Marillion BRAVE Help!

You must now get the DVD. 

Brave and Afraid Of Sunlight remain my favorites and I liked them since I first heard them.  If you feel the need to get into something rather than just listen to something and if you like it hey if not let it go.  Life's too short and there is too much music out there.  My recommendation is set it aside and try it again some other time.

How about this, try listening to really crappy pop music and then try it again.

By the way, I liked the DVD, but it's no Wall.


Edited by Slartibartfast - May 24 2009 at 11:47

Nope.  I think Brave is boring.

Get really depressed, then give it a try.

Eh, I have the same reaction as to Brave, I just don't seem to get it.  And don't get me wrong, I enjoy the long drawn out somber music (I love Gazpacho, especially Night).  I just personally don't see what most of the fuss is about.  I think one of my issues (if I remember correctly) was with the production.  If memory serves me, I thought the vocals were poorly mixed at times which detracted from the overall feel.

I've had a similar experience, I kept thinking that I should enjoy it (I may have even posted something similar to your initial post at one point), but it just doesn't click with me. 

Oddly enough, I have a similar relationship with Yes, don't really care for them, just don't quite know why.

I took Slarti's advice.  Move on to something else, maybe the urge will hit me someday.

AlanOB wrote: Are you giving it your full attention or have you been listening to it while doing something else?It's quite a difficult album to penetrate but stuff like Living With The Big Lie and The Great Escape should be fairly immediate.The problem is that the album's atmosphere is rather morose and that means it takes a while for it to get under your skin.When it does though, you'll understand why it is in most people's best ever lists, including mine.

I've been walking whilst listening, usually out in the dark...

I often also lie down with my iPod on listening to it, but still not much luck.

I've found the first 3 and last 3 tracks to be great, but as for the rest of the album, I find it really... Sort of...

Just there.

It didn't seem to click with me in anyway, and I just found the rest of the tracks to be incredibly abysmal and boring.
Well, not boring, just not as engaging as I like.

I have the same problem with Brave.  Never could fully get into it.  Songs here and there would capture my interest, but usually when listening to it, I find my mind wandering.  I love other h-era albums, Afraid of Sunlight, This Strange Engine, Season's End, etc. but this one never really was able to hold my attention.  Never figured out why.

lucas wrote: It's a mixed bag I think : "alone again in the lap of luxury" and "paper lies" for example really spoil the album. Best track is probably "made again".

From what I've been able to enjoy thus far, I'd agree Made Again is the best.

It could be that it's just not an album that you're going to like.
And contrary to others here, I would suggest a few listens to it in the background. Put it on as you're reading. Or as you're surfing the net. Maybe as you're dusting.
I found that Happiness is the Road really grew on me by doing that. I slowly noticed the suite-like aspect of the album as a whole. I also felt the emotions before I got into the lyrics. And i still can't quote much of the lyrics. But I have grown to love the album.
If you're in a sunny locale, sit down, spend some lazy time with it just playing as you relax. I.E. don't try and experience it as something to study or decipher. Let it just play.

Myself and scores of others have said the same thing: I couldn't get into it after the first few listens; however, one day it all just "clicked" and now I love it. It took about a year or so of getting it before it really sunk in. Now it's the best CD I own.

Addressing what somebody has already brought up, are you listening to it with full attention? In the liner notes it states "Play it loud with the lights off." There is a lot going on there, so I feel if you ease back and REALLY allow the music to absorb, you may see what a lot of us see in Brave.

Granted, it was such a departure from what they had done up until that point, but there's an underlying power that is always present with Brave. Even in the quieter moments like "Hollow Man", "The Slide" and "Standing In The Swing" there seems to be this radiant force. It's very hard to explain, but there's just something different about Brave (to my ears, at least).

And I still believe that the final 15 minutes are some of most beautiful in any piece that I've heard.

E

Ps. It's too bad that their live DVD Brave Live 2002 is out of print. I'm a very visual person, so seeing the performance of it drives home the very heart of Brave to me.

You need to regard Brave as a story and narrative, with absolutely every wonderful piece of music leading up to The Great Escape, when the girl throws herself off the bridge in an intensity of emotion unsurpassed in virtually every other album I own, before the upset and trauma is released in Made Again.

As previous posters said, it really is a work that demands intensive listening quite a few times (play it loud with the lights out! ) before being fully appreciated.

Stick with it - you'll be richly rewarded.