Happiness Is the Road
| Happiness Is the Road | ||||
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Double-album cover
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| Studio album by Marillion | ||||
| Released | 20 October 2008 (Physical Release) | |||
| Recorded | The Racket Club, Buckinghamshire, 2007/2008 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 108:06 | |||
| Label | Intact Records EMI (CD only) |
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| Producer | Michael Hunter & Marillion | |||
| Marillion chronology | ||||
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Volume 1: Essence cover
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Volume 2: The Hard Shoulder cover
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| Singles from Happiness Is the Road | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| Classic Rock |   |
Happiness Is the Road is Marillion's 15th studio album, released as two separate album-length volumes respectively titled Essence and The Hard Shoulder. The overall playing time is 110 minutes (116 including a hidden track), taking it to double album length. According to the band, the album combines their rock sound with "elements of pop, dub and soul and is influenced by artists as diverse as The Beach Boys and Marvin Gaye to Interpol, The Doors, Traffic, Pink Floyd and David Bowie. The album also sees Marillion experimenting with a host of new instruments including, Dulcimers, Glockenspiels, a Harmonium, French Horns and even Sleigh bells, a Harp and Zither." The title track "Happiness Is the Road" was inspired by Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now. The album's artwork was created by the Spanish artist Antonio Seijas in co-operation with Marillion's long-time designer Carl Glover.
It is available in various formats: Two separate jewel case CDs, high-quality (256 kbit/s) download (by purchasing "Front Row Club" credits at their web page), standard-quality download (128 kbit/s) (legally available on file-sharing networks), and a "deluxe campaign edition" containing both CDs and special artwork (see below). In most of the world, initially the physical formats were only available via mail-order from the band's website; only in the US and Poland has the album been available in retail shops from the start. However, when only about a third of the expected sales were achieved via mail-order, Marillion decided to release a worldwide retail version distributed by EMI. This version has been available since 2 February 2009.
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