What is it with this board and Marillion? (1 Viewer)

[TheoGB]

I'm sorry but I've never seen so many Marillion fans in one place. And anything I've heard by the band has been bloody awful.
Here in the UK admitting to liking Marillion is akin to saying 'Hi guys, I've got syphallis. Would anyone like a f**k?' So are they 'cool' over there, or what?
I only know one guy who likes them and he's a Goth and has really weird music tastes. No one else I've met can stand them.
It just seems unbelievable to me.

 

[BrianB]

So are they 'cool' over there, or what?

They're most definitely NOT cool over here in the US from what I've seen... I think it's more, ahem, an indicator of posters' ages & general musical tastes than a cultural phenomenon.

 

[Peter Mazur]

You know I just don't get this type of post. If you don't like them fine but why rain on our parade? I have been a fan of theirs since around 1988. I think they are an awesome band who write very good emotional songs. Everytime I have seen them live the place is always packed. They have a big cult following here.

I am curious how old you are. The reason I am asking is most people I know who are fans of theirs are older.

 

[Grant B]

Theo
Thank You
I was wondering about that one myself
At first I thought it was kind of like yelling "o Freebird" at show when you're board but then I realized it was serious.
I honestly have no idea what they even sound like...
For you Marillion fans, I don't mean anything bad...it's just I haven't heard even the name mentioned in about 10 years ...and all of sudden it's like walking in on the Marillion fan club (except no body told you)
....anyways I will slip out quietly ....

 

[Frank_W]

By the way Brian, would you like 'ahem' to state your

age and musical tastes?

FYI - I only have a passing knowledge of Marillion

music.

Remember - like what you like - don't let anyone,

or anything, dictate what your interests are.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Just to put a bit of balance on this - not everyone in the UK hates Marillion, at least not the Fish-era stuff, which is now getting a grudging respect from critics. Personally, I think some of their early work is excellent. And I can assure you they were brilliant in concert.

It's fair to say, however, that Marillion are a minority taste. Why bleat about this? If a small cohort of guys here raved about how brilliant Appalachian zither music was, they wouldn't attract an attack. Why not just let the good people have their fun? There are plenty of other threads you can participate in.

 

[TheoGB]

Jeez, sorry. I didn't mean it come across as such an evil post. I was just really surprised about how many threads over the board were coming up with Marillion fans.
I'm not sure age has much to do with it either, as older generations I know don't like them. Often with older guys it's more that they are a 2nd rate Genesis, etc.
I wasn't trying to say 'don't like Marillion' but there are quite a number of UK bands that are pretty much dead over here but incredibly popular elsewhere in the world and I wondered if this was the case. Apparently not.
Don't worry about it. My belief the Radiohead are the greatest band ever to have graced the planet has often got me my fare share of flames!

 

[Brian Perry]

I was a big Marillion fan until Fish left the band. Misplaced Childhood is one of my top 50 albums.

 

[TheoGB]

I think also that Marillion was the only band coming up again and again in peoples' lists of great bands/gigs/whatever that wasn't what I would expect to appear.
Once again, apologies to you Marillion lovers. I'm certainly not about to stick you on my ignore list or anything!

 

[Ryan Spaight]

Marillion was never anywhere near as popular in the States as in Britain. They briefly surfaced in the lower part of the charts with Kayleigh and Misplaced in '85/'86 but Clutching at Straws in '87 was largely ignored and they dropped off the radar almost entirely when Fish left.
They never headlined venues larger than clubs here, though they did support Rush on the Power Windows tour. They haven't toured here since '97.
And yes, admitting you like Marillion is akin to admitting a fondness for going to the dentist in terms of bafflement from the general public. (Of course, very few in the States are even aware fo them, so sometimes it sounds like you're a fan of a cool and exotic band, instead of in Britian where it sounds like you're a sad old washed-up proghead.)
But, heck, I've been a fan since '85, I've seen them four times and Fish twice, and I'm not ashamed at all. Go to www.marillion.com and discover a better way of life.
I suspect tech-obsessed males in their late twenties and early thirties are more likely to be Marillion fans than the general population, so they pop up here from time to time.
Ryan
PS - Oh, and Radiohead have admitted to liking Marillion, at least the Brave album from '94.

 

[Mike Broadman]

I think it's funny that a Radiohead fan started a thread about not liking Marillion.

FYI- they are still around now, and sound nothing like they did when people called them a "second rate Genesis."

Their music today sounds like Radiohead if they went back to writing songs instead of minimalist "sound experiments." Sort of like OK Computer, except Marillion doesn't have to rely on computers and techno gizmos to construct interesting music.

Sure, their older stuff sounds a bit dated. But they have moved with the times, and sound very modern and fresh.

Give a listen to Marillion.com and Anoraknophobia to see what I mean.

Btw, I'm only 23 and I love Marillion's entire catalog. So there.

 

[TheoGB]

As I am about to live with my Marillion-obsessed Goth mate I will have to hear more than I can bear of the band. I've heard their third-rate cover of Fake Plastic Trees (itself a third-rate Radiohead song) and wasn't impressed. They took out the only good bit. Hmm.
Kid A was boring as hell for me. Some good points but generally not enough ideas. There's nothing more dubious than telling somebody it sounds like - I've done it many times and then you discover that where you pick up on a beat they pick up on a vocal thing or something and it makes no sense.
Travis' 'The Man Who' sounds like OKC in many ways - it's just totally boring and lifeless, so there isn't a real comparison.
Radiohead like lots of bands I can't stand but it's not really the point, though. Yeah, maybe I'll like Marillion but I'm into more of a Trail of Dead/Fugazi/Solex scene at the moment so I don't really think so. For me the greatest song ever written is Radiohead's Just - they are best when they rock and Jonny goes all squealy and noisy, for me.

