Recently discovered Marillion - what do you guys think of them?

If I'm honest, I've softened my stance on Afraid of Sunlight over the last 10 years or so (I usually spin Brave and Afraid of Sunlight about once a year to see if anything clicks.)

I always loved King (and the version they did in November was flat out jaw dropping) and now I'm up to liking about half of it. Brave is still DOA for me and was happy to have missed the track they were doing live on the tour.

Don't mind Unplugged At The Walls for some strange reason. (Except for the Brave tracks and Cannibal Surf Babe of course.)

 

Here is something the casual Marillion fan might not know:

Donald Campbell - Wikipedia »

Donald Campbell had crashed with his jetboat Bluebird on January 4, 1967 but both the boat and Campbell himself weren't located. When diver Bill Smith heard Marillion's song about Donald Campbell he was inspired to find Bluebird and most importantly find the remains of Campbell, which they eventually did in 2001. Members of Marillion were present on the day the wreckage of Bluebird was raised and eventually Campbell was buried on September 12, 2001.

I knew quite a bit about the Campbell family and their speed record attempts even before I heard this song but what made me really gasp for air was the first time I saw actual footage of the crash when Marillion used it during a live performance of Out Of This World.

 

I love that whole concept of the Marillion Weekends. That is so freaking cool. And it's awesome they don't ignore certain albums like a lot of artists do - hell they broke out Radiation a few years back it looks like!

 

Yes, yes, that's right. I read about all that but totally forgot. Thanks for the link.

 

Listening to the Seasons End album (and the song coincidentally) even as I type.

 

So I got some christmas money and just decided to blow it, because why not?

So now I have 8 (!!!) Marillion dvds being sent to my place.

Holidays In Zelande
Out Of Season
A Sunday Night Above the Rain
This Strange Convention
Clocks Already Ticking
Brave Live 2002
Brave Live 2013
Out Of the Box

Jeez, I need to get a life....

 

Quite a good analysis/overview of the Hogarth period. Allow me for me to take my own stab at both periods of the band:

Fish Era (1981 - 1988) -

Many people regard this period of Marillion as the ‘holy grail’ or whatever other celebratory phrase you want to throw at it. For me, Script for a Jester’s Tear and Fugazi are atrocious. First of all, Fish has one of those vocal timbres that you cringe at and/or makes you grit your teeth. Most of the material up to Fugazi hasn’t really had Marillion’s unique stamp on it with perhaps a few notable exceptions like Incubus (from Fugazi) and perhaps Chelsea Monday (from Script for a Jester’s Tear) getting the nod from me. After Fugazi, things start picking up with Misplaced Childhood, which is a full-fledged concept album and the continuity of the music is certainly a welcome change of a pace. Also, Fish’s vocal style has mellowed quite considerably by this point, which makes the listening much more pleasing on the ear. This kind of mellowing reminds me of how Geddy Lee’s voice changed in Rush pretty much after Hemispheres. Anyway, Misplaced Childhood has all of the yearning and emotional gravitas that Marillion would make well-known after this point. Clutching at Straws is the last masterpiece of the Fish era. Yet another concept is adapted to the music and the themes this time around are much more brooding and pensive. Unfortunately, Fish left after Clutching at Straws with the band writing and performing in top-form. A chapter in music history closes.

Hogarth Era (1989 - present) -

Steve Hogarth, for me, has been both a perplexing and melodious musical force. Marillion's first album with Hogarth is Season’s End and it’s quite good. It sounds like Clutching at Straws more matured and well-rounded older brother IMHO. Again, the band is in peak form around this time. I would actually suggest listening to Season’s End first before diving into any other Hogarth period album. The second album was Holiday in Eden and it was both a musical and commercial flop. I loathe this album and always raise my eyebrow why they even put it out. Splintering Heart is damn good. I’ll freely admit that, but the rest of the album is forgettable. Many years transpire between Holidays in Eden and what will be their next album Brave. I’ll go ahead and say it: Brave is my favorite Marillion album if I was forced to pick just one. Here they return to a musical concept, but the music takes twisted turns that they haven’t quite taken before. Most of the music on Brave is darkly-hued and goes down some shadowy corridors. Given this album’s concept (a woman contemplating suicide on a bridge and how she got there), it’s quite appropriate. The next album Afraid of Sunlight is another winner. I despise Cannibal Surf Babe, though and I don’t care how cheeky and fun they were trying to be! This Strange Engine marks another departure of sorts. It has much more acoustic guitar on it than previous albums. Man of a Thousand Faces, Estonia, Memory of Water, and the title track are what I come back to this album for. Their next couple of albums are clunkers: Radiation and marillion.com. I don’t care for these albums at all. Anoraknophobia is an interesting album with a few good pieces, but, ultimately, forgettable. Things pick up yet again with Marbles. This is certainly one of my favorites from them after a long period of what I’d call stagnation. Somewhere Else is their next album and it’s decent. I LOVE the title track. I can’t really comment any further as after Somewhere Else I lost interest in the band and explored classical music for seven years until finally this year I returned to my roots.

