Marillion BRAVE Help!
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation
Forum Description: Discuss specific prog bands and their members or a specific sub-genre
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=58176
Printed Date: August 14 2025 at 07:46
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Topic: Marillion BRAVE Help!
Posted By: progkidjoel
Subject: Marillion BRAVE Help!
Date Posted: May 23 2009 at 08:33
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Howdy folks
I recently got a copy of Marillion's Brave And thus far, 8 listens over the album, I'm still having trouble realle enjoying it or getting into it. Is there something I'm missing, I just can't enjoy this album as much as I thought I would be able to... Any help/advice appreciated -Joel ------------- 
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Replies:
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 23 2009 at 08:38
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. |
Posted By: AlanOB
Date Posted: May 23 2009 at 09:01
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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. |
Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: May 23 2009 at 09:05
Nope. I think Brave is boring. ------------- https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays" rel="nofollow - https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: May 23 2009 at 09:07
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Brave is the album that re-kindled my interest in Marillion, and thanks to E-dub I now have a second Hogarth album. I love Brave. At this point I have no interest in Fish anymore, that era bores me. But as to your problem, just give it a few weeks break and then try playing it again every month or so. It will grab you eventually, it's a fine album. ------------- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sQD8uhpWXCw" rel="nofollow - It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...Road Rage Edition |
Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: May 23 2009 at 09:31
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Get really depressed, then give it a try. ------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: May 23 2009 at 09:34
 ------------- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sQD8uhpWXCw" rel="nofollow - It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...Road Rage Edition |
stonebeard wrote:Posted By: Roland113
Date Posted: May 23 2009 at 09:49
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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. ------------- -------someone please tell him to delete this line, he looks like a noob------- I don't have an unnatural obsession with Disney Princesses, I have a fourteen year old daughter and coping mechanisms. |
Posted By: AlanOB
Date Posted: May 23 2009 at 09:55
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I find it amazing that you love Night and can't get into Brave. No sense this makes. |
Posted By: progkidjoel
Date Posted: May 23 2009 at 22:25
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. -------------
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 24 2009 at 03:24
Just be sure and stay away from bridges.  |
Posted By: The Doctor
Date Posted: May 24 2009 at 03:55
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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. ------------- I can understand your anger at me, but what did the horse I rode in on ever do to you? |
Posted By: lucas
Date Posted: May 24 2009 at 04:08
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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". ------------- "Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood) |
Posted By: progkidjoel
Date Posted: May 24 2009 at 05:28
From what I've been able to enjoy thus far, I'd agree Made Again is the best. -------------
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Posted By: jimbocam
Date Posted: May 24 2009 at 10:26
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I have the opposite problem, in a way. I love Brave and everything Marillion have done up to and including This Strange Engine but cannot really get into any of the later albums. The latest (Essence/The Hard Shoulder) is a case in point. It all seems so meandering, unmemorable and often tuneless. The sound palette seems so restricted with Steve Rothery (my favourite ever guitarist) noodling with his flanger and H flogging his increasingly feeble falsetto all over the place. Can someone hlep me?!
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Posted By: debrewguy
Date Posted: May 24 2009 at 10:46
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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. ------------- "Here I am talking to some of the smartest people in the world and I didn't even notice,” Lieutenant Columbo, episode The Bye-Bye Sky-High I.Q. Murder Case. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 24 2009 at 11:52
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Anyone think the music would have been more interesting if there had been more turmoil with the guys in the band? I mean merely changing your lead vocalist doesn't really cut it...
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: E-Dub
Date Posted: May 24 2009 at 12:10
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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. ------------- 
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Posted By: E-Dub
Date Posted: May 24 2009 at 12:12
And if it were up to the band, "Made Again" would never have made the final album. The band were wanting to end it with "The Great Escape" and have the extended sound of the river play out; however, the record company insisted that it not end on such a dark note and wanted them to include "Made Again". If you ever see or hear a live performance of Brave, the band always ended their show with "The Great Escape", went off stage and played "Made Again" as an encore. E -------------
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Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: May 24 2009 at 14:47
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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. ------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
Posted By: E-Dub
Date Posted: May 24 2009 at 17:35
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^^^I agree wholeheartedly. I guess why I really can connect with it is it's something that actually happened. A concept album it is; however, it's not about fairies, spaceships or wizards. It's something that is far too common. Same can be said for Sylvan's Posthumous Silence, which really rips at my heart. A lot of similarities between this and Brave. Since tomorrow is a holiday here in the States, I might put on either Brave Live 2002 or Posthumous Silence Live tonight after the wife and kid go to bed. E -------------
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Posted By: progkidjoel
Date Posted: May 25 2009 at 06:21
Dear E Thanks for that advice! I (Only minorly) can relate to the story of this Girl right now, in that I don't feel like I belong anywhere 
But! I went out tonight at about 8PM, and sat in the park and listened to this album the whole way through with my eyes closed. I listened as much to the background noise as I did the lyrics and the musicianship. I think this is really one of the best two or three albums that I've ever had the privelidge of listening to! I'll need to listen to it 4 or 5 times over in the same way to be sure, but I sincerely think this is brilliant, particularly the last 4 minutes of "Goodbye To All That"... Thankyou all for your input, especially you, Mr. E-Dub Thanks all for your input -Joel Gargan -------------
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Posted By: E-Dub
Date Posted: May 25 2009 at 09:17
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You're welcome. Keep listening to it. You'll hear something different every time. And if you can, get the live DVD from amazon or ebay. It's got the album played in it's entirety (which is quite the sight to behold), plus interviews from each member of the band regarding the Brave sessions. I've got two other Brave DVD's (a bootleg from Genoa, Italy and the final night of the Brave tour in Mexico City), but the Racket edition of the concert in Butlins during the convention is by far the best. Glad that I and a few others could help. E -------------
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