Marillion's new album due out on Monday!
 

"Happiness is the road", the 15th Marillion album, is released on Monday! Let's hope it's better than "Somewhere else", which was the first Marillion album I didn't love, though I really tried.
Anyone else looking forward to this? It's a double, too...! :D

Nope. I am definitely old school and Marillion are'nt Marillion without Mr Derek W. Dick.

Jack, you really should give them a listen. Yes, they definitely changed slowly over time after Fish left (I'd say we saw the last real echoes of the Big Yin in "Season's end" and "Holidays in Eden", possibly resurfacing in "Brave"), and they are now a different band, but they're making some great music! Your loyalty to Fish is commendable, but I have never understood why some people have to choose: I love old Marillion, Fish solo and new Marillion -- I get the best of both worlds! :)

OK, I'm gonna listen to this over the next few days, let yaz know what I think. Is it not cool to post a few tracks, since the album is only out today?

I never really got into this band. They're like Genesis without the wit.

Oh, now that is just not fair! Marillion suffered the inevitable comparisons with Genesis when they were starting out, and to be fair, they deserved them, as Fish certainly did a mean Gabriel, but over the span of their career, and with the departure of Fish they've successfully ditched that tag and stigma, and become very much their own band, and their own sound.
Albums like "Marillion.com", "Brave" and the recent "Marbles" will show you just how different they are from Genesis, then or now.
Do I have to post a compilation? :D

^^^

You could do and try and change my mind about their music post Fish. Marillion were a band around at the right time and place for me in the 80's. Comparison's with Genesis are correct but Marillion were a much more emotional band and were less concerned with the abstract and theatrical that early Genesis were.

Definitely agree. Whereas Genesis were more concerned with legends, mythology and other abstract concepts (after Trick of the Tail I think this changed, with "Robbery, assault and battery" kind of pulling them into the here and now -- sort of!), Marillion were from the first rooted in the harsh realities of the workaday world, as tracks like "Chelsea Monday", "She chameleon" and of course "Forgotten sons" from their debut (and still best?) album, the phenomenal "Script for a jester's tear" show. Even when they started getting a little more abstract, around the time of their magnum opus, "Misplaced childhood", everything was still very much rooted in the reality of today. Fish's solo stuff (which I'm sure you have) also followed this theme, with songs like "Internal exile", "Credo", "Sunsets on empire" and the superlative "Plague of ghosts" carrying on, in one form, the "old" Marillion tradition.
Marillion then evolved, not into a pop or even a rock band, because despite the departure of their charismatic and multi-talented frontman, they were still the same band that Steve Hogarth joined, and again I point to "Brave" as being perhaps their next-best album, the worthy successor (finally) to "Script". A more powerful and emotional body of work you'll do well to find. If anything, Marillion threatened to "go mainstream" off the back of MC, with "Kayleigh" just missing out on a number one slot, and "Lavender" well up in the top ten, then it all sort of calmed down and they were left to create their music away from the harsh, false lights of the record charts, and have, I think, remained a better band for it. No-one's denying that those two tracks are great, but within the body of MC they are far from the best examples of Marillion's groundbreaking work.
I too had the jitters when Fish left: after all, he had been THE face of the band, and seemed to be (rightly or wrongly) perceived as the driving force behind Marillion. But when I heard the first tinkling strains of "The king of sunset town", track 1 on "Season's end", Marillion's first album post-Fish, I knew my fears had been groundless. With superb tracks like "Easter", "The space", "Berlin" and "After me" on that album, not to mention the soulful, heartbreaking title track, Marillion were back, albeit in a slightly different form, but still the band I had known and loved from 1982, when I first clapped disbelieving ears on "Market square heroes".
Since then, they have only gone from strength to strength, with albums like "Anaroknophobia", "Marillion.com", "Afraid of sunlight" and "Marbles" showing this band have a firm musical direction post-Fish, a somewhat new sound, and are without a doubt, built to last!
Compilation coming up, as soon as I get some dinner! :)
Watch this space....

Nice post. Glad to hear that you liked the early stuff too. I am one of the few who prefered 'Fugazi' to 'Script..'. 'Grendel' is of course a masterpiece of prog and I have a big soft spot for 'Tux On' from 'B Side's Themselves'. Looking forward to the compilation (pressure on now ;)

Jackhammer -1 cool point

No I'm keeping that. I don't consider them a guilty pleasure or one of my infamous bad music choices. The first four Marillion albums are integral to my musical upbringing so feck off ;)

Absolutely. It was never "cool" to be into Marillion, but they produced (and still do) some of the most intelligent, powerful and thought-provoking music ever to come out of the UK in the 80s and 90s.
Jack, what's your favourite solo Fish song(s)/album(s)?

Fish era marillion here as well, but that's because I really don't have any releases after Clutching at Straws.

I think it has something to do with Urban being dragged along to a Marillion gig. :D


Anyway, I quite like classic Marillion but I've only heard a couple of their newer albums (Brave and Marbles) which are pretty good too. After hearing Quartz which is a cool track, I was a bit disappointed with Anoraknophobia.

Compilation should be online tonight...

