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topographicbroadways View Drop Down
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Originally posted by infocat infocat wrote:

So Marbles -- yes; marillion.com -- no. What about Somewhere Else?
I wonder why Anorakophobia doesn't have a Madfish release.

I always have the opinion that .com is a very similar album to This Strange Engine. I would find it difficult to like one and not the other yet there does seem to be hatred towards it from a lot of fans.

I would def like to have an Anoraknophobia rerelease, with Anorak In The UK. 


Edited by topographicbroadways - July 04 2011 at 14:56
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I had never heard of this band until I joined this forum a couple days ago. Seeing all of the fans of Marillion here, I felt compelled to check this band out! So I searched Marillion on YouTube, and eagerly clicked on the "Lavender" video. I must say, this song is one of the most stale and uninspired pieces of music I have EVER laid ears upon. The chord progression here is SO exhausted, and I can't even begin to put into words my dissatisfaction with the frontman. And I say all of this with the honest intention of wanting to hear the best that this band has to offer (obviously, or I wouldn't be writing this!). So I gave the PA forums the benefit of the doubt, and figured this was just an unfortunate introduction to the band. I tried the song "Fantastic Place" next, hoping a different vocalist might do the trick. Alas, another tired chord progression with boring guitar licks and vocals. Both of these songs are straight pop radio songs, in 4/4 the entire time, with nothing eclectic or tasteful coming from any member in the band. Definitely not progressive by any means. Am I missing something? Someone please steer me in the right direction!


Edited by EchidnasArf - July 18 2011 at 03:18
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Well, you've only heard two songs which are considerably more poppy than a ton of their work
I'd say check out The Invisible Man, This Strange Engine, Ocean Cloud, and Interior Lulu. I'm sure some other PA posters will have different/additional recommendations.

They aren't the most eclectic band ever, but far from being distasteful by any means in my opinion. It's hardly fair to judge a band when hearing two of their more poppy tracks. Also, progressiveness is by no means limited to the time signature
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EchidnasArf: Based on your username, I'd guess you're a Zappa fan. :) Well, I'd be the first to admit that you're not going to find Marillion material as full-on experimental and avant-garde as, say, your average Mothers of Invention album - though they're not completely unexperimental. (The album "Brave", for example, was a bold attempt to fuse progressive rock with the sort of material coming out of the indie music scene in the UK at the time, and would eventually influence Radiohead during the making of OK Computer.) What Marillion are good at, at least in my assessment, is taking progressive rock-influenced structures and songwriting approaches and investing them with passion and emotional resonance. So it's very subjective - if the songs speak to you on an emotional level you'll be hooked, if they don't then you won't.

That said, "Lavender" is probably the sappiest song on what was by far the most commercial of the band's albums with Fish as their lead singer - I'm a huge Marillion fan and I don't particularly like that song myself. If you didn't enjoy it then I'd recommend trying Script For a Jester's Tear, Forgotten Sons, or White Russian from the Fish era, or Goodbye to All That, The Great Escape, Out of This World or Ocean Cloud from Steve Hogarth's tenure in the band.

You should also be aware that the Fish-era and Hogarth-era stuff is, by and large, very different (and the Hogarth era stuff covers a lot of territory as well - Happiness Is the Road or Somewhere Else, the latest albums, don't sound much like Seasons End or Holidays In Eden which were the first two H-era albums). Some people like one, some like the other, some enjoy both, I happen to enjoy both.


Edited by Warthur - July 06 2011 at 04:59
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Originally posted by EchidnasArf EchidnasArf wrote:

I had never heard of this band until I joined this forum a couple days ago. Seeing all of the fans of Marillion here, I felt compelled to check this band out! So I searched Marillion on YouTube, and eagerly clicked on the "Lavender" video. I must say, this song is one of the most stale and uninspired pieces of music I have EVER laid ears upon. The chord progression here is SO exhausted, and I can't even begin to put into words my dissatisfaction with the frontman. And I say all of this with the honest intention of wanting to hear the best that this band has to offer (obviously, or I wouldn't be writing this!). So I gave the PA forums the benefit of the doubt, and figured this was just an unfortunate introduction to the band. I tried the song "Fantastic Place" next, hoping a different vocalist might do the trick. Alas, another tired chord progression with boring guitar licks and vocals. Both of these songs are straight pop radio songs, in 4/4 the entire time, with nothing eclectic or tasteful coming from any member in the band. Definitely not progressive by any means. Am I missing something? Someone please steer me in the right direction!

