marillion thoughts

Hello, and Welcome to Marillion Thoughts

2007-12-31T23:51:00.000-05:00

The purpose of this blog is to share thoughts and opinions on Marillion: past, present, and future. I hope you find some of it interesting, and I encourage feedback and discussion. I realize that I could post any and all of this to the official Marillion Forum, but some of my postings will probably be better left to a more 'private' discussion area. The flame wars that tend to erupt on the official forum are not my intent. In many cases, my posts here will be merely a personal opinion and are probably of no interest to the larger, more public forum.

Here, free speech (a rarity these days) is the order of the day. Since this forum is in no way officially connected to or sanctioned by the band, anything goes (unless it is highly offensive to me). Think a particular Marillion album or song is not up to par? Voice it here without the usual backlash. Civilized discussion is the goal.

Personal attacks are about the only thing that will not be tolerated. There's enough of that on the official forum.

Thanks for visiting. Please feel free to post your Marillion Thoughts!! I look forward to reading them.

Bill

Marillion catalog screams for 5.1 remix

2007-05-21T20:43:00.000-04:00

After listening to a few of the new Genesis 5.1 remixes, I can't help but think how Marillion's catalog would benefit from a similar treatment. Not sure what the cost to undertake such a project would be, and I'm not sure if EMI still owns the rights to the older albums, but it would certainly breathe new life into some of the older releases. If it were not cost-prohibitive, it would probably wind up being a cash cow for the band. I'm surprised that at least some of the titles haven't been released in a 5.1 DVD version. Immediately coming to mind are 'brave', 'Misplaced', 'CaS', 'AoS', and 'Marbles'.

Porcupine Tree's 'In Absentia' and 'Deadwing' are spectacular in 5.1, and I'm sure they are working with a fairly strict budget.

'brave' in Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS surround "loud and with the lights off". Now that would be amazing.

h vs. Fish - The worthless debate

2007-05-20T11:54:00.000-04:00

Over the years there has been the on and off again debate over whether Marillion was better with Fish or h. I think it all comes down to personal preference, but in my opinion, some of the older Fish-era albums, great as they are, have begun to show their age. Hogarth, on the other hand, has allowed Marillon to mature and bring their sound into the present day.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not a big fan of Fish's post-Marillion work as a whole. Sure, there are a few gems, but far too few for me to stay interested. When Fish left the band, many wrote Marillion off as dead. Fish felt as though he could carry on without the others and achieve even greater success. After all, he was Marillion. Well now we all know how the 'cunning plan' has worked out. By surrounding himself with average (exception: Mickey Simmonds and Frank Usher) musicians, Fish has shown himself to be what he truly is: a great lyricist with a strong need for a great supporting musical cast. He had that in Marillion. He's never had it solo.

Marillion, on the other hand, decided to carry on with an unknown singer. A sure sign of suicide. I think most would agree that their 'cunning plan' has fared much better. In Hogarth, they got a multi-talented musical force, an exceptional vocalist, and an energetic, passionate live frontman. Injecting new life into the band, Marillion have gone on to release classics such as "brave", "AoS", and "Marbles".

Fans periodically scream for a Fish/Marillion reunion. For what? To hear Fish attempt to sing the old songs? Anyone watch or listen to "Return To Childhood"? To my ears it's a sad and downright painful experience. Time has not been kind to Fish's vocal abilities. 30+ years of excess will probably do that to you. Reduced budgets have also taken their toll on the caliber of musician Fish has been able to attract. It shows.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, h has taken the band to new heights in terms of creative output that most Marillion fans would have never thought possible. Sure, you might have not liked all of it, but you can't accuse them of resting on their laurels and not trying something new. Hogarth has given them the flexibility to experiment.

Marillion have become a successful self-run entity that has to bow to no one (except us from time to time). They are the model for how to survive in the current music industry on your own terms. Fish , on the other hand, has struggled to stay afloat (pun intended).

So, in my opinion the ongoing debate is pointless. Fish left (thank God), Marillion continued, and both are where they are. For those who are pushing for a reunion, it's pointless. It will never happen (save for the recent Aylesbury one-off) nor should it. Musically, it would be crap. It would also be a huge slap-in-the-face to h. Marillion are not interested for good reason. They know they've got a good thing going. Why mess with it?