Marillion

[ytserush]

I order the 13th Star remix/remaster too and it's en route.  Pretty excited. 

I don't know if this is the place or not, but anyone have a Songs From The Mirror Remaster they'd be willing to part with for a reasonable price?

The 13th Star Reissue is awesome. A lot of it has already been previously released but the remixes, new doc and the demos are awesome!

Which version? I'd probably keep the original and most recent Deluxe but I might part with the first remaster. Just need to check if there's something on there that's not on anything else. I don't THINK there is.

No, looking for the recent remaster, the three CD deluxe version.  I'm actually looking for both Suits and Songs From The Mirror deluxe versions.  Fish complains about them being resold on eBay, but he's out of stock (and I get it, it costs money to float those and I can't imagine he's still selling 10's of thousands of them).

I would doubt that he ordered 10 thousand of anything. His argument has been that he doesn't want stock sitting around. He's admitted he's been very conservative about the numbers he orders. I can't remember which album, but he recently mentioned he had to buy it on ebay because he didn't have a copy for himself!

[Stadler]

Marillion... I recently came by a copy of the Brave Deluxe set... I was listening to the live version of Brave from Paris... who does the backing vocals on "Alone Again In The Lap Of Luxury" live?  That doesn't sound at all like Pete.  The credit say something vague like "Backing Vocals: probably some combination of Pete, H and Mark" but that doesn't answer the question.   Does Mark trigger something?   I have been listening to this band since 1984, and I've never heard a male backing vocal like that. 

[HOF]

Marillion... I recently came by a copy of the Brave Deluxe set... I was listening to the live version of Brave from Paris... who does the backing vocals on "Alone Again In The Lap Of Luxury" live?  That doesn't sound at all like Pete.  The credit say something vague like "Backing Vocals: probably some combination of Pete, H and Mark" but that doesn't answer the question.   Does Mark trigger something?   I have been listening to this band since 1984, and I've never heard a male backing vocal like that.

I think Mark probably sang that back then.

There’s no close up, but around the 2:11 mark here the spotlight hits on Mark during that BV in the chorus (this is from ‘94):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ULGE1K1GCAQ&pp=ygUvbWFyaWxsaW9uIGFsb25lIGFnYWluIGluIHRoZSBsYXAgb2YgbHV4dXJ5IGxpdmU%3D

Actually this one’s better. Can very clearly see Mark is singing it:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5lqN3kGzwTI&pp=ygUvbWFyaWxsaW9uIGFsb25lIGFnYWluIGluIHRoZSBsYXAgb2YgbHV4dXJ5IGxpdmU%3D

[Stadler]

He sounds really good!!  I love Pete, but he's not a singer, and so many of the backing vocals with Marillion have been a sort of weak spot... they should have been using Mark all along!

[HOF]

He sounds really good!!  I love Pete, but he's not a singer, and so many of the backing vocals with Marillion have been a sort of weak spot... they should have been using Mark all along!

I’m not sure why Mark doesn’t sing more BV. I think he’s maybe mentioned in the past he just doesn’t like to, but it may just be that it’s easier these days to trigger some samples or something. He does have a much better voice than Pete for sure. Might just be he has so much to run from his rig that he doesn’t want to have to sing as well.

[ProfessorPeart]

The band pressed another 1000 copies of each of the Deluxe Editions of Misplaced Childhood and Clutching. Only available at their store. I dropped the ball on both so I grabbed both from them today. Cost more than I would have liked but both are going for stupid prices on Discogs.

[ddonofrio3]

Mastermind opened the Fish show at Tuxedo Junction.

[Stadler]

Mastermind opened the Fish show at Tuxedo Junction.

Nice little blast from the past.  I added that to my Setlist.fm entry. 

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I finally got a chance to sit down and really listen to the remix of Season's End. I'm not a fan of some of the structural changes that were made, but the sound overall is really good.

[nick_z]

I finally got a chance to sit down and really listen to the remix of Season's End. I'm not a fan of some of the structural changes that were made, but the sound overall is really good.

Loved the deluxe edition.

Agreed on it sounding really good...what are the changes you noticed? I mean, I had zero issues with the way the original sounded, but I haven't dug super-deep yet to compare old vs. new...