 

[Ben Motley]

Funny... this is the first I've noticed anything said about Marillion on these boards - not to say there hasn't been anything, just that I haven't seen it. Anyway, growing up, and now even, I never saw or heard of any fan base for Marillion here, but back in 85 or so, I remember ordering this 2 album set of the Reading Rock Festival, or some-such, and it had Marillion on it. It was really weird, because the album made Marillion out to be these gods, and I'd never heard anything about 'em. Furthermore, I didn't "get" the track they had on the record. Too light for me at the time I guess. I was like "what the hell are they doing on a rock album?". As Andrew said, they seemed to have a reputation for their live show, and this also was stressed in the liner notes to that long since lost album. Sometimes, a bands manager or studio producers take them in directions unnatural for them, and their best, uncompromised work is done onstage. I believe this is true of KISS, Killing Joke, and KMFDM, just to name a few. It looks like this may be the case with Marillion? Just a guess.
Me? I always liked the first British invasion bands more, the punk bands and the heavy metal movement (come on, don't try to convince me Marillion was part of that ). Some of my favorites...
The Beatles (R.I.P. George)
The Who
The Stones
The Kinks
The Sex Pistols
The Clash
Motorhead
Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden

 

[Ben Motley]

By the way, does anybody else remember that record set from around '85? It was just called "The Reading Rock Festival, '80-something" I think. I think the cover had a pic of the massive crowd from a distance. Eh, probably not. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on it again though, so if anybody has any info, I'd appreciate it. I'm 99.9% sure it was a British pressing, as I got it from an import specialist company.

 

[Ryan Spaight]

Radiohead like lots of bands I can't stand but it's not really the point, though.

Yeah, I meant that mainly as a joke, hence the smiley. A lot of the stuff Marillion likes leaves me cold, so there you go.
OKC, though, is a great album, one I got into largely because of raves from other Marillion fans. Kid A sounded to me sort of like a "Metal Machine Music" move -- let's put out something completely bizarre to throw off the mass adulation. Getting into The Bends has been a long-time item on my musical to-do list that I just haven't made it to yet.
Ryan

 

[Mike Broadman]

Don't get me wrong, Theo, I like some of Radiohead's stuff. Particularly The Bends and OK Computer. I appreciate their style of songwriting and the textures they used. However, I don't think they're the second coming, and Kid A tells me they ran out of ideas for songs so ended up pushing a few buttons instead. If they wouldn't be so huge before Kid A came out, it would not be a popular album.

I only brought them up in order to try to explain Marillion's current sound. Marillion in the past couple of years have been highly influenced by Radiohead and other current English music, including electronic stuff. Their album Radiation from a few years ago shows them delving into it, with mixed results (though it's still a good album). They improved upon it with Marillion.com and perfected it in Anoraknophobia, which hides their newer influences and creates engaging, wonderful songs.

I just think it's a shame that so many people on these boards go on and on about the craft of songwriting and such, without hearing Anoraknophobia. Even though I'm a prog rock lover, their newer material has nothing to do with prog, which, for them, is a good thing.

Yes, most people remember the Fish days. But that was 20 years ago. Let's put this in perspective: Fish was the singer for Marillion for about 6 or 7 years. Steve Hogarth has been the singer for 13 years. With Fish, they released 4 studio records. With Hogarth, 8. So which "period" is more indicative of their work?

I'm sure most of you here can think of a band they like, but that most people have the wrong impression of. Marillion is such a case.

 

[Peter Mazur]

Very well said Mike. I agree completely with everything you wrote, especially what you said regarding Hogarth. He is an outstanding performer, writer and singer. As much as I love the lyrics Fish wrote, I still prefer Hogarth overall.

Since you are a fan of Marillion you should try the following bands (if you haven't already). Pendragon, Arena and especially IQ. They are all just awesome.

 

[BrianB]

By the way Brian, would you like 'ahem' to state your age and musical tastes?

28, musical taste tends to be indie/new wave/electronica/female vocalists/bob dylan.
A glance of the mp3s in my playlist right now would bring up: Carter USM, Fiona Apple, JJ72, some Bob Dylan boots, Faithless, The Smiths, an early 90s indie dance compilation from the UK, Jocelyn Montgomery, Erasure, Sidi Bou Said, Front 242, Echobelly, Pavement, New Order, BB King, and the Reindeer Section.
And there's even some Radiohead in it too
My original post sounded offensive, and I didn't mean it to sound like that. Broad sweeping generalisations are never a Good Thing.

 

[Frank_W]

Ah - no offense taken at all
Geez - whatever happened to Front242. I'm not a big fan
of this type of music but there was something about
them that I found a groove with.

 

[TheoGB]

While I am not a fan of Kid A, it's important to remember a few things:
(a) Amnesiac is basically a 'normal' Radiohead album, recorded at the same time as Kid A. It doesn't flow as well but the songs are very much in the same mould as OKC. I have burned a CD of my favourite bits, meshed together via a wave editor.
(b) Radiohead were so talked about you could say anything bad about an album they came out with. Had it been Amnesiac people would simply have said that it was the same old stuff as last time but not as good. I don't personally think it would be possible to top OKC.
(c) The band just got very depressed and bored with everything they were producing. Kid A is not a result of button pressing, nor of an attempt to 'shock'. It comes from their influences at the time. I find it lacks the ideas of their other stuff, but I like the fact that they could follow such a fantastic album as OKC, with something challenging, and not go down your typical aged-band guitar-wank boredom stuff.