Well, if you didn't like Fantastic Place, then it's difficult to know what to say. That Rothery solo is literally to die forConfused

As others have said, Marillion, in either guise, are not an eclectic band. They were the major band in the 1980's prog revival (which we now call neo-prog), and once Hogarth came along, have progressed into one of the major bands pushing forward the boundaries between classic prog music, infused with modern sensibilities, i.e. a crossover prog band.

All I can say is try Brave. if you don't like that, then you will not like anything by the band. If I were a rude fellow, I would also say you would be dead from the waist upBig smile 
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First off, thanks for all of the feedback. Let me start off by saying I am not only a prog and jazz enthusiast, but a genuine music lover to the very bone, as I'm sure most of you are too. I grew up hearing everything from Frank Sinatra to New Riders of the Purple Sage to Tears for Fears, (and everything in and outside of that) from my mom and dad. I consider myself to be a purely open-minded musician. Having said that, it is, most-assuredly, hard to judge a band from two of their poppiest tracks and that's what I assumed happened in my case (hence my coming here). Prog is obviously not limited to time signature and my point earlier was that the particular songs "Lavender" and "Fantastic Place" are not progressive songs by definition. It was a statement about 2 songs and certainly not the band itself. I'm going off of what I hold prog to be in my mind, coupled with the definition of "progressive rock" on PA:

"Progressive rock bands pushed "rock's technical and compositional boundaries" by going beyond the standard rock or popular verse-chorus-based song structures. Additionally, the arrangements often incorporated elements drawn from classical, jazz, and world music."

On second listen to "Fantastic Place" (listening as I type this), I won't say all of the guitar work is boring; just not my cup of tea, I suppose. The drummer and guitarist on this live performance are really holding everything together for me to get through it. They're both very dynamic in their own right. Honestly though, this song just really rubs me the wrong way. I'm going to give these guys a second chance with the suggestions you all have listed. I want to make clear, I'm not trying to rag on anybody's taste, just trying to discover new bands that other people with great taste (PA forums) love.
Did You See Those Bats? (a few songs from my band's live radio show)

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Based on that I'd definitely say that the song recommendations progkidjoel and I came up with are your best shot. I'd also second lazland's recommendation of the "Brave" album as being one of their very best, and certainly one which pushed the boundaries of rock music at the time to my mind.
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If you listen to Brave and feel it's a worthless piece of drivel, then this band is definitely not for you. Disc is pure magic from start to finish. Period. 'Nuff said.

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Well, I am aware of some people who don't like Brave but still love the Fish-era material, but it's fair to say that if you can't get into Brave then you're not likely to enjoy the rest of the Hogarth era.
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The alphabetical journey by band through my music collection has brought me to Marillion and Script For A Jester's Tear.  Thus a Marillion marathon begins.
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Originally posted by rushfan4 rushfan4 wrote:

The alphabetical journey by band through my music collection has brought me to Marillion and Script For A Jester's Tear.  Thus a Marillion marathon begins.

Enjoy Scott!!Thumbs Up
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So far so good.  Nearing the end of Misplaced Childhood.  I really haven't listened to them nearly enough in the few years that I have been familiar with them.
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This is my first visit here but as it's a recommendation I'm after then is the only place to come.
 
I'll first introduce my Marillion connection.  Right back at the start of the Prog Rock Revival ('twas indeed known as that) back in the early 80s I was a huge Marillion fan.  This was before they had released anything other than that classic first three track tape (where oh where did I put that Embarrassed - it would be worth a fortune I'll bet now).  I saw them live a couple of times and felt privileged that a new prog band was about to break through and I was so excited to be part of it.
 
