis and Kurt Cobain, who took his own life the year before the album’s release. There’s a fiery, frantic Steve Rothery solo here, and the album ends with a dissonant A Day In The Life-style climax that shows drummer Ian Mosley at his most primal. Indeed, the whole band perform as if emboldened by the acclaim for Brave the year before, and the sheer sound of the album is a thing of beauty. 

Despite label disinterest the album hit No. 18 in the UK chart, and Beautiful grazed the Top 30. The band played a lively 1995 show in Rotterdam as part of the supporting tour, and that’s included in both packages, the five-LP set and four-CD box with Blu-ray. Both of these feature a solid 2019 remix from the band’s latter-day producer Michael Hunter, but the CD box includes Sunlight producer Mike Meegan’s superb original mix. The Blu-ray holds the band’s fun and revealing new 45-minute chat about the album, three hi-res audio mixes and bonus tracks, early versions
and outtakes. With titles such as Deep Purple Vibe and Watery Guitar, these’ll make you appreciate producer Meegan’s craft all the more. According to the band he did much to help them knock out Afraid Of Sunlight, and make it the shining success it still is.

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