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LIVE AT THE WALLS

Marillion

Neo-Prog


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Marillion Live At The Walls album cover
3.67 | 75 ratings | 6 reviews | 23% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Live, released in 1998

Songs / Tracks Listing

CD 1: 50:58
1. Beautiful (4:51)
2. Beyond You (5:59)
3. Afraid of Sunrise (4:13)
4. Runaway (6:37)
5. Now She'll Never Know (5:19)
6. Alone Again in the Lap of Luxury (3:52)
7. The Space (4:09)
8. Fake Plastic Trees (5:10)
9. Holloway Girl (4:13)
10. King (6:32)
CD 2: 36:31
1. The Answering Machine (4:29)
2. Gazpacho (5:38)
3. Cannibal Surf Babe (7:11)
4. Black Bird (2:59)
5. Abraham, Martin and John (8:09)
6. Hooks in You (3:48)
7. 80 Days (4:18)
(Track timings include applause and introductions by Steve Hogarth)

Total Time: 87:29

Line-up / Musicians

- Steve Hogarth / vocals
- Mark Kelly / keyboards
- Ian Mosley / drums
- Steve Rothery / guitars
- Pete Trewavas / basses

Releases information

Racket #Racket 10

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
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MARILLION Live At The Walls ratings distribution


3.67
(75 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(23%)
23%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(42%)
42%
Good, but non-essential (26%)
26%
Collectors/fans only (3%)
3%
Poor. Only for completionists (7%)
7%

MARILLION Live At The Walls reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by loserboy
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars For the MARILLION completists out there may I strongly suggest you pick up this little treasure. "Live at the Walls" is another fine product from the fan club based Racket Records label which has put out some real tasty treats. This is a 2 CD set which recreates this very unusual and "a typical" approach by MARILLION who go unplugged and intimate! What makes this so special of a recording is based around its simplicity in both song delivery and reproduction. As you listen to this concert you get a feeling that you are live in the small Welsh restaurant with these fanatical fans watching and interacting with MARILLION throughout. MARILLION re-worked each song on the album individually and the results are actually quite amazing?? Being a big MARILLION fan I always get squeamish when they re-touch their music in anyway, but "Live At The Walls" offers some nice musical adaptations to their songs. Many songs delve into Jazz and Blues structures which actually work quite well. Along the way we are treated to some real surprises including RADIOHEAD's "Fake Plastic Trees", BEATLES - "Blackbird" and a new blues based tune "Abraham, Martin & John". After sampling a few tracks from their website, I had to order this CD immediately and am very glad that I did so . . . get you orders in kids!!!

Review by Gatot
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars For those of you who love Marillion, Hogarth era, this might be a good "unplugged" live album to have. As a matter of fact Disc 1 suits my taste and almost all tracks are rearranged and performed really well by the band. Hogarth shows his charisma through his powerful voice and ambient singing style for both discs. Disc 2 is not as good as Disc 1 but it's still okay - well, at least on the beauty of acoustic style the band performs.

Disc 1 starts excellently with "Beautiful" in which Hogarth sings wholeheartedly accompanied with Marillion Acoustic band. As it's an acoustic setting, Steve Rothery's guitar work is so obvious and it's dominating the rhythm section. Mark Kelly contributes his keyboard playing softly at rhythm section, altogether with Pete Trewavas on bass and Ian Mosley on drums. From the opening track itself you can smell how the band would play their studio tracks unplugged. "Beyond You" and "Afraid of Sunrise" are played very well.

My favorite track from "Brave" album, "Runaway" was performed with almost no modification or rearrangement from its studio version. I do enjoy this track especially because of the sonic quality of the CD as well as Hogarth singing style combined with piano touch by Mark. The other track that attracts me is "The Space" in which Hogarth opens the track with melodic part. The music that follows after the intro part has been significantly changed from the studio version. It's really cool. These two tracks are basically the high points of this live set even though other tracks like "Holloway Girl" and "King" are well performed as well.

The first three tracks of Disc 2: "The Answering Machine", "Gazpacho" and "Cannibal Surf Babe" do not attract me that much. It's probably I'm getting bored already with "everything is acoustic" kind of music from experiencing Disc 1. Again, Rothery dominates the rhythm section. After these three tracks the performance was done already and as expected .. the crowd wanted some more. Yep, it's an encore part. The band came back on stage with The Beatles "Black Bird". It's cool.

Overall, this live set offers a selection of pop songs, well performed by the band in an "unplugged" setting. It would favor Marillion fans, Hogarth era, and it might be enjoyable by typical music lovers. Nothing is complex here and it's a good one. Keep on proggin' ..!

Progressively yours, GW.

Review by E-Dub
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars During the period of finishing up the Radiation album, Marillion played a couple of acoustic sets at (of all places) a restaurant called The Walls. One thing that leaps out is how well Marillion's music translates to an acoustic setting. Very elegant in arrangement, although it's odd to hear silverware and glasses clinking in the background. Nonetheless, an essential piece for the Marillion completist.

The disc starts off with 3 songs from Afraid Of Sunlight-- "Beautiful", "Beyond You", and "Afraid Of Sunrise". The latter two don't get played live very often, so this is especially welcomed as they perform the songs flawlessly and packed with the emotion that was originally presented to us on the phenomenal Afraid Of Sunlight album.

It may have been nice to have more songs from Brave; however, the two representatives are more than enough to maintain the interest in the set. "Runaway" sounds absolutely amazing acoustically. Missing are the soaring keyboards and Rothery's haunting solo, but still very effective. "Alone Again In The Luxury" has a bit of a reggae groove and may sound too bouncy for the subject matter. They perform it again on the DVD A Piss-Up In A Brewery which is much better.

