Marillion...Clutching At Straws turns 30

I do love Fugazi too. Just not that one song.
I haven’t listened to Script for a while but my memory of the sound is that it could be a little muddy, I must listen again because that may just be my memory!
I think I’m the only person that doesn’t ‘get’ Brave either. Or Radiation after Under The Sun. Is the remix of that any better?
Afraid Of Sunlight is my favourite 90’s Marillion.

 

Yeah. Jigsaw, in particular is extraordinary.

I think the whole album, though, is a definitive example of how Fish can make the most useless lyrics sound profound when he's singing them.

 

I've never got my head around Brave either. It's my least favourite Marillion album by quite some distance.

I think it was a reaction against (the excellent) Holidays In Eden being regarded a too poppy.

 

Which I guess is sort of ironic to what the band's expectations were of Brave. HiE did well enough as I recall, but it seems like Brave was designed to bring back the old fans and get some newer ones as well. I think for Marillion, it was their Dark Side of the Moon and when it became a relative commercial flop, the band were quite disappointed. Here in the US, the album stiffed, not least because they were signed to IRS, a label that probably didn't have the resources to properly market the album. As I recall, Marillion didn't even bother to tour here either.

 

An Album of two parts for me - the first side superb (if you remove Just for the Record) like a darker more personal continuation of Misplaced Childhood- the second side a little less so (But still great if you remove Torch) .. I always felt as a whole album it just doesnt fit well together - Incommunicado and Just for the record always seem like Mark had a tantrum and wanted to get back to his signature keyboard sound.

Have to admit though seeing it performed live at Manchester with Fish a cpl of months back does show how well the "single type" songs worked live. (Even with what was possibly the most diabolically bad sound I have ever heard in a gig)

 

My only knowledge of post-Fish Marillion is the free sampler that they offer through their website. I had trouble getting through it quite honestly. I intend to try again though because I like the Fish era material a lot and would like to find more to like about this band.

 

The trick with H-era Marillion is to give it at least five listens before you judge. I'm a hardcore fan and I've learnt that over the years. It's amazing how their music reveals itself with familiarity. Proper depth.

 

In hindsight though I'm really grateful that this band came on my radar when they did and I had the opportunity to see them when they were young and hungry. Older folks like to talk about seeing Zeppelin, Sabbath, Purple etc. in their prime and my version of that boast is Marillion. Very few people in attendance but they were great!

 

I have enough respect for them to try this.

 

I only wish that I had met this one friend earlier than I did. His mom worked for an international airline and he was going to places like the Marquee for the weekend to see Marillion. My dad worked for British Airways and I could have joined him for these weekends! It never occurred to me to do things like that at the time and even if it did traveling so far, alone would have been a tad frightening to me. But with a friend I probably would have gone. Could have seen Recital for real! Oh well.

 

Jigsaw might be my favorite Marillion song. So great!

 

I think the remix is fantastic. It elevated my opinion of that album bigly.

 

They didn't. But I'd have missed them if I did like I missed the following tour for Afraid Of Sunlight tour (which I think was the fan-funded one) Didn't jump back on board until This Strange Engine (which I think is brilliant) The fan-funded tour was the only US tour I've missed 1986.

I'll be missing one more in a few weeks because the closest they are coming to here is Pittsburgh on a weeknight.

Bit of a wildcard itinerary this time, but I'm glad other parts of the county are getting the opportunity as the Northeast has been pretty lucky over the years.

 

finally got my misplaced childhood 5.1 box set today. Awesome !!! Loving it!!! (And i am generally a 2 ch purist)

 

Yep, same here. I prefer it, to use a phrase from another member, by a nautical mile to Misplaced Childhood (not that this is a bad album of course).

 

Not the case with me at all. The first album I heard was Misplaced Childhood and, while I do like the album, it was Clutching at Straws that has meant much more to me than Misplaced and Brave I love even more than both of those albums, but I’ll admit that Clutching is very strong musically and I listen to it the most as far as the Fish-era is concerned.

 

I like Misplaced Childhood but for me it's always been the least of the Fish albums. I've never got my head around Brave. I admire it but, and I'm probably being incredibly harsh, after the pop glory of it's two predecessors, it felt like a self conscious attempt to win back some prog credibility. I'd still give it 3/5 but it's the Marillion album I've listened to the least.

 

I disagree that Brave was an attempt to win back some prog credibility (whatever this actually means as I have no idea). Hogarth was inspired by hearing that radio broadcast of this strange woman wondering the Severn Bridge and wanted to do an album centered around that. I think the idea of it being a progressive sounding album wasn’t really on Hogarth’s mind, but, as fate would have it, this turned out to be an unpopular album for them and EMI was at the cannon ready to shoot Marillion off the radar for good since they didn’t produce the ‘hits’ that they wanted. I admire them for taking this artistic risk and it became something all of them were obviously incredibly passionate about. I mean you don’t spend nine months recording an album that doesn’t mean something. I give it a 5/5 as it was an album of remarkable sonorities coupled with deeply emotional content.

 

Glad you like it. It'll never be a regular visitor to my turntable though.

 

It took me a long time to really warm to it. I think it's length is a bit of an obstacle...the whole thing is great now, but at first it was a bit overwhelming, especially considering Misplaced clocks in at a tidy 42 minutes by comparison.

 

‘Script’ was my first encounter but ‘Clutching’ is my fave, just a whisker ahead of ‘Fugazi’.
Fugazi the song is just immense and I love the wordplay. Incubus and Assassing very very strong too. Shame about She Chameleon!

 

I think Clutching at Straws is their masterpiece, it's incredibly consistent and works so well as a whole. There are better tracks elsewhere in their catalogue across the Fish era, but I think this stands up best.

But then I'm a bit odd when it comes to Marillion, I think Script is a wonderful neo-prog album but they'd yet to find their identity (I think IQ did a better job of it with Lush Attic as well), I don't like Fugazi, Misplaced Childhood is brilliant in parts but inconsistent, while Clutching is where they find their true identity. Always think it's a shame they didn't make one more album with Fish as I don't enjoy the post Fish era really.

 

I recall an interview with FISH during the release cycle of Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors.... FISH was quite angry that the lads had really let fame get the best of them and that it wasn't really any fun playing with them any longer....So, he left and recorded Vigil which I love...That said, the Clutching tour was extensive and I can imagine it really took its toll. My single favorite song is an easy choice, Forgotten Sons.

 

Good choice. And you're right vigil is excellent!

 

Agree with everything you said except about Fugazi as it was my first, and sentimental favourite.

Have you heard the demos the band did for the follow-up to CaS which were released with the remastered edition of CaS? Some good tracks, but they don't give a good indication of how strong the material ended up sounding across Vigil and Season's End.