[Stadler]

I finally got a chance to sit down and really listen to the remix of Season's End. I'm not a fan of some of the structural changes that were made, but the sound overall is really good.

Talk to me...  this wasn't one of the more obvious examples of change (now CLUTCHING...  I know that album back to front and inside out, and some of the remix changes were FOR ME jarring.)

[HOF]

Can’t remember if I talked about this here or at the Marillion forum, LOL (I think it was there).

I only ever had the remastered version of Season’s End, which always sounded fine to me. The new-remix felt a bit too bass heavy and I think they toned down or eliminated some of the reverb on the drums (similar to what they did on CAS), and that kind of bothered me (especially on Easter). Really haven’t gone back to it much since I got it and gave it a few listens.

Then I recently also picked up a copy of the original mix and master on Discogs, and it is by far the best sounding of the three versions to me.

I do enjoy these remixes because I like hearing different takes on mixes, and some work better than others. I thought HIE was outstanding, and I liked what they did with Clutching. Afraid of Sunlight sounded good and had some interesting new details even if I prefer the original mix. Seasons End and Brave I feel like they really didn’t improve on anything and if anything made them slightly worse than the originals. Sometimes there’s just nowhere to go but down.

I still need to pick up Script and Fugazi at some point. I suspect those two will be more significant upgrades than some of the others (I’m just not particularly enthusiastic about those two albums).

[Stadler]

Can’t remember if I talked about this here or at the Marillion forum, LOL (I think it was there).

I only ever had the remastered version of Season’s End, which always sounded fine to me. The new-remix felt a bit too bass heavy and I think they toned down or eliminated some of the reverb on the drums (similar to what they did on CAS), and that kind of bothered me (especially on Easter). Really haven’t gone back to it much since I got it and gave it a few listens.

Then I recently also picked up a copy of the original mix and master on Discogs, and it is by far the best sounding of the three versions to me.

I do enjoy these remixes because I like hearing different takes on mixes, and some work better than others. I thought HIE was outstanding, and I liked what they did with Clutching. Afraid of Sunlight sounded good and had some interesting new details even if I prefer the original mix. Seasons End and Brave I feel like they really didn’t improve on anything and if anything made them slightly worse than the originals. Sometimes there’s just nowhere to go but down.

I still need to pick up Script and Fugazi at some point. I suspect those two will be more significant upgrades than some of the others (I’m just not particularly enthusiastic about those two albums).

I noticed a LOT of improvement with Fugazi.   I can't spend your money for you, but if you were going to buy one, that's the one.

Brave; so, let's start with the fact that I'm not the hugest Steven Wilson fan.  I think he's overrated, even regarding the remixes/remasters.  I liked what he did with the Yes remixes/remasters (and I wish he could have gotten his paws on Going For The One) but it wasn't ground breaking.  He's also done a good job with the Tull material, but that already sounded stellar in its own right, so...

I think Brave just didn't need to be done if the point was not to bring out alternate performances and what not.  I listened to it once, and will likely stick with the original (and I'm kind of pissed off, sort of, because I paid more than I should have on the secondary market, because EMI has this thing about limited runs which only screws the fans). 

[HOF]

The thing about Fugazi is that I really like Assassing and Jigsaw, and Punch and Judy is ok, but buying that again feels like buying two songs I really care about. It’s not super expensive on Amazon as a standalone disc though, so maybe I should take the plunge.

[nick_z]

I do enjoy these remixes because I like hearing different takes on mixes, and some work better than others. I thought HIE was outstanding, and I liked what they did with Clutching. Afraid of Sunlight sounded good and had some interesting new details even if I prefer the original mix. Seasons End and Brave I feel like they really didn’t improve on anything and if anything made them slightly worse than the originals. Sometimes there’s just nowhere to go but down.

I still need to pick up Script and Fugazi at some point. I suspect those two will be more significant upgrades than some of the others (I’m just not particularly enthusiastic about those two albums).

I got the deluxe version of HIE as a gift and I'll probably delve into it this coming weekend. Excited about it.

I'm tempted by Script...looks like the bonus stuff is tasty...

[ytserush]

He sounds really good!!  I love Pete, but he's not a singer, and so many of the backing vocals with Marillion have been a sort of weak spot... they should have been using Mark all along!