Unplugged At The Walls also presented an opportunity to introduce (then) new songs from their upcoming album, Radiation. "Now She'll Never Know" showcases Hogarth's beautiful vocals (as he hits on all notes without a hitch), and Trewavas and Rothery switching instruments. Frankly, I think "These Chains" would've been great to include. Just one minor criticism. "Answering Machine" is another "new" song. Good performance, but just not a personal favorite of mine. Don't hate it, but doesn't have the Wow factor.

One of the more moving performances is Marillion's cover of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees", which is beautifully done by the band. Hogarth especially shines as he performs it with utmost respect for the band. A surprising, yet powerful moment. Great selection for a cover-- as you'll see later on they take on a couple of other more classic covers on.

Disc 1 is rounded out by a rare performance of "Holloway Girl" from Seasons End, and "King" from Afraid Of Sunlight. First, "Holloway Girl" just strikes me. Very subdued and quiet, as it's sung about a woman wrongly imprisoned at the all femal prison in north London. Beautiful piano work by Mark Kelly, and great vocals by Hogarth.

Prior to "King", H asks where everyone is from, and it's amazing how many people traveled from all over the globe to see this intimate show. The band eases into "King", and it doesn't pack the punch of the original; however, the guitar solo is replaced by the hammond organ-esque solo of Mark Kelly. Not a highlight, from the disc; but, still a nice inclusion.

Disc 2 begins with "The Answering Machine", and two more songs from the Afraid Of Sunlight album-- "Gazpacho" and "Cannibal Surf Babe". As with "Lap Of Luxury", this sounds a bit too bouncy, but nonetheless enjoyable to the ears, accentuated with beautiful piano work by Kelly during the chorus. "Cannibal Surf Babe" on the other hand, is a quirky little number that never ceases to get the crowd bouncing. Even in a quiet setting like this, you can hear the enthusiastic crowd clapping along with the band.

Now on to a couple of covers. H and Pete come back for a version of The Beatles' "Blackbird", which is nicely done and showcases Pete's acoustic work. The show stopper, however, is Donovan's "Abraham, Martin, and John". I think the first time I heard this I had tears welling in my eyes. Anyone who says H isn't an emotional singer needs only to listen to this. Rothery also breaks out the electric for the first (and only time) and just makes the guitar cry. Absolutely hear wrenching!

The set closes out with "Hooks In You", but in a much different style than the more rocking pop original. The band arranges it in more of a jazzy feel. Completely different than the original version. "Eighty Days" fittingly brings this to a close, as it's a song written for the fans.

So, in essence, what you have here is Marillion unplugged. It's been done many times in the past and I'm sure bands will always explore a more stripped down version of themselves. Not all bands can successfully pull it off. Marillion, however, proves that they can zig as well as zag, and take something that could be redundant, and just totally re-invent themselves. I give it anywhere from 3.75 stars to 4. A must for the Marillion fan.

Review by Tristan Mulders
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars Marillion - Unplugged at the Walls

The idea behind this acoustic live set was that in exchange for free meals the band would perform a few low-key acoustic concerts at a local British restaurant. As word spread out it gradually became a global event with various nationalities present.

The songs presented here are total reconstructions of the original songs (at least mostly). The band started from scratch per song, which is also the most unique aspect of this live disc. I personally am not that fond of live releases, mainly because they quite often tend to include the same ol' songs over and over again, but this release is a nice exception. For instance there are several songs which originally were really up-tempo but now they've transformed them into low-key slow versions, which is quite amusing and original.

Overall perhaps not an essential release, but certainly an interesting disc. Unfortunately this album is only available directly from the band's website (www.marillion.com), which kinda rules out the non-die hard fan to purchase it.. unless he or she reads an interesting review about it or accidentally stumbles across the website.

Review by Warthur
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars In retrospect, Marillion's decision to put out Less Is More - a studio album of acoustic reworkings of old tracks - wasn't so unprecedented after all. Over a decade before, the band put on an acoustic set at The Walls restaurant at around the time they were putting the finishing touches to Radiation. With Mark Kelly restricted to piano and organ and Steve Rothery having to make do without his usual Gilmouresque guitar solos, adapting the material on here might have been a challenge, but fortunately for their past few albums Marillion had been dabbling with a bit of 60s influence which they decide to bring to the fore here.

The renditions of Marillion standards presented here are sometimes close to their original versions, as is the case with Beautiful, whilst at other points they radically transformed, as happens to Alone Again In the Lap of Luxury and Hooks In You. But either way, the versions presented here occupy this interesting sonic space reminiscent of a modern updating of 60s psychedelia, folk rock and sophisti-pop - somewhere at the crossroads where the Byrds, the Beatles, Buffalo Springfield and Serge Gainsbourg meet. It's an intriguingly different sound for Marillion and ensures the at this live set showcases their music in a refreshing new light.

This is one of the earliest Marillion live albums to include no Fish-era tracks, taking its track listing entirely from the first six Hogarth-era albums and sprinkling on a few cover versions. As such, it's rather different from the Live From Cadogan Hall two-CD acoustic set, since that concert took place in a less intimate venue and had a much deeper bench of songs to choose from. But the seeds of that magical live set, and the associated Less Is More album, were sown here.

Latest members reviews

4 stars 'Live at the Walls' is a live album by Marillion. It was recorded in a small restaurant in Oswestry on 25 and 26 June 1998 as an acoustic set. The band debuted two songs from their upcoming album at the time, 'Radiation.' Those songs would be "Now She'll Never Know" and "The Answering Machine." Ther ... (read more)

Report this review (#2980440) | Posted by Magog2112 | Sunday, January 7, 2024 | Review Permanlink

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