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Jimmy B
11-02-2008, 05:49 PM
Has anyone had a listen of the new Marillion CD's?
Mine are on order.
Thanks Jimmy B

3-LockBox
11-02-2008, 08:08 PM
Lynnwood eh? I be further up the road in Ferndale - hell of a rain today huh?

I have the latest on order myself (Happiness Is The Road). I've heard some samples and I like what I've heard. You may want to check into this website if you want to talk prog - click here: www.progressiveears.com (http://www.progressiveears.com) just scroll down the page until you see the thread about Happiness Is The Road.

I have the one they did from 2004, Marbles. Its a stunner IMO, me not being much of a Marillion fan. I didn't care for the last one they did, Somewhere Else, though it did have one or two good tracks on it. In fact, besides Marbles and Brave, they haven't done too many albums I care to own, though a few singles made their way into MP3 rotation from time to time.

The latest, a two disc set, will prolly be whittled down to one disc by me after a couple of listens. I don't see how a band responds to complaints that their last release was plodding and maudlin by coming out with a two disc set, but we'll see.

What other prog bands are you into?

Jimmy B
11-02-2008, 11:28 PM
I only got some of the rain today, landed at Sea -Tac around 3:00pm today. It was raining like the dickens in Sacramento last night.
Somewhere Else just plods along with out anything really grabbing me. I don't know what it is? Watching the video of Somewhere in London does keep me entertained but still no grip onto the music? I hope there is something that grabs me on the new CD's.
Other prog stuff Genesis, yes ,pink floyd. I quess you can say mainstream. From your link I know more and have more stuff to listen to.
Jimmy B

ForeverAutumn
11-03-2008, 06:36 AM
I downloaded the samples, listened a couple of times, but there was little there that made me want to buy the CD. Like 3-LB, I'm not a huge Marillion fan. I've tried to like them...I want to like them...but they just don't seem to do it for me.

Jimmy B
11-10-2008, 10:40 PM
After several spins of both CDs I do think a lot of the work they put into the Cds. there is a couple of duds but real happy over all with the CDs.
Jimmy B

ForeverAutumn
11-11-2008, 05:08 AM
It's good to hear that you like the disks Jimmy. I know that there was a lot of anticipation around this release.

3-LockBox
11-11-2008, 06:02 AM
I've had mine a few days now. I'm prolly opposite the general consensus elsewhere, but a few things I agree with:

1) this is better than Somewhere Else
2) the production is stellar - its still a modern recording, a look at it with Goldwave reveals some limiting/compression for maximum volume, but no where near as egregious as their contemporaries.
3) this set is not as good as Marbles.

The songs I like so far:

This Train Is My Life
Essence
Nothing Fills The Hole
Woke Up
A State Of Mind
Thunder Fly
The Man From The Planet Marzapan
Asylum Satellite #1
Whatever Is Wrong With You
Especially True


And that's a 'like' list, not a 'love' list. The rest is standard, maudlin, samey sounding Marillion. Oh, nothing out and out sucks, but I wish these guys would write a rock song once in a while. What's missing is a great single, like Don't Hurt Yourself from Marbles (their best song ever IMO). The Hard Shoulder starts out with a lot of promise, but fizzles quickly after Asylum Satellite with three very mundane songs. The songs I like will sound better as MP3 rotation, than a stand alone statement. Its exactly what I expect from any modern two-CD set...a good 50 minutes of music.

Auricauricle
11-11-2008, 08:25 AM
'Sticks sent over some links for me to check out the "Misplaced Childhood" set. I responded with a few thoughts you can consider on that thread.

Maudlin. Perfect word.

How about schmalzy?

3-LockBox
11-11-2008, 06:47 PM
How about schmalzy?

Oh well, that word would work for that set, since it was done in the mid-80s, and with a different lead singer, a Peter Gabriel wannabe who calls himself Fish. Their 'big hit' off that album was Kaliegh, and it did get some airtime on MTV. This incarnation of Marillion is pretty much the seed for all things neo-prog to come.

The Marillion I refer to is the same band, only with Steve Hogarth doing lead vox (since Fish left to pursue a more lucrative solo career. They don't do schmalzy much anymore and they've being trying in ernest over the last 15 years or so to shake their former Genesis-clone past - by trying to be a weepy indie rock band. They've been around for 25 years, and I own two (now three) of their albums.

Jimmy B
11-11-2008, 10:15 PM
Thanks FA and 3LB
Auricauricle ? Not every one likes every band or album. Just because you haven't liked what they have done in the past, doesn't mean you shouldn't at least listen to a sample, you never know?
Jimmy B

Auricauricle
11-12-2008, 08:14 AM
Yer right, JB, I should listen to some of the other stuff before I dis the band wholesale. My comment was perhaps unfair or biased, based as it is on one album. One of my favorite groups is Tangerine Dream. Some of their work is really wretched and if I had not hung in there, and checked more of their stuff out, I would have missed out on a truly great, aural experience.

Then again, I think the 80's were, musically, abysmal. :biggrin5:

Jimmy B
11-12-2008, 10:25 PM
Fair enough Auricauricle.
I don't have any Tangerine Dream stuff, though I do have a Steve Jolliffe who had some playing time with TD. I should give TD a try? I will look the next time I go to the library
The 80's for the most part sucked for music.
Jimmy B

Auricauricle
11-13-2008, 06:28 AM
Lemme know if you wanna copy of a comp I found. It's a pretty decent intro and should sufficiently fill your happy home with strange sounds....

One mark of a great artist (or anyone interested in doing something worthwhile) is having the guts and stamina to go out on a limb. If he makes it to the edge and back in one piece, great. If he falls, there is no disgrace, because he took a chance. Too often, it seems, we play it safe, and in doing so don't take the chances that make our lives more meaningful. This, unfortunately, tends to be seen in the work of many artists, who get stuck in a "safe zone" and produce the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.