Pete's better than Steve Howe (Yeah, that's a subterranean bar...).

[ytserush]

Mastermind opened the Fish show at Tuxedo Junction.

Bill Berends' Mastermind?

[ytserush]

I finally got a chance to sit down and really listen to the remix of Season's End. I'm not a fan of some of the structural changes that were made, but the sound overall is really good.

I liked the remix of Holidays more but this wasn't too bad. I'm usually never 100 percent happy with these kinds of things so I've learned to keep the previous editions around.

[ytserush]

I finally got a chance to sit down and really listen to the remix of Season's End. I'm not a fan of some of the structural changes that were made, but the sound overall is really good.

Talk to me...  this wasn't one of the more obvious examples of change (now CLUTCHING...  I know that album back to front and inside out, and some of the remix changes were FOR ME jarring.)

I'd say most but all of the Deluxes have issues like that for me. Some more than orhers, but Clutching is a tough one to take. That's one I don't go back to a lot because I'm married to the original like I am with Vapor Trails. The more miles you have with an album the tougher it is.  I know there have been some successes, but I'm blanking on those at the moment. Maybe Genesis?

[ytserush]

Can’t remember if I talked about this here or at the Marillion forum, LOL (I think it was there).

I only ever had the remastered version of Season’s End, which always sounded fine to me. The new-remix felt a bit too bass heavy and I think they toned down or eliminated some of the reverb on the drums (similar to what they did on CAS), and that kind of bothered me (especially on Easter). Really haven’t gone back to it much since I got it and gave it a few listens.

Then I recently also picked up a copy of the original mix and master on Discogs, and it is by far the best sounding of the three versions to me.

I do enjoy these remixes because I like hearing different takes on mixes, and some work better than others. I thought HIE was outstanding, and I liked what they did with Clutching. Afraid of Sunlight sounded good and had some interesting new details even if I prefer the original mix. Seasons End and Brave I feel like they really didn’t improve on anything and if anything made them slightly worse than the originals. Sometimes there’s just nowhere to go but down.

I still need to pick up Script and Fugazi at some point. I suspect those two will be more significant upgrades than some of the others (I’m just not particularly enthusiastic about those two albums).

In my case I bought these for the art, liners, docs and bonus tracks. I kind of knew going in I wasn't going to be blown away with the fidelity. Can't speak to Brave though. Only one I haven't bothered with.

[ytserush]

Can’t remember if I talked about this here or at the Marillion forum, LOL (I think it was there).

I only ever had the remastered version of Season’s End, which always sounded fine to me. The new-remix felt a bit too bass heavy and I think they toned down or eliminated some of the reverb on the drums (similar to what they did on CAS), and that kind of bothered me (especially on Easter). Really haven’t gone back to it much since I got it and gave it a few listens.

Then I recently also picked up a copy of the original mix and master on Discogs, and it is by far the best sounding of the three versions to me.

I do enjoy these remixes because I like hearing different takes on mixes, and some work better than others. I thought HIE was outstanding, and I liked what they did with Clutching. Afraid of Sunlight sounded good and had some interesting new details even if I prefer the original mix. Seasons End and Brave I feel like they really didn’t improve on anything and if anything made them slightly worse than the originals. Sometimes there’s just nowhere to go but down.

I still need to pick up Script and Fugazi at some point. I suspect those two will be more significant upgrades than some of the others (I’m just not particularly enthusiastic about those two albums).

I noticed a LOT of improvement with Fugazi.   I can't spend your money for you, but if you were going to buy one, that's the one.

Brave; so, let's start with the fact that I'm not the hugest Steven Wilson fan.  I think he's overrated, even regarding the remixes/remasters.  I liked what he did with the Yes remixes/remasters (and I wish he could have gotten his paws on Going For The One) but it wasn't ground breaking.  He's also done a good job with the Tull material, but that already sounded stellar in its own right, so...

I think Brave just didn't need to be done if the point was not to bring out alternate performances and what not.  I listened to it once, and will likely stick with the original (and I'm kind of pissed off, sort of, because I paid more than I should have on the secondary market, because EMI has this thing about limited runs which only screws the fans).

