Name an overlooked/underrated Marillion song

[JKL2000]

I didn't. I was referring to "Fantastic Place" and "The Sky Above The Rain".

I love "The Other Half".

Sorry, I thought you were responding to the other paragraph in Gerhard's post.

But, Sky Above the Rain is beautiful and powerful - wow.

Whoever said the Warm Wet Circles suite, I think most people who like Clutching like that. So that's most Fish era M fans.

I seem to be in a minority here in not really liking Tumble Down the Years. I just find it kind of boring and pedestrian.

[zombywoof]

Is White Russian overlooked / underrated?

[mnprogger]

After You.

[PotatoSolution]

I have no clue if Estonia is well regarded or not, but I think it's a great song.

[Progatron]

Sky Above the Rain is beautiful and powerful - wow.
I seem to be in a minority here in not really liking Tumble Down the Years. I just find it kind of boring and pedestrian.

I know, everyone loves it but me (same with "Fantastic Place", which is why I always mention them together). As for "Tumble Down..." it's fairly weak on record but had a certain charm when I saw it live.

Is White Russian overlooked / underrated?

Depends... do you think it is? It was certainly popular/well represented at the time, and I believe Hogarth also performed it, though perhaps not for some time now.

After You.

After You, After Me... what's the difference? :P

I have no clue if Estonia is well regarded or not, but I think it's a great song.

I would say it generally is, it's certainly played a lot at their shows and always goes over well. I think it's a great song too.

Here's another one I absolutely love:

[JKL2000]

After You.

Love that song!

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

the whole warm wet circles suite

Amen. And I'm not one for overstatement but the 1st side of CAS contains what are perhaps the best lyrics ever written. Or that may be the whiskey talking....

[Rufus]

Is White Russian overlooked / underrated?

^^^^Weak song IMO.

Going Under is at least better than half the songs on CAS.

Cinderella Search deserves more credit & should be included on any 'Best Of' compilation! !

[JJ88]

'Beyond You'. Among all the obvious classic Marillion songs on that brilliant album, I initially overlooked this song. But one day I played the album and this song hit me like a ton of bricks- seriously powerful stuff. A shame they are still viewed as 'neo prog' because songs like this have nothing to do with that genre at all IMHO. Witness the brilliant decision to have the big Phil Spector 'wall of sound' and mixed into mono, all-round devotees of classic pop/rock like me love stuff like that!

[JJ88]

However I agree on "A Voice From The Past". Excellent song. Somewhere Else gets somewhat unfairly criticized, as it's a single release sandwiched between two monster double albums, both of which had huge campaign editions and concepts behind them... it seemed to be released with little fanfare in comparison, but it has some great songs on it, and I don't even mind "Most Toys", which I find a fun little song. The one I'd chop is "Thank You Whoever You Are". But otherwise, a very solid album. And the accompanying live DVD from that tour (Somewhere In London) is the best one they've ever done IMO. The best from the Hogarth era, for sure.

'Somewhere Else' is a very good album...save 'Most Toys'. I had doubts about 'The Last Century For Man' and am still not crazy about the chorus, but these days I fear Hogarth may have been right in terms of the lyrics, which I previously found OTT. I always liked it more than most of their fans but I think it's actually improved with age, so I play it a lot more than I ever did.

I still haven't warmed to a lot of 'The Hard Shoulder'. Things like 'Cornfly', 'Older Than Me' 'Planet Marzipan', 'Especially True' etc., some of which have been mentioned here, do nothing for me at all. Several of these just seem like unfinished half-ideas to me, not really worthy of release on an album. The songs I love on there are things like 'Asylum Satellite' and 'Real Tears For Sale' (I saw them do this about 9 months before the album was released..even then it seemed a great song to me, especially that long instrumental section). As breezy pop songs go I quite like 'Half The World' as well.

Agreed on 'Somewhere In London'...I got it at the show I went to see and was blown away by both the performance I saw and the ones caught on this DVD.

[zombywoof]

^^^^Weak song IMO.

Really? Clutching at Straws is my favorite Marillion album by far and White Russian is my favorite track! I was always curious how Marillion fans ranked this one.

[Progatron]

Going Under is at least better than half the songs on CAS.

Cinderella Search deserves more credit & should be included on any 'Best Of' compilation! !

"Going Under" is great... you ever hear the version with the guitar solo?

'Beyond You'. Among all the obvious classic Marillion songs on that brilliant album, I initially overlooked this song.

Gorgeous track! Very powerful live too. One of the best on that album, IMO.

