Marillion at Progfreak.com

An incredible album which managed to combine the art of the concept album with the commercial success of pop/prog.

always played vol 1 & 2. Left feeling calmed, quietly serene. top of the 2008 releases.

Always played vol 1 & 2. Left feeling calmed, quietly serene. Top of the 2008 prog releases
See my review, if you can find it, i can't for vol1

A wonderful compilation album consisting of 2 CDs of 29 songs. 14 with Fish on vocals and 15 with Steve Hogarth on vocals. A perfect introduction to Marillion.

I have just recently been introduced to Marillion and have been pleasantly surprised with what I have heard so far. Unlike most people who start with the earlier Fish albums, my initial taste of this British group was with the albums Marbles, Brave and Afraid of Sunlight (which happen to be the only three albums I have listened to at the date of this review). I must say, I do like the sound these guys make.

Brave is a concept album, but I'm going to spend very little time (if any) in this review discussing the concept since I much prefer focusing on the music itself. While the story in the music may be worthy of some additional appreciation, it's always the music that makes or breaks an album. Brave is chock-full of very good music.

"Bridge"

The opening track is hauntingly beautiful and atmospheric as the setting is appropriately set for the story that is to be told over the ... -> show full review

It was released in Germany today and I already listened to it ... I like it very much. I'm not a big fan of Marillion and I only know a few of their albums (Script, Seasons End + some other tracks), but I like what they did on Somewhere Else. It's not too progressive (6/10, when Prog-Related would be 4/10 and the recently released Blind Ego - Mirror somewhere slightly above 5/10), but the occasional elaborate bass playing, clever use of effects and texturing + cool mood-swings together with the good songwriting really convinced me.

I never had much love for the sound of the 80s ... I'm trying not to be biased, but it is hard. It's a very solid album, but even with the production, overly emotional vocals and clichee rock guitar aside I can't see what's so damn special about it.