Released on 17 June 1991, Holidays in Eden is Marillion's sixth studio album and perhaps the most commercially oriented record the band has ever made. Produced by Steve Hogarth and Chris Kimsey, and released through EMI, the album reached number 7 on the UK Albums Chart and spawned several singles, including "Dry Land" and "No One Can".

The album represented a conscious bid for mainstream radio airplay — shorter songs, cleaner production, and a surface polish that stood in contrast to the more expansive approach of the band's earlier work. The decision was not universally welcomed by the band's fanbase, and Holidays in Eden remains one of the more contentious releases in their catalogue.

In retrospect, however, the album contains some fine individual moments. "The Party" is an underrated highlight — a deceptively bright song with darker undercurrents — while Hogarth's vocal performances throughout are among the most assured of his early Marillion career. The album captures a band genuinely attempting to expand their audience while still operating within their own creative space.

The commercial experiment did not achieve its intended breakthrough, and the experience informed the creative choices Marillion made on subsequent records — choices that would ultimately lead to some of the most adventurous work of their career.