About Second Sky

Well Dan, last week I bought Marillion - Season's End on the strength of your descriptions in this thread and I must say I'm very impressed!

What does everyone here say about Fish-era Marillion?
 
Great, but different. It's more wild, experimental, prog-ish. Hogarth-era is more straightforward, Season's End kind of stuff. I enjoy both.

Another couple great Hogarth albums: Marbles (with the bonus Ocean Cloud), This Strange Engine

Some good choices from the Fish era: Misplaced Childhood, Clutching At Straws
 
Everything prog? Well not at all. But the Hogarth era is. There's not a Marillion album more progressive than Brave IMO. And Marbles is their masterpiece. Season's End is good too.
 
Aside from the bonus track on Marbles being 18 minutes long, and a few other long tracks, I don't see where you're labeling the kind of chill, jam band with a subdued atmosphere as 'prog'. It's one of my favorite albums, but I disagree with your judgment. Brave is a concept but that doesn't make it prog.

Honestly, the Fish albums have more in common with classic prog like Genesis and Yes than any of the later ones. That's not to say that the later ones aren't as good, in fact, I enjoy them more.

In fact, the band shares my viewpoint. One of the reasons Fish and Marillion parted ways was because he wanted to continue in a prog direction and they didn't.
 
I'd have to agree that the Hogarth-era Marillion is more straightforward. Nothing wrong with that though. Script For A Jester's Tear was their most prog album, IMHO. This really put them on the map and helped start (or revitalize the prog genre) the neo-prog genre. Fish-era Marillion tried to bring that Gabriel-era Genesis theatrical aspect to the music and definitely did that. I enjoy all Marillion albums and have a good friend who was around during the old Marillion years and spent some time with the band. I'd have to say Brave is a really good concept album, you can call it prog if you want, but I don't think their latest material (especially Somewhere Else) can compete with the earlier material that helped bring a new life to what then was a dying breed - progressive rock. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy Marbles and, again as I said, all Marillion stuff, and I'm not here to say you can't call things what you want - surely you can - I just think that the early material brought that theatrical edge that was part of what progressive rock was about. That's all, my 2cents.

Allen
 
Great, but different. It's more wild, experimental, prog-ish. Hogarth-era is more straightforward, Season's End kind of stuff. I enjoy both.

Another couple great Hogarth albums: Marbles (with the bonus Ocean Cloud), This Strange Engine

Some good choices from the Fish era: Misplaced Childhood, Clutching At Straws

The definitive edition of Marbles is the two disc set...
Any thoughts on their new one?
 
looking up I see my comments about Marillion - Somewhere Else... but damn, their newest: Happiness Is The Road, wow. :worship:

Same reaction expected for Second Sky...