Then came the record deal and the single (how fab was Grendel, even though it had a similarity to a certain classic we all know and love) and then the debut album.  I really liked the album but I already knew those songs and they appeared a little watered down compared to the versions I knew.  Fugazi really disappointed me and though Misplaced Childhood was better I was starting to drift away.  Fish left, I thought that was it.  I heard some of the early h stuff and didn't really like it at all.  I also disliked his voice and at that point, as the UK was carried away on a wave of Madchester rave, acid and trance I departed the Marillion scene.  I though never to return.
 
Fast forward twenty years.  Twenty years older but also with a much wider appreciation of prog music I thought I had to dive back in.  I read some reviews and decided that Marbles had to be the one to go for.  Steve's review swung it for me, as he's a guy who has very similar taste to me.   So.........  Well I was blown away musically by the album from the very first track.  I still wasn't keen on h's vocals but musically this was sublime.  The Invisible Man, Fantastic Place, Neverland and particularly the amazing Ocean Cloud had me thinking what have I been doing?  Repeated spins have left me totally intoxicated by a band that I find now a thousand times better than their early 80s incarnation.  I have even grown to like h's vocals as well.  Suffice to say I'll be at their show at Manchester Academy come December.
 
I hope that's not bored everybody too much.  Thanks for your patience.  Now to the question.  Marbles is the only h album I have.  If I like that so much where do I go next?  I would genuinely welcome any recommendations
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Which of the early h albums did you hear? If you haven't sampled Brave or Afraid of Sunlight (his third and fourth albums with the group) do so, they're absolutely fantastic. (Brave, in particular, seems to be cited a lot next to Marbles as being amongst the best h-era stuff).

I can totally see why the first two h albums would have put you off - Seasons End is a bit transitional, and Holidays In Eden had a musical direction which seemed very commercial and which I thought was a serious mistake on the band's part - but Brave and Afraid of Sunlight is where the h-era band carved out their own distinctive sound.

In particular, I think the material on them works better with h's voice, especially when compared to the music on Seasons End (a lot of which was composed whilst Fish was still in the band). As you say, h's vocals take some time getting used to if you're more familiar with the Fish stuff, and I think his style and Fish's differ enough that it took the band some time to adjust their songwriting to account for that - hence Holidays In Eden covering some material from h's old bands and absorbing their style a little.

Incidentally, if you like the early Fish stuff you might want to look into Early Stages, a box set of no less than five Fish-era concert performances with a big emphasis on the early stuff (three of the five shows are from the 1982-1983 period). And although I agree that Fugazi and Misplaced Childhood weren't as good as the debut album, I think Clutching At Straws is one of the finest things Marillion or Fish have ever done.
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Originally posted by Roj M30 Roj M30 wrote:

This is my first visit here but as it's a recommendation I'm after then is the only place to come.
 
I'll first introduce my Marillion connection.  Right back at the start of the Prog Rock Revival ('twas indeed known as that) back in the early 80s I was a huge Marillion fan.  This was before they had released anything other than that classic first three track tape (where oh where did I put that Embarrassed - it would be worth a fortune I'll bet now).  I saw them live a couple of times and felt privileged that a new prog band was about to break through and I was so excited to be part of it.
 
Then came the record deal and the single (how fab was Grendel, even though it had a similarity to a certain classic we all know and love) and then the debut album.  I really liked the album but I already knew those songs and they appeared a little watered down compared to the versions I knew.  Fugazi really disappointed me and though Misplaced Childhood was better I was starting to drift away.  Fish left, I thought that was it.  I heard some of the early h stuff and didn't really like it at all.  I also disliked his voice and at that point, as the UK was carried away on a wave of Madchester rave, acid and trance I departed the Marillion scene.  I though never to return.
 
Fast forward twenty years.  Twenty years older but also with a much wider appreciation of prog music I thought I had to dive back in.  I read some reviews and decided that Marbles had to be the one to go for.  Steve's review swung it for me, as he's a guy who has very similar taste to me.   So.........  Well I was blown away musically by the album from the very first track.  I still wasn't keen on h's vocals but musically this was sublime.  The Invisible Man, Fantastic Place, Neverland and particularly the amazing Ocean Cloud had me thinking what have I been doing?  Repeated spins have left me totally intoxicated by a band that I find now a thousand times better than their early 80s incarnation.  I have even grown to like h's vocals as well.  Suffice to say I'll be at their show at Manchester Academy come December.
 