'Somewhere Else' is a very good album...save 'Most Toys'. I had doubts about 'The Last Century For Man' and am still not crazy about the chorus

Actually, after listening to Somewhere Else last night, I was reminded that I'm also not crazy about "Last Century", whereas my opinion of "Thank You Whoever You Are" has improved. I think I'd make "Last Century" the one that got axed from that album (and replace it with "Circular Ride"). The rest of it remains very strong to my ears. "The Wound", "A Voice From The Past", the title track... all great tracks. This one could well be their most underrated album.

I still haven't warmed to a lot of 'The Hard Shoulder'. Things like 'Cornfly', 'Older Than Me' 'Planet Marzipan', 'Especially True' etc., some of which have been mentioned here, do nothing for me at all. Several of these just seem like unfinished half-ideas to me, not really worthy of release on an album. The songs I love on there are things like 'Asylum Satellite' and 'Real Tears For Sale' (I saw them do this about 9 months before the album was released..even then it seemed a great song to me, especially that long instrumental section). As breezy pop songs go I quite like 'Half The World' as well.

Interesting. I really like The Hard Shoulder. I quite liked the whole idea behind that release. A double studio album where one disc was conceptual and the second one just a collection of unrelated songs. "Older Than Me" isn't anything special but I really like the rest of the tracks you mention. "Planet Marzipan" was very cool live... I believe it was night #1 of 2009 Weekend. Hogarth really hammed it up on that one. And so far, nobody (here or elsewhere) has ever agreed with me on "Especially True". I'm resigned to being one of the only true fans of that one, so I count myself lucky having seen it live since they may never play it again. Rothery was absolutely dazzling playing "Asylum Satellite #1", that piece has a lot of live ambiance. And I LOVE "Real Tears For Sale"... I don't care that Mark Kelly finds it 'average', I think it's a modern Marillion classic.

Man, all this chatter about these guys is making me seriously crave the next weekend. Tickets are sitting right here in front of me but it's not until APRIL! This will be my fourth Marillion weekend, hope to see some of you guys there(?)... if it's anything like last year, I'll be heading to the Brutopia bar on the Thursday evening before it all kicks off, because last time Rothery and Kelly both showed up to drink/mingle with fans, and it was a blast.

[Progatron]

Really? Clutching at Straws is my favorite Marillion album by far and White Russian is my favorite track! I was always curious how Marillion fans ranked this one.

Well, Rufus' opinion notwithstanding, I think most fans quite like it. It was very popular back in the day, and still sounds good to my ears. Never cared for the live versions on the Clutching tour, however, as my loathing of the female backing vocals on that tour is well documented. The "racing the clouds home" section is practically ruined IMO. Great track on record though.

[zombywoof]

Well, Rufus' opinion notwithstanding, I think most fans quite like it. It was very popular back in the day, and still sounds good to my ears. Never cared for the live versions on the Clutching tour, however, as my loathing of the female backing vocals on that tour is well documented. The "racing the clouds home" section is practically ruined IMO. Great track on record though.

Really? I love the back up vocals!

[JJ88]

Where did Mark Kelly call 'Real Tears' average? It's a 'typical' Marillion song perhaps but it's the sort of atmosphere-heavy track they do best.

I remember someone on the old forum- which I didn't rejoin when it had the reboot- having some quote in their signature from Kelly about how some fans go more for the length of the song than the quality. It's not like that for me, I just think some of their pop/rock numbers really are kind of generic (stuff like 'Deserve' and 'Whatever Is Wrong With You'). The sort of music I wouldn't own if the Marillion name wasn't on it.

The period I think they were really lost at sea is that time when they left EMI and before they set up Racket. So from 'This Strange Engine' through to and including 'Anoraknophobia' (though this was a one-album EMI return). A lot of these albums I find awkward. It's no wonder 'Marbles' was so ecstatically received. But from that period, a few lesser-known ones I find good are 'House', 'A Legacy', 'Go' and 'One Fine Day'.

[Progatron]

Where did Mark Kelly call 'Real Tears' average? It's a 'typical' Marillion song perhaps but it's the sort of atmosphere-heavy track they do best.

I remember someone on the old forum- which I didn't rejoin when it had the reboot- having some quote in their signature from Kelly about how some fans go more for the length of the song than the quality. It's not like that for me, I just think some of their pop/rock numbers really are kind of generic (stuff like 'Deserve' and 'Whatever Is Wrong With You'). The sort of music I wouldn't own if the Marillion name wasn't on it.

The period I think they were really lost at sea is that time when they left EMI and before they set up Racket. So from 'This Strange Engine' through to and including 'Anoraknophobia'. A lot of these albums I find awkward. It's no wonder 'Marbles' was so ecstatically received. But from that period, a few lesser-known ones I find good are 'House', 'A Legacy', 'Go' and 'One Fine Day'.

