This second disc of the 2008 double album release from one of Britain's longest-running prog rock bands, titled
The Hard Shoulder, is made up of songs that did not fit in with the overall theme of personal exploration and the search for meaning in life from disc 1 (titled
Essence). The nine songs that make up
The Hard Shoulder are available online only and feature the meticulously recorded, floatingly Beatles-ish jam-outs and gentle tranquility that have characterized Marillion's music since the group formed in 1981. Non-believers are directed to "The Man from the Planet Marzipan."
