Well, I guess that Marillion doesn’t really fit into the story I’ve just told you in my introduction. They are a fairly well known band and have quite some fans around the world. But I wanted to start with Marillion because it is where my own “Musiventure” really started. I’ll get to that in a second though, let’s first have a look at who they are, etc.
Who they are
Marillion are a band from England that started out in 1979, so they have been around for quite a while. 16 studio albums have been released to date and numerous compilation and live CD’s as well as DVD’s (and recently a Blu Ray as well). Their best known song is called “Kayleigh” which a lot of people will know. Not their best song in my opinion.
There have been quite a few personnel changes through the years, most notably their singer Fish. He left in 1988 and was replaced by Steve Hogarth. Many fans say that they like their work with Fish better than what they’ve been doing since he left, but I personally like the “new” stuff more than the old stuff.
How I got to know them
My first “Marillion experience” was in 2004. A good friend of mine at the time recommended them to me. So I downloaded an album but couldn’t really find the time to listen to it. Then I left for Australia for 5 months to do an internship and I took that album with me. One evening I didn’t have much to do, so I decided to give it a try.
I was listening to the 2004 album called Marbles and was greeted with the song “The Invisible Man”. I was immediately blown away by the sheer beauty of it. It’s a very dynamic song, starting very dark and intriguing and ending in a very pleasant climax, but there’s a lot in between. It lasts about 14 minutes, but you should really check out this YouTube video and just listen to this beautiful music for a while:
While I was in Australia I listened to that album over and over again. In fact, I didn’t listen to pretty much anything else. When I got back home I really wanted to know more about them. Then it turned out that I had been listening to a North American version of the Marbles album which was missing a couple of songs. One of those is the 17 minute epic song called “Ocean Cloud”:
Why I like their music
Once I got hold of all their other albums I noticed how very different each album is. Marbles had quite a few long songs, which is typical for progressive rock, but some of their albums had a more poppy (is that even a word?) feel to them. Holidays in Eden for example.
But that’s also what makes it so good. There is a lot of variety, both in their albums and in individual songs. It’s like a rollercoaster ride through different sounds and emotions. And emotions there are. If you truly listen to their music there is a lot of emotion in the lyrics. This is also something that Steve Hogarth can bring to the stage. When you go to a Marillion concert, and I’ve been to many, you can not only hear the emotion in these songs, but you can also see it.
One great example of this is a song called “Out Of This World”. It’s about a man called David Campbell who tries to set a speed record on water, but dies trying. A very emotional subject and thus a very emotional song. Listen to this YouTube video to get a sense of what I’m talking about. It also includes footage of the man’s fatal attempt.
Why you should listen to them
Well, I guess just because they are a great band with a great variety of music. A band with a message (their website says “A Better Way Of Life”). And also a band who is really trying to help other young talented bands out there. Every two years they organize a Marillion weekend where they not only play three nights in a row themselves, but they give other bands access to their fans by letting them play before them. This is how I got to know A Genuine Freakshow (which I’ll blog about later, I promise) for instance.
And as I said before, they really opened my eyes to a whole new area of music I wasn’t even aware of. And I hope it will do the same to my readers. Don’t forget to check out their website:
For now, I’ll leave you with another couple of songs. If you can’t wait to hear more from them, they have a free sampler CD you can download or receive in the mailbox for free at www.marillion.com/listen. It has some of their best songs on it.
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