I will go ahead and say it Steve Rothery is one of the greatest guitarists on the planet. All heart and absolutely zero pyrotechnics. That’s my kind of musicianship.

 

Do Afraid and Anorak if you can. The two best Hogarth Discs (-aside from SE which you have already)imo. Also if you can get the 2nd Clutching. There are SE demos with lyrics and vox you may want to hear. Also the great B side Tux On which should have gotten onto Clutching.

 

Oh and WW If you havent gotten Fugazi yet why are you still sitting at Starbucks? Go get it!!

 

And not to mention his solo album Ghosts of Pripyat. Its amazing!!!

 

Clutching at Straws for me is a total masterpiece. Fish's song writing and the whole concept of the album are brilliant. A masterpiece in my opinion.

 

Actually, Fish created the concepts for the albums, write lyrics, and sing, of course. He had very little hand in writing the pieces. The songwriting was done by Rothery, Trewavas, Kelly, and Mosley.

 

Fish era - Clutching at straws

Hogarth era - Marbles (my favourite Marillion album)

Best tracks:

Man of a thousand faces (great opening track - the ending is so uplifting)
Invisible Man
Hearts of lothian
Sugar mice
The Leavers

I think they are still producing quality music and even a lesser-Marillion album has something worthy on it!

 

Like all the Fish era though Clutching at Straws is the weakest. Only really care for Sugar Mice & Incommunicado. Fugazi is the masterpiece from that era, even the b sides are top notch. Lots of Hogarth yet to discover but Brave is another masterpiece if you give it time and immerse yourself into the concept!

 

Regarding the 1989-??? era..

I love Season's End, Anoraknophobia, Brave, and especially Afraid of Sunlight.

Nothing since Anoraknophobia has really grabbed me, aside from the occasional track (This Train is my Life comes to mind).

I keep hoping that I'll get wowed by another Marillion album, but it hasn't really happened yet.

 

I love Misplaced Childhood and like some previous material like Assassing, Fugazi, Punch And Judy. But I never really got into Clutching. Admittedly, I didn't really got deeper in the concept and I should revisit it someday.
Any tips on how to read it and where to point my ears at?

 

Marbles was the last sparkle to me. But maybe I was just in the right mood to receive it.
Everything came later is nice but meh and the last one has such simplistic lyrics...

 

Clutching at Straws won't get any better no matter how many times you revisit it, trust me!

 

So my initial Marillion interest waned soon after makinf this thread.

I do feel my 2nd wave of interest coming up though.

 

Its his Lamb Lies Down....

 

I hate to say it, but I agree 100%. Fish's vocal style is kind of a proggy version of Spandau Balket, with a breathless end to every line. I know I'm in the minority among prog rock lovers, so to each their own!

 

My take? Discovered Marillion just prior to 'Script...', loved the first two albums, hated 'Misplaced Childhood' before it was even released (they debuted it at some shows the Christmas before it came out and it bored the tits off me, apart from Pseudo Silk Kimono and Kayleigh), I absolutely love 'Clutching at Straws' and 'Vigil...' (which is basically a Marillion album with a differerent (better?) band) and can't stand anything from the Hogarth era!

 

And they did go hilariously Spinal Tap on the drumming front for a few months in 1983

 

John Pointer>Andy Ward>Jonathan Mover>Ian Mosely

All in between Script and Fugazi.

 

Well, it's actually Mick Pointer (awful drummer, but founding member). Also, John Marter from Bernie Marsden's Alaska subbed for a few weeks between the sacking of Andy Ward and the recruitment of Jonathan Mover (who only played ONE show)...
So yeah, it got very ridiculous and it would go like this:
Mick Pointer>Andy Ward>John 'Martyr' Marter>Jonathan Mover>Ian MOSLEY
All this happened between April 1983 and November of the same year...!