Yeah, Fugazi is one of the better ones. they fattened that up a little but I don't like how Fugazi (the song) ends like that.

EMI got swallowed by Warners.

That's the industry now. Limited runs, "add value," charge more for it. Fleece the diehards and invite speculators to the after market.

[ytserush]

The thing about Fugazi is that I really like Assassing and Jigsaw, and Punch and Judy is ok, but buying that again feels like buying two songs I really care about. It’s not super expensive on Amazon as a standalone disc though, so maybe I should take the plunge.

If it were me and I only like two songs? Skip the deluxe and get an original for $10.

Or buy Thieving Magpie. It's got those two plus it's kind of Fish/Marillion Live greatest hits set.

[Stadler]

He sounds really good!!  I love Pete, but he's not a singer, and so many of the backing vocals with Marillion have been a sort of weak spot... they should have been using Mark all along!

Pete's better than Steve Howe (Yeah, that's a subterranean bar...).

Haha, that is a low bar. 

[ytserush]

He sounds really good!!  I love Pete, but he's not a singer, and so many of the backing vocals with Marillion have been a sort of weak spot... they should have been using Mark all along!

Pete's better than Steve Howe (Yeah, that's a subterranean bar...).

Haha, that is a low bar. 

I do think he's improved vocally over the years and I really dig his vocals in Transatlantic.
Have to admit I cringed those two times I witnessed him sing The Great Escape on the first Transatlantic Tour.  Still get the flashbacks sometimes. Might it have been different if I actually liked the song? Don't know.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

just popping into say that while marillion isn't one of my favorite bands, clutching at straws and brave are two of my favorite records. both are masterpieces from each era!

[ronnibran]

Been on a Marillion kick lately. I posted in this thread not too long ago that I was in the middle of "discovering" Marillion.  I still probably have only really dug into maybe a third of their discography.  Since I first posted about it, I discovered Fugazi which is such an amazing album.  And in the last couple of days, I think the Clutching at Straws album finally clicked (the album as a whole).  Holy crap, Sugar Mice is such an amazing song.  Kind of pisses me off that I've been so depressed the last couple of days since I've been listening to that song so much haha.  But it's worth it.

That said, I'm not only getting into the Fish era stuff, I love the Hogarth stuff too.  I know a lot of people here were recommending Brave, and I listened to that one over and over to the point where I think that album clicked.  As a whole that album is top tier Marillion for me.  I also have been listening a lot to Holidays in Eden, even bought that on vinyl on a whim, and really like that whole album.  Also, I really dig An Hour Before It's Dark. 

All in all, I'm pretty familiar with Fugazi, Misplaced Childhood, Clutching at Straws, Season's End, Holiday's In Eden, Brave, and An Hour Before it's Dark.  I still have the rest of the discography to get into.  Instead of sampling it all I've been digging deep into an album at a time.  As far as Fish solo stuff, I've gotten into his first album.  The song Vigil is amazeballs.

[lonestar]

Sugarmice will always be in the discussion for my favorite song ever.

[HOF]

Been on a Marillion kick lately. I posted in this thread not too long ago that I was in the middle of "discovering" Marillion.  I still probably have only really dug into maybe a third of their discography.  Since I first posted about it, I discovered Fugazi which is such an amazing album.  And in the last couple of days, I think the Clutching at Straws album finally clicked (the album as a whole).  Holy crap, Sugar Mice is such an amazing song.  Kind of pisses me off that I've been so depressed the last couple of days since I've been listening to that song so much haha.  But it's worth it.

That said, I'm not only getting into the Fish era stuff, I love the Hogarth stuff too.  I know a lot of people here were recommending Brave, and I listened to that one over and over to the point where I think that album clicked.  As a whole that album is top tier Marillion for me.  I also have been listening a lot to Holidays in Eden, even bought that on vinyl on a whim, and really like that whole album.  Also, I really dig An Hour Before It's Dark. 

All in all, I'm pretty familiar with Fugazi, Misplaced Childhood, Clutching at Straws, Season's End, Holiday's In Eden, Brave, and An Hour Before it's Dark.  I still have the rest of the discography to get into.  Instead of sampling it all I've been digging deep into an album at a time.  As far as Fish solo stuff, I've gotten into his first album.  The song Vigil is amazeballs.

