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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Uncompromising, beautiful and truly progressive, March 22, 2006
In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm a lifer when it comes to Marillion. I discovered them with Misplaced Childhood, and have been a fan ever since. I own some of Fish's solo albums and all of the Steve Hogarth-era Marillion albums and even a couple of non-Marillion Steve Hogarth albums. I've proudly pre-ordered Marillion's last two studio albums (Marbles and Anoraknophobia) and I own a few of their DVD's. Bottom line is: They change, they grow and somehow they keep making beatiful, honest and powerful music and I keep enjoying it. I don't love every album or embrace every song they put out, but I still count myself as one of their fans.
Marillion isn't a "progressive rock band" in the 1970's sense because unlike most "progressive" bands that (paradoxically) don't progress, Marillion actually has. They make pop songs, they make rock songs and they make long, epic songs that can take the listener on powerful emotional journeys. Every album is different, while still capturing some degree of that classic "Marillion sound". That "sound" is all over Marbles, but this album isn't a retrogressive "progressive" rock album.
Marbles is progressive rock in the sense that the band has evolved over the years, and the music itself, a kind of rock, progresses from moment to moment, often defying traditional song structures in favor of a more cinematic approach to composition. There are a few pop songs on this album, and they're quite good. But most Marillion fans aren't interested in the radio singles, they're interested in the big, epic songs and there are more than a few on Marbles.
But you don't need to be a music major to enjoy this music. All you really need is an open mind and a heart. There are no keyboard solos that make you think progressive rock should be an Olympic sport and there are few jarring turns or pretentious, self indulgient passages. In fact, part of what makes Marbles an amazing album is that while there is masterful musicianship going on, the music is so easy on the ears that what you notice is how lovely the songs are, not how skilled the musicians are.
If you're a Marillion fan who lost the thread at some point, Marbles has many classic Marillion sounding moments. It's as strong musically and emotionally as Brave, but the songs stand up better by themselves. Marbles combines the best elements of Misplaced Childhood, Afraid of Sunlight, Brave and Anoraknophobia into an album with no weak moments. I would say "Marillion is back", but really, they never left.
If you're a Fish devotee, give Marbles a try. Steve Hogarth is an honest and powerful singer and a strong lyricist. What he might lack (in comparison to Fish) in vocabulary or clever turns of phrase, he makes up for with a stronger melodic sense, and lyrics that are both specific enough to be true, but non-specific enough to allow room for other people to find themselves in them. Besides, the Fish vs. H argument is kind of done, isn't it?
If you're not a Marillion fan, but you enjoy Crowded House/Finn Brothers/Neil Finn or Tim Finn, you'll find something to love on Marbles. If you enjoy Coldplay, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd or even Radiohead, you'll likely find something to enjoy here too. In fact, if you like great music made by a real band with real musicians, go get yourself some Marbles. You won't be sorry.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marillion back to being Marillion, December 5, 2005
Marillion's been around for a long time. And they release everything, and their dog. In addition, they can be attributed to two of the greatest progressive rock album of all time - Brave, and Misplaced Childhood. They asked their fans to pre-order their upcoming album, months before the CD was titled or even recorded. And guess what? Their hardcore fanbase bought the album, and funded Marillion to record one of the greatest albums in progressive rock history.
In case you lack skills in following paths made in text, I was referring to Marbles.
I'll start off and inform you that this review will be based on the double-album of Marbles - which you can purchase only from Marillion's website. Nothing wrong with this single-album version of it, but the 2CD simply has more.
The tracklist of the double album is as follows.
Disc 1
1. The Invisible Man
2. Marbles I
3. Genie
4. Fantastic Place
5. The Only Unforgivable Thing
6. Marbles II
7. Ocean Cloud
Disc 2
1. Marbles III
2. The Damage
3. Don't Hurt Yourself
4. You're Gone
5. Angelina
6. Drilling Holes
7. Marbles IV
8. Neverland
So, that said, it has many amazing tracks, and one of the best is not contained in the single disc version.
Marillion is a very unique band. Their style of music is a near-laid back rock - similar to Pink Floyd's album 'Dark Side of the Moon'. The instrumentalization is unquestionably amazing. The only drawback may be the vocals. Steve Hogarth, to me, is a very efficient vocalist and he suits the music well. To some, he's nearly intolerable.
This album has a ton of songs, and three epics. The Invisible Man, Ocean Cloud, and Neverland. The second - Ocean Cloud - is not on the single disc version of the album, and it's one of the greatest songs Marillion has ever recorded. Its nearly 18 minutes long, so you can't go wrong.
I'm not going to get into the songs. It wouldn't be fair if I tried to explain them. Just think of this as very well written radio rock songs. If it wasn't for the near-controversial message of some songs, the over-average length of time of some songs, and the talent of all the songs, you could see these guys played beside U2. Since, after all, a lot of their songs sound like a better U2.
Let me put it this way. This album is good enough that I'm going to just stop this review right here because my fumbling around words is insulting to the music.
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19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best of 2004 and best Marillion album since 'Brave', November 7, 2004
I've been quite critical of Marillion's work since their concept album 'Brave' back in the early 90s. Though 'Anoraknophobia' improved things, it still wasn't at the same level of creativity as they accomplished with that classic album that was meant to be played "loud and with the lights off."
Finally, in 2004 Marillion takes back on their "brave" sound and brings it to the next level, with their 'Marbles' album. This is a production where there are some extraordinary songs that have a 100% Marillion sound, with accents reminding of Pink Floyd and Genesis carefully sprinkled all through most of the longer tracks, which makes it is extremely difficult to pick favorite tracks. Perhaps the promotional "You're Gone" I could live without, but even that one is far from bad.
All in all, my favorite tracks are:
-The Invisible Man: strong "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" influences to be felt in the beginning, due to its obscure nature, for the most part.
-Angelina: a more contemporary sound to it, but also bringing to mind works such as "Wish you were here".
-Neverland: Strong, up front Marillion, starting with H and a piano and bringing band members in as it grows, displaying some of the craftiest production details in the album.
-The four "Marbles": much more like the Marillion we learned to love in 'Brave'.
The album comes not just as a great musical production, but also an attempt to break traditional music marketing and distribution schemes, something that they attempted their previous album, but didn't quite succeed at due to the shortcomings of their distribution deal. What you will listen to in 'Marbles' is an album whose production AND distribution was taken off the gound by thousands of fans that pre-ordered it even before it was recorded (something I was proud to be a part of).
Once you listen to it, I think you will agree that breaking the ties from a recording contract can yield things that are extremely worth paying a little more for. And if you feel you can't get enough Marillion with this CD, there's more for you to dig into: go to Marillion.com and get the double CD, which includes much more, but in particular one of the best Marillion songs I've ever heard, called "Ocean Cloud". They definitely delivered on their promise to save some great stuff for the double-album edition that they made available, but they were also able to bring together some great material for this version of 'Marbles'.
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