I must preface what I'm about to say with the fact that I appreciate most/almost all of marillion's catalogue, FEAR included. But I just listened to the Steven Wilson remix/master of Brave, and I'll be damned if it doesn't sound remarkably better than many modern albums (Paper Lies not withstanding).
'The smell of strange colours are heard everywhere'- Threshold
Brave is the best thing they ever did IMO. And I'm a very long-time fan who genuinely likes every album to some degree. Clutching At Straws is amazing, Marbles is amazing... but Brave is Marillion in their purest form. Everything they do well is here, and is done to perfection. It's one of those albums that continues to reveal something new, no matter how many hundreds of times I've heard it.
Some of the most spine-tingling music I've ever heard is on Brave. Now wash your hands.
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.
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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.
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What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
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.
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I've seen Marillion a lot, but I've never seen Brave performed live in full. It came out during one of their long periods of no US shows, and when they did the Brave live weekends it was a time when I just wasn't free to go. I really wish I'd been able to see it done live. At the NYC show on the This Strange Engine tour they did the title track, and it was fantastic. The audience was so attentive that during the quiet beginning, you could have heard a pin drop. I was in the balcony, and the way the sound filled that venue was something.
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I'm in the same boat, and I consider Brave my favorite album ever. The weekends are just so expensive and I don't know if/when i'd be able to justify it to my wife who endured 2 Marillion shows back in 2012 in Chicago, which are likely the 1st and last Marillion shows she'll ever see.
Man, I'm sorry for those of you who missed out on Brave at the weekends. I don't think I'm rubbing it in to reiterate how mesmerizing it was, because I'm sure you know that it would be anyway. The band fired on all cylinders, and Hogarth was very theatrical. At one point when he was 'going crazy', some men in white coats came to drag him off, and he fought it so hard I was momentarily convinced it was real. The Great Escape was the best rendition I've seen, it had a different feel with the whole album building up to it like that. I so wish I could relive that show!
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.
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The afternoon before the show, we went to Brutopia to watch Pete play an Edison's Children set, which was good fun. The night before (night #1) was the Radiation album live plus a bunch of other tracks (they opened, of course, with Montréal), and although I like that album more than most fans seem to, it just couldn't hold a candle to night #2. Night #3 went on and on, with the Montréal crowd refusing to leave without a third encore, so they came out and played Garden Party!
An exhausting weekend (in a good way). The Marbles weekend would be a fairly close runner-up for me, but damn those weekends have all been so fantastic.
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.
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Agree - the Brave show on Saturday was the peak of Montreal convention nights for me. It was also the fist time I saw Jacob Moon, and I loved the story and dictation machine gimmick for his cover of Subdivisions. We also saw the UK convention that year, and the Montreal Brave performance topped it, although it was cool to see Jennifer Rothery doing the candle lighting.
I was part of the pre-order Marbles campaign and was greatly rewarded when I got the page with my name on it signed by Los Trios Marillos at a free performance at Tower Records in Philly a year after the Marbles tour.I have other signed items as well.Marillion has always been cool with the fans in my opinion
I saw the Los Trios Marillos show as well, at a really cool Toronto venue called The Mod Club (sadly closed now) where I used to see lots of great bands. We were right up front center, leaning on the stage. Met the guys before the show and chatted for a while. Hogarth started telling a joke on stage about a Scotsman, and someone in the crowd shouted "FISH!" which made him groan, and Steve Rothery got the giggles and couldn't stop! Fun show.
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.
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I do like FEAR, but BRAVE and AOS are my timeless Marillion albums. I so much look forward to their new album!!
Did you see the first show in the US (1990) that was Fish material, because he wouldn’t tour and Hogarth replaced him? The Hogarth looked a lot like Peter Gabriel, but with way more energy than anytime I saw Gabe. It was a relatively small venue, Hammerjacks in Bmore. Apparently, Chris Buckley saw the show at Bogarts in Cincinnati. One of my fond memories of that time. Most posts here refer to Clutching as a fav. I first saw Fish Marillion on MTV, the video Kayleigh. It got my interest and I bought the import in New Haven of Misplaced Childhood. I live in a void of prog at the time, and it was formative for me. I liked Clutching too, but my fav cemented my taste. Not been thrilled with the Hogarth sound since then, but maybe I haven’t had the chance to give Brave a listen, so I will. Hogarth was on fire when I saw him in 90, not to mention the band.
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