The Marillion Round Table

progkidjoel wrote: lazland wrote: kenmartree wrote: So now we've had the Marbles discussion, though I would not be adverse to a song by song discussion, the reality of having to type everything and have to wait to hear responses...   I plan on making the next convention so I hope to have an in person round table.  Sure I will meet Eric there,  as most of you know he is taking a leave of absence from PA.  Nice that all of you have kept the tread going.   It has been a year ( or a little more) since Happiness is the Road was released.  Now that it has had time to sink in what does everyone think.   I was disapointted with SE with the exception of the title track.  so for me it was a return to form.   I prefer Essence to the Hard Shoulder but they both have excellent tracks.  I'll comment more after the rest of you chime in.                                                                                     Kenmar I'm back on the forum after an unenforced absence owing to far too much work But, Kenmar, you are right. SE was a huge disapointment, and HITR a massive return to form. I enjoy both CDs equally, although Real Tears for Sale simply has to be amongst the top five tracks by the band ever.BTW - I miss Eric Good to see you again Lazland And I miss Eric too Asylum Sattelite #1 is my favourite track, with State Of Mind coming in close. HITR is a very good album, and its quite an odd one for me - I find that the tracks are all incredibly representative of Marillion's whole career... Some of the proggiest and some of the poppest. I really love it, and it still hasn't gotten old for me.

Cheers Joel - good to be back.

An absolutely accurate description of the LP. It is really difficult, aside from Real Tears for Sale, to pick out any outstanding tracks, although the two you mention really are excellent. In addition, The Man from Planet Marzipan is one of the most creative things they have ever done.

I think the point about the LP is, though, its seamless brilliance. Barely a dull moment, exceptionally creative, as you say, a great mixture of prog and pop tendencies, and, I have to say, as with most Marillion great works, the transition to live interpretations is, if anything, even better.

I still, BTW, really enjoy listening to Less=More. It has given me faith that the next studio LP will be even better than HITR or, dare I say, Brave & Marbles. The band are in a rich vein of form at the moment.

Interesting how we each notice different things in an album we all love.  Many standout tracks for me and the vocals in This Train is My Life are incredible.  the inflections, the ease with which H continually changes key and the great lyrics and building to rothery's solo.  awesome.

Hogarth has a vocal quality, like Fish, that speaking or growling (not in the Opeth sense) the lyrics is often better than singing. I can't imagine the song "Happiness is the Road" without that vocal and keyboard intro.

The production on HITR is at least better than SE,  would love to hear Marbles quality again in terms of produc tion.  I like the mumblly vocals at times, makes you pay attention, and is certainly not Steven Tyler type mumbling!  By the way I was looking at H's and Rothery's favorite albums on marillion.com and picked up Hats by the Blue Nile, enjoying it a lot.  kenmar

Woow, you guys. I really enjoy this site, this forum particularilly!

welcome basileia,  glad to have you here and feel free to completely express yourself (I see you're pretty good at that).  due to time constraints in life, I usually just come straight to this thread when I'm on PA.  not that there aren't plenty of other good things happening on PA. 

kenmartree wrote: nice update at marillion.com in the forum general discussion about the DVD of 2009 convention. check it out.  k

I've picked up complaints about the quality of the DVD, so have held off buying it.

Actually, as much as I love the Marbles on the Road DVD (one of the finest gigs of all time) I really do need to get a fresh live DVD. So, now that I am, hopefully, back on the forum a little more regularly, what are the recommendations? Best reviews/comments gets my hard earned cash

Anyone up for petitioning the group for an upbeat rocking album next ? I love thir latest albums, and the Less is More concept is great.
Now , for a slight switch in sound

Steve, I have Recital Of The Script, Live At Loreley, Marbles On The Road and Somewhere In London.

If you don't already have Recital, you should definitely get that one. Truly iconic performance! The only dissapointing factor is that Pointer's drumming talents at the time were considerably inferior to that of Mosley, and this is very noticeable. It's also only mastered in stereo, but thats not much of a problem really.

Somewhere In London is one of the best DVD's I've ever seen in terms of production, and has an absolutely stellar setlist. Make sure you get it from the racket store, so that you get the second DVD with some other great performances.

Live At Loreley is great, but there's something I just don't like about it. Fish is really huge in this concert, and his voice isn't as strong as I had hoped.


The pick of the lot is Somewhere In London, but if you're looking for a Fish era DVD, go for Recital.

Basíleia wrote: I'm in, I'd love another "And ever since I was a boy, I never felt that I belonged"-type of song. This Strange Engine rules.

I think TSE is the band's masterstroke, closely followed by Marbles. The track is one of the best things I've ever heard in prog!

By the way, I was just thinking (whilst listening to the Less Is More-version of Interior Lulu), what would a 20-minute acoustic epic be like? Are there any around in this vaste world of prog you know of?