Right, here it is at last! I’ve included some “classic” Marillion, ie the Fish era, for anyone who might not be familiar with it. Hope it changes your mind about current Marillion!
BTW I just got the new album but haven’t listened to it yet. Will post some trax when I’ve had a chance to hear it…

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ylzzmv...Marillion1.rar

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mki1bj...Marillion2.rar

http://www.mediafire.com/file/nmyc5j...Marillion3.rar

http://www.mediafire.com/file/2lnzkd...Marillion4.rar

TRACKLISTING

1. Assassing --- Fugazi
2. Between you and me --- Anoraknophobia
3. Man of a thousand faces --- This strange engine
4. Script for a jester’s tear --- Script for a jester’s tear
5. Splintering heart --- Holidays in Eden
6. The king of sunset town --- Season’s end
7. Easter --- Season’s end
8. Quartz --- Anoraknophobia
9. Warm wet circles --- Clutching at straws
10. Go! --- Marillion.com
11. The web --- Script for a jester’s tear
12. Emerald lies --- Fugazi
13. Estonia --- This strange engine
14. Fantastic place --- Marbles
15. Going under --- Clutching at straws
16. Goodbye to all that – I) Wave II) Mad III) The opium den IV) The slide V) Standing in the swing --- Brave
17. Season’s end --- Season’s end
18. Three minute boy --- Radiation
19. When I meet God --- Anoraknophobia
20. The memory of water --- This strange engine
21. Out of this world --- Afraid of sunlight
22. The only unforgivable thing --- Marbles
23. Afraid of sunlight --- Afraid of sunlight
24. Berlin --- Season’s end
25. Built-in bastard radar --- Marillion.com
26. Dry land --- Holidays in Eden
27. Forgotten sons --- Script for a jester’s tear
28. The hollow man --- Brave
29. These chains --- Radiation
30. White Russian --- Clutching at straws
31. Born to run --- Radiation
32. Fugazi --- Fugazi
33. Tumble down the years --- Marillion.com
34. Waiting to happen --- Holidays in Eden
35. Cathedral wall --- Radiation
36. King --- Afraid of sunlight
37. Neverland --- Marbles
38. This strange engine --- This strange engine
39. A few words for the dead --- Radiation
40. House --- Marillion.com
41. Slainte mhath --- Clutching at straws
42. Sugar mice --- Clutching at straws
43. The great escape --- Brave
44. Made again --- Brave

Cheers for the comp. Would have been nice without the fish era stuff. I know that off by heart :D As for Fish solo, I only have ' Field Of Crows' which is a great album although I have'nt heard it for a while.

So you haven't heard Vigil or Internal Exile, much less the wonderful Raingods? Methinks another comp is in order... :D
And just FYI, I included the Fish-era stuff just in case anyone else wanted to get into Marillion. Thinking about it, maybe I should have put all that stuff in one file, so you could have avoided it. Ah well: hindsight is 20/20 vision, unlike my own eyesight... :)

Damn, that's a long list! Now I've got like 8 compilations to go through. I'll give this a listen soon :D

... and a Fish solo one on the way! :D

I've listened to the first compilation and it doesn't seem all that bad at all!(not including the fish-era tracks ofcourse)
I'll give the rest a listen soon before i pass any comment :D

Part 2 of the comp is invalid :(

Jack, is that "Marillion2.rar"? Cos I've redownloaded it myself and run all the files, and they seem to run fine.
Let me know if you have any further problems, or if this is the wrong file?
Cheers
TH

As promised, here’s a playlist of solo Fish material, spanning his last seven albums.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/52zioay5jyk/Fish1.rar

http://www.mediafire.com/file/wn5dizxgjmj/Fish2.rar

http://www.mediafire.com/file/omcor4znmjd/Fish3.rar

Note: For some reason, “Plague of ghosts” was split across the third archive, but not sequentially, which was how it was originally added. This is in six parts, and all make up one piece of music, so should be listened to altogether.

TRACKLISTING
1. The perception of Johnny Punter --- Sunsets on empire
2. Tumbledown --- Raingods with Zippos
3. Vigil – Vigil in a wilderness of mirrors
4. Credo – Internal exile
5. Lady let it lie --- Suits
6. Emperor’s song – Suits
7. Incomplete --- Raingods with Zippos
8. State of mind --- Vigil in a wilderness of mirrors
9. Tiki 4 --- Fellini days
10. Fortunes of war --- Suits
11. Our smile --- Fellini days
12. A gentleman’s excuse-me --- Vigil in a wilderness of mirrors
13. Dancing in fog --- Fellini days
14. Dear friend --- Internal exile
15. Jungle ride --- Sunsets on empire
16. Family business --- Vigil in a wilderness of mirrors
17. Tongues --- Internal exile
18. Internal exile --- Internal exile
19. The pilgrim’s address --- Fellini days
20. View from the hill --- Vigil in a wilderness of mirrors
21. The field --- Field of crows
22. Plague of ghosts (i) Old haunts (ii) Digging deep (iii) Chocolate frogs (iv) Waving at stars (v) Raingods dancing (vi) Wake up call (make it happen) --- Raingods with Zippos
23. Sunsets on empire --- Sunsets on empire
24. Raw meat --- Suits
25. Moving targets --- Field of crows
26. The lost plot --- Field of crows
27. Exit wound --- Field of crows
28. Innocent party --- Field of crows
29. Scattering crows --- Field of crows

I'm track 2 into the Marillion comp and I have to be honest-it's painful. I'm finding it extremely difficult to leave it on. I will persevere but.... (I took out all the Fish era stuff as I have it all so I could judge it on it's own merits).