You still have my favorite album to go with Afraid of Sunlight, plus Marbles (IMO Afraid of Sunlight, Brave, and Marbles plus Clutching at Straws are the band's masterpieces). Glad you liked An Hour Before It's Dark. Really think that's a great album too.

[ProfessorPeart]

Got my Deluxe Editions of Misplaced and Clutching from the band last week. Even had 2 prints hand signed by the 4, sans Fish, which is pretty cool.

I gave up on the H era after the Happiness albums. They just became more and more boring to me. Seasons End is easily my favorite H album. Much to Stads dismay, I also love This Strange Engine.

[HOF]

Got my Deluxe Editions of Misplaced and Clutching from the band last week. Even had 2 prints hand signed by the 4, sans Fish, which is pretty cool.

I gave up on the H era after the Happiness albums. They just became more and more boring to me. Seasons End is easily my favorite H album. Much to Stads dismay, I also love This Strange Engine.

FWIW, I would say each album since Happiness has been a big improvement over that one and Somewhere Else. It may just not be your think, but I think they’ve really hit their stride with these last 3 albums and sort of have their sound nailed down after searching around for something new after Marbles.

[jammindude]

I just haven’t been able to get into the post-Marbles material at all. It just seems to meander and wander through unconnected ideas. Everything just feels like it’s drifting aimlessly. There are wonderful and majestic “bits” to it. I’ve been through the last two albums several times and each time I find myself getting really bored and then suddenly going, “oooo! Ok I like that bit.” And then it just aimlessly drifts into something else.

It’s like listening to your grandfather tell stories where he can’t remember the whole thing. He remembers some of the exciting stuff but then a blank look crosses his face when he realizes he has no idea what happened after that. That’s what the most recent material feels like.

[HOF]

I just haven’t been able to get into the post-Marbles material at all. It just seems to meander and wander through unconnected ideas. Everything just feels like it’s drifting aimlessly. There are wonderful and majestic “bits” to it. I’ve been through the last two albums several times and each time I find myself getting really bored and then suddenly going, “oooo! Ok I like that bit.” And then it just aimlessly drifts into something else.

It’s like listening to your grandfather tell stories where he can’t remember the whole thing. He remembers some of the exciting stuff but then a blank look crosses his face when he realizes he has no idea what happened after that. That’s what the most recent material feels like.

Yeah, that’s definitely become the style more or less for the longer songs, but it’s something I enjoy personally. There are still more concise songs though that aren’t like that. And I think An Hour Before It’s Dark generally has less of that than FEAR did. The second side of AHBID is really strong in my opinion.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Been on a Marillion kick lately. I posted in this thread not too long ago that I was in the middle of "discovering" Marillion.  I still probably have only really dug into maybe a third of their discography.  Since I first posted about it, I discovered Fugazi which is such an amazing album.  And in the last couple of days, I think the Clutching at Straws album finally clicked (the album as a whole).  Holy crap, Sugar Mice is such an amazing song.  Kind of pisses me off that I've been so depressed the last couple of days since I've been listening to that song so much haha.  But it's worth it.

That said, I'm not only getting into the Fish era stuff, I love the Hogarth stuff too.  I know a lot of people here were recommending Brave, and I listened to that one over and over to the point where I think that album clicked.  As a whole that album is top tier Marillion for me.  I also have been listening a lot to Holidays in Eden, even bought that on vinyl on a whim, and really like that whole album.  Also, I really dig An Hour Before It's Dark. 

All in all, I'm pretty familiar with Fugazi, Misplaced Childhood, Clutching at Straws, Season's End, Holiday's In Eden, Brave, and An Hour Before it's Dark.  I still have the rest of the discography to get into.  Instead of sampling it all I've been digging deep into an album at a time.  As far as Fish solo stuff, I've gotten into his first album.  The song Vigil is amazeballs.

Once you get to Marbles, make sure you listen to the 2 CD version. It's my favorite album of all time. A true masterpiece.

[jammindude]

+1 to the 2-disc Marbles comment.

[ProfessorPeart]

jammin' nailed the post-Marbles era for me. Very well put.