It was shortly before the release of the album. Many fans had already heard "Real Tears" as it had been around for a year or two already, and his view was that it wasn't anything special. He wasn't putting the track down or anything, and I'm not directly quoting, but that's the gist of it. I agree with you, I love the track.

Re: length of songs: I love long songs, I love short songs, doesn't matter to me. I like "Deserve" and "Whatever Is Wrong" quite a lot actually! And I love "A Legacy" and "Go!"... "One Fine Day" is nice enough, but not one I'd generally include in a playlist (I've just been constructing a new one to play at work. Co-workers tend to tolerate Marillion more than stuff like Van Der Graaf.) ... I'm actually starting to think Essence might be my own personal most-overlooked album.. although I love "This Train Is My Life" and "Liquidity", and I'm very familiar with "Happiness Is The Road" as they've played it at every weekend, I tend to get fuzzy on a few of the other tracks when I try to remember how they go - and that's rare for me with this band. I shall spin the disc today!

As for the Strange Engine-thru-Anoraknophobia period... it's probably the lowest-rated era among most fans (or it was, anyway, maybe the last couple of albums might be?) but I love most of that stuff. I do think that around that time there started to appear a 'skipper' track here and there but the strong material was just as strong as it always had been IMO. It doesn't get much stronger than the title track to This Strange Engine, "A Few Words For The Dead", or "This Is The 21st. Century"!

[JJ88]

^HITR is an interesting case-study. I was on the MOLF at the time, and I remember that album being ecstatically received by virtually everybody there. Nowadays it's seen as one of their weaker albums. What happened? I do also remember there being a lot of talk at the time that the material did not work live?

I still think 'Essence' is very strong indeed, myself. I remember it well enough but often I don't think about song-titles in albums like that which are intended as full-length experiences. For instance, I'd have to look up some of the track titles of albums like 'The Snow Goose'. But things like 'This Train Is My Life', 'Trap The Spark' and 'Happiness...' are wonderful.

[Progatron]

^HITR is an interesting case-study. I was on the MOLF at the time, and I remember that album being ecstatically received by virtually everybody there. Nowadays it's seen as one of their weaker albums. What happened? I do also remember there being a lot of talk at the time that the material did not work live?

I still think 'Essence' is very strong indeed, myself. I remember it well enough but often I don't think about song-titles in albums like that which are intended as full-length experiences. For instance, I'd have to look up some of the track titles of albums like 'The Snow Goose'. But things like 'This Train Is My Life', 'Trap The Spark' and 'Happiness...' are wonderful.

Part of the reason could be that Sounds That Can't Be Made was so well-received that the general consensus is now revised to show HitR as less acclaimed. As for the HitR material not working well live, I'd have to disagree, but then I saw a ton of it done at Marillion Weekend where it's hard to be objective. Rabid fans, a motivated band on top of their game... a little different than touring, where you may face more disinterest from a crowd who only remember "Kayleigh" and "Lavender". There was a HUGE difference between the three weekends (nine shows) I saw in Montreal, and the two single tour shows I saw in Toronto. The atmosphere was completely different.

I honestly feel bad for anyone who is a big fan who can't make the weekends. It's easy for my wife and I as we don't have children and we both love going to Montreal (we use it as an excuse for a week's holiday, and it's just a five-hour train ride). I know it's a lot harder for other people to attend an entire weekend like that due to time/job/financial constraints. But you'll never see the band more on the money than when they play to these crowds.

[marblesmike]

Great tune! Should have been on the album IMO as it fits with the general theme so well. I could happily replace "Just For The Record" with that one.

Since The Last Straw has '(Happy Ending)' as part of the title, does anyone else besides me think that Tux On might have been planned as the closing track of the album with the character of Torch meeting his end?

[JKL2000]

Herne the Hunter

[Yaman Aksu]

Herne the Hunter

+1
LOL
Alice:

[WytchCrypt]

Not sure how other Marillion fans see it but I think "Charting the Single" is an overlooked track and my fave...I love all those crazy Fish lyrical double entendre puns

[bigjohnwayne]

After You

You Don't Need Anyone (a Holidays in Eden era outtake)

Beyond You

The Only Unforgivable Thing

Genie

Essence

[JKL2000]

Probably not underrated, but I love the Big Beat version of Memory of Water. They opened with that at one show and it was a great opener.

[AstroProg]

From the Brave CD, The Great Escape, particularly Part 2 Falling from the Moon. I used to think of this song as just a filler to get to the much more accessible Made Again. At some point in time it occurred to me that the lyrics, although not very long or complex, really hit home. Great song from the H era CD that is still my favorite.