I hope that's not bored everybody too much.  Thanks for your patience.  Now to the question.  Marbles is the only h album I have.  If I like that so much where do I go next?  I would genuinely welcome any recommendations

Clap I love it when a musical journey is posted - excellent post!

As to recommendations, I would normally say each of them. But, I'll give you a few to try, in order of what i feel should be purchased:

1. Brave. One of the all time top three albums I own (Marbles is in there as well). A work of such utter genius that each of them should have received a knighthood. Harrowing, complex, soaring, I defy anyone to be moved by it.
2. Afraid Of Sunlight. The review in Q magazine at the time said if anyone other than Marillion had recorded this, it would be a world wide smash, and they were right. Contains some of their finest work. King will blow you away.
3. This Strange Engine. A fantastic, thoughtful, and provocative album. Man of a Thousand Faces is an exceptionally strong opener, and the title track contains Rothery's finest moment (which is saying something). 
4. Radiation. This gets a lot of stick, but I regard it as being a very important forerunner to Marbles. It was recorded in my old home town, and is uniformly excellent.

Should be enough to keep you goingBig smile
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lazland View Drop Down
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Latest e-bulletin from the boys below. A new album in the worksBig smile

A good week so far in the studio. Good ideas springing up daily now from the jam sessions. Some days we have "drive-thru jams" where we come in for an hour, jam, and leave Mike H to the mind-numbing job of listening to every noise we've ever made in search of the good moments.

I've done it myself in the past and it can be quite disheartening listening to a load of random twaddle waiting for the happy accident to happen. But when it does, I get the shivers..

This is truly a mad way of writing music, but it seems to be the one that has worked for Marillion over the years (decades!?!). 

Next week we'll rehearse for the gig in Germany. Knowing us, we'll get more written next week than we usually do when we're "trying" so we'd better ask Mike to leave the machines in "record". Maybe see you in Herzberg at the hippie festival?

There's nothing you can do that can't be done..
H

I would like to thank The Web Portugal for looking after me so well last weekend. 
They flew me over to help celebrate their 5th Anniversary with a picnic in one of the parks in Lisbon on the Saturday afternoon. This was followed by a gig in the evening where I played a few Marillion songs and then joined the Portuguese Marillion covers band Perfect Strangers and played a set on bass. It was a late night and very hot. 

My lasting memory however is a tossup between pouring water into Edgar's car (a long story) and eating Mozambique prawns. A must if you have never tried them. 

Robin and Pete will be supporting the Reasoning at the Borderline in London on Friday July 22nd if anyone would like to See our humble show again.
Pete
It feels like things are really starting to take shape, at long last. They say you can't hurry creativity (or was it love?) anyway, we were having a good day until I had to leave early because I'm still not feeling 100% after having had tonsillitis. Ugh!
Mark
Off to the Sonisphere festival this weekend with my son Michael ...Metallica, Slipknot, Anthrax, Slayer... I wonder if they will be doing any acoustic numbers....

Even at my age I still like loud...Hurrah!!!.
Ian
One of the things I usually do when we start writing a new album is invest in some new equipment. I recently brought a new amplifier back from the States, an Oldfield Marquis 15 valve amp (http://www.oldfieldtubeamps.com) this has a vintage sound similar to a Vox amplifier from the 1960's and is a great addition to my set up.

Since making Happiness is the Road I've been using a lot of Jack Dent's guitars live and again it's great to have such an inspirational range of instruments to choose from.
Steve R
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I've completed my journey through the Fish-era albums and I am now working on the h-era albums.  I actually enjoyed the Fish-era even more than I remember.  I definitely need to try and listen to these guys more.
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Beautiful is a...well...beautiful song.
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Forgive me if this has already been posted but "Marbles" and "Somewhere Else" are being re-issued. The "Marbles" re-issue will be the double disc that was originally only available from their web-site i believe. CdUniverse has August 9th as the date they both will be available.
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I only have the single disc version of Marbles, which incidently I am currently playing.  I've read somewhere else (pun intended) in this thread that it would behoove me to get the two disc version.  I think that I might rather just download the songs that I don't have, but if that is not an option I will have to keep this new re-issue in mind.
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