I will admit that I'm not too crazy about the central part of the album - from Hard as Love through Paper Lies. Hollow Men and Alone Again... are ok but not favorites. But the rest is stellar. I have a feeling some people get bogged down with the title song but I love that.
It has a few great moments, but overall I rather respect it than love from my heard. It was their Lamb: too big to be great. I doubt you can make perfect 2 LPs album.
That's why no modern albums II mean lost-LP era) will ever become great: all modern bands try to fill up 70 minutes on the CD and don't cut weaker tracks.
a good prep for AoS where they finally got things right and found their own style and pace… but i am repeating myself …
I've always found Brave to be a little on the dull side - a lot of it sounding the same - others on here clearly see it differently.
At their best (for me Marbles) on songs like Invisible Man and Ocean Cloud they display a touch of tension, drama and contrast which I just don't find on Brave. Still play Brave now and again to see if it suddenly clicks….
I guess that's an interesting and somewhat valid way to view Brave: as a step on the way to establishing their full sound. HiE + Brave = AoS?Originally Posted by iguana
I like Brave, but it needs the middle cutting out, as the opening and end are brilliant. At the time it came out, Marillion had been pretty much absent for years (I thought they'd split up after Holiday in Eden as it didn't get a great reception. Someone I knew said they were trying to be like U2.)
I never thought of AoS as being where they got it right, but I can see that now. It's a superb album, probably my favourite Marillion album. I also think the Essence disc of 'Happiness is the Road' is similarly good as well.
^ the only place I can hear U2 is in How Can it Hurt, which is really a B-side. Maybe a little in I Will Walk on Water, but not really.
Didn't like it much at first. Got to love it, with the one exception- 'Paper Lies'. Those sort of mid-paced 'rockers' are often a weak spot for this band IMHO. The title track, which I initially found too dirgey, I now think is one of the best things they ever did.
The album and its successor are the clear high-points for the Hogarth era IMHO. After they left EMI, I really like 'Marbles', (controversially) 'Somewhere Else' and 'Essence'.
RE; U2. I can hear it on 'Cover My Eyes'.
^ yeah, I suppose on Cover My Eyes too. That single, with How Can it Hurt as the B-side, was a bit worrisome when it came out before the album.
This album has alway haunted me is a good way. We actually got to play the fan club convention when they brought the DAT in for a pre release listening to their dedicated fans. We also played when then fan club premiered the Brave movie. So I'm attached to this in a different sort of way. Is there no love for Season's End and This Strange Engine? I revisit these from time to time as well. I was in a bit of a funk when I heard that Fish had left but curiosity led me to Season's End and the funk evaporated when I realized that Marillion would go on just fine. And then I bought Vigil and again realized Fish would go on just fine as well.
^'Seasons End', yes, apart from the big-hair stadium rock tracks ('Hooks In You', to a lesser extent 'Holloway Girl'). I think 'Easter', '...Sunset Town' and the title track are amongst this band's best.
'This Strange Engine', not so much, though I like 'Estonia' and the title track it's a big comedown from 'Afraid Of Sunlight' IMHO.
Yes, Season's End was a great way to debut Hogarth, with some excellent songs - Sunset Town, Easter, Season's End & Berlin. This Strange Engine is a little less consistent but still love most of it, especially the title track - I particularly love the line "there was a magical purple in the chrome of the exhaust of his Triumph motorbike" (being a biker of 36 years this observation resonates all the more). Only one track I always skip. In fact, with Hogarth era Marillion, up to TSE, there was always 1 song on each album I tended to skip. (Uninvited Guest, Holidays In Eden, Paper Lies, Cannibal Surf Babe, Hope For the Future After TSE, there was more than 1 on each, sometimes more than 2.
With the Fish era stuff, I listen to every track, plus the original MSH/3 Boats Down/Grendel, Cinderella Search, Lady Nina, Freaks. Can't listen to Charting The Single though
Re: Fish era Marillion, the only song I sometimes skip is Market Square Heroes. It's ok but a bit pedestrian.
The same here, but alas it hasn't really happened, except of a few really good moments....
I probably love it because I got it when it came out and loved it live, but I do know what you mean. The re-recorded version is not quote so plodding as there is no Pointer on drums.
^ I guess it deserves extra points for featuring the words "I am your antichrist."
I was a big Marillion fan a while ago, but I had a *really* hard time getting into this one. It's one of those things where I liked the idea of it more than the actual music. I just felt like it was too plodding. Nothing ever grabbed me. Shrug. Maybe I should give it another shot.
flute juice
Or "I am your battle priest", if you prefer the 'censored' version they were forced to record.
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Plenty - love 'em both especially the opening track and title track of both albums. A man of a thousand faces is probably my favourite Marillion song - one of the most uplifting ends to a song you could wish to hear
Great tune. Best version IMO is on Somewhere In London, which I also think is their best live album ever.A man of a thousand faces is probably my favourite Marillion song - one of the most uplifting ends to a song you could wish to hear
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
Not my favorite song on the album (that would be the title track), but agree "Man Of A Thousand Faces" is a great one. In a perfect world it should have been a hit single.Plenty - love 'em both especially the opening track and title track of both albums. A man of a thousand faces is probably my favourite Marillion song - one of the most uplifting ends to a song you could wish to hear
Not heard that version - will have to track it down. And as SteveSly says- would have made a great (edited single).
A true masterpiece. Unlike others, I think Hard As Love and Paper Lies are highlights, for they give the beef to the surround build-ups. But the first 12 minutes (Bridge/Living With The Big Lie/Runaway) I consider the best Marillion has ever done. The dynamics going from ultra-quiet to very loud, while the emotion seers on higher and higher. I find the Goodbye to All that-section a bit of a drag though.
Much love for Seasons End and This Strange Engine. Two of my favorite post-Fish albums.
I really, really love Hogarth's vocal work on This Strange Engine. Very, very organic performance. Possibly his best. This Strange Engine brought me most of the way back as a Marillion fan. I went to the show for that tour for the first time since the Six of One Tour and haven't missed a US tour since.
Did they tour in the US for Six of One...? I forgot if they did.
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