Twenty-two years ago, Marillion released its album, THIS STRANGE ENGINE. It should be remembered that this is the fifth album to feature the voice and lyrics of Steve Hogarth. As such, reviewers still had to compare the Marillion of Fish to the Marillion of Hogarth. While THIS STRANGE ENGINE earned its just share of good reviews, it also had reviewers crying that while Fish had innovated, Hogarth rested.
AllMusic went so far as to label THE STRANGE ENGINE “ordinary.”
If only.
Granted, Marillion had just come off two of its most
powerful and unrelentingly intense albums–BRAVE and AFRAID OF SUNLIGHT–but
this should not lessen the power of THIS STRANGE ENGINE. Rather, it should add context.
For six years, I was one of five folks who founded and ran a website dedicated to reviewing and promoting music.When we formed in October 2012, we originally wanted to be a fan site for the English (and now Anglo-American-Scandinavian) band, Big Big Train. We broadened our reach almost immediately, attempting to review music of all forms.
We ended up having a blast, to be sure.
After six years, though, several of us thought it was time for a change. That is, time to take us not just into music but into all of our cultural loves: music, art, poetry, fiction, history, biography, and film. Certainly, we could’ve done that with the old site, but that site had taken on a life of its own. We wish them nothing but love and success! We’re certainly not leaving music behind with the Spirit of Cecilia, but we are adding quite a bit to it. So, not just Big Big Train, but Big Big Train plus Margaret Atwood, T.S. Eliot, Willa Cather, Miles Davis, Leo Strauss, Philip Melanchthon, Sir Thomas More, Edmund Burke, Alfred Tennyson, J.R.R. Tolkien, Kevin J. Anderson, Christopher Nolan, and Alfred Hitchcock.
We threw around a number of titles for this website, knowing all along that our inspiration was St. Cecilia, the Roman Catholic (and Anglican) patroness of music and the arts. Traditionally, St. Cecilia is depicted as a young woman, holding and performing on some kind of instrument, with an angel or two watching over her. Though quite Catholic, such depictions are most likely Christianized updates of the muses inspiring a Mediterranean musician.
Kevin McCormick finally came up with the name, “Spirit of Cecilia,” and it stuck. Indeed, more than just stick, it seems perfect for what we want to do.
And, this brings us to a second form of inspiration for the title–arguably the greatest album of any type of music of the last six to seven decades, SPIRIT OF EDEN by Talk Talk. With all due apologies (and praise for) to James Marsh, the cover artist, I did my best (and, sadly, my best is pathetic!) to create an icon something akin to the original 1988 cover to that album.
My terrible imitation of Marsh’s work.
Ok, show off. Art by James Marsh, 1988.
Well, as is natural for all human institutions and works, this website will evolve over time as well. No matter what, though, we promise to write our best, to think our best, and to give you. . . you guessed it. . . our best. Thanks for joining us. We hope you enjoy the ride.
Spirit of Cecilia 
You must be logged in to post a comment.