Marillion: BRAVE | Extended Play Lounge - Ep. 82
Added 2025-01-08 15:27:16 +0000 UTCFor our first Extended Play Lounge episode of 2025, I'm pleased to present my full album listen to Brave by Marillion. I was blown away on all fronts with this album...story, music, pacing, performance, intelligence...all of it. I think this is one of the impressive and engrossing concept albums that I've heard so far. I hope you enjoy!
trigger warning - issues including suicide are discussed in this video
Comments
See you there!
Helen Thompson
2025-01-18 17:50:09 +0000 UTCI have not seen them 153 times, but I'm well above 40 of their shows and this is the most satisfying band on earth. You leave the room filled with music and emotion, every time. I'll be in MontrΓ©al too once again in March and will enjoy every second of it!
Patrice Roy
2025-01-18 03:56:20 +0000 UTCI remember seeing them on the tour for this album, playing the whole thing from start to finish. Stunning. Band members have remarked on how difficult this was for audiences to swallow, but that's not my recollection for the show I attended. Maybe I'm misremembering, but as far as I can recall, there was a thunderous and VERY lengthy ovation from the crowd when they reached the end.
Nick
2025-01-12 18:14:16 +0000 UTCThank you so much for this. You added new layers and passion to an album I absolutely adore. Most people donβt believe that the 5 of them donβt read music! Come to the convention in Montreal in March. Iβm sure Lucy can provide tickets. They are an amazing live experience and this will be my 153 time seeing them in over 40 years.
Helen Thompson
2025-01-10 23:32:05 +0000 UTCUnfortunately the convention is sold out in Leicester but Hogarth does his h natural set - amazing. Saw 2 nights in Oxford days before Christmas. Flew in from LA for it.
Helen Thompson
2025-01-10 23:29:29 +0000 UTCEvery time I think I have nailed a favourite, I think of another that is even better...!
Adrian Goodrich
2025-01-10 22:07:32 +0000 UTCAnd through Doug I have discovered a load, including (like you) Dream Theater and Opeth, and recently Big Big Train and Styx. I have not listened to this album for a good few years, and I now have a new appreciation of it!
Adrian Goodrich
2025-01-10 22:03:29 +0000 UTCIt has ben so interesting, following Marillion back from the Fish days, then through the transition "Seasons End" and then through the H era. H's lyrics have always absolutely nailed it, and Steve has to be one of the greatest prog rock guitarists and writers ever? Just watched this for a second time. Maybe not my absolute favourite Marillion album, but boy it is still so impressive! And, as always, Doug just so gets it and explains it! As so often, I SO enjoyed this.
Adrian Goodrich
2025-01-10 21:58:08 +0000 UTCWhat a wonderful, luxurious, joyful listen! I stopped listening to Marillion very early, when I thought of them as a derivative band (of early Genesis). This shows me that they are inheritors from the Prog past, but beautiful musicians and true artists worth listening to without any references. How exciting and lovely - through Doug I discovered Hagan, Dream Theater, Opeth, and now Marillion (post Fish). A great way to start 2025 - looking back with new optimism!
Adie
2025-01-10 00:11:51 +0000 UTCI envy you - their only UK date as far as I can see, and too far for me!
Adie
2025-01-09 23:22:05 +0000 UTCA great listen along experience, thanks Doug. Looking forward to seeing Marillion headline a festival on the beach in Cornwall, England in September.
Richard
2025-01-09 18:50:49 +0000 UTCIn many ways Brave sums up what I love about Prog. There are things you can do with Prog that you can't do with any other form of contemporary music. You can build soundscapes, tell stories and create climaxes that simply are not possible in a shorter form music. Falling From The Moon being a case in point, one of my favourite moments in all of Marillion's repertoire. Thank you for a reaction which clearly affected you as well as your audience.
Philip Briddon
2025-01-09 13:30:31 +0000 UTCTheir next album is another real treasure. Although not a concept album as such, Afraid of Sunlight repeatedly examines the destructive side of celebrity.
StefNewtown
2025-01-09 03:26:26 +0000 UTCI prefer Fish as a singer, but Brave is a great album!
Jean-Michel LaFontaine
2025-01-09 03:01:40 +0000 UTCAs a storyline goes, I'd place this over "The Wall', even though there is nothing as powerful as "Comfortably Numb" or "Run Like Hell". "Brave" is a rollercoaster of honest emotions, beautifully put to music by Marillion.
Bill Coonley
2025-01-09 01:25:57 +0000 UTCThank you for getting to this. The album has a special place in my heart, my late wife and I had not been together long and we went to see the UK premier of the Brave film it was amazing we both had a great day.
PETER SALTER
2025-01-08 23:00:11 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed your analysis Doug; this album is a favourite, but quite a hard listen sometimes. The music is some of the band's most adventurous in their long career. H's voice is magnificent here too. Everyone playing and writing at the top of their game. And then, of course there's the Rothery guitar solo in Falling From The Moon, which is simply beautiful...one day I'll sort out which is my favourite of all his solos, a tough thing to call.
Ralph Darvill
2025-01-08 21:46:29 +0000 UTCWhat an amazing record!! A first-time listen for me, and it is perfectly named. What a courageous project, and so well done. Thanks for your commentary and analysis, Dr. Doug - I thoroughly enjoyed this EPL!!
Margaret Barnes
2025-01-08 21:29:58 +0000 UTCThis album will always bring me back to 1994/95, riding home after band gigs at Hunter Mountain, a popular ski resort area in upstate NY. The drummer, who was the owner/driver of the van insisted on driving back to Long Island after the show finished at 3am, so I'd get my portable CD player and headphones out and drift off to Brave. It's quite possible I've never heard the end of this album. Not consciously, anyway! π
Prog Rock Piano Bar
2025-01-08 19:50:22 +0000 UTCThank you so much Doug! It was such a pleasure to share this masterpiece with you. For me it sums up the band. They shine a light so you can see the darkness and understand it. But the light is always there. It's like sharing your troubles with your best friend, and together you help each other get through. If you want to see them live, they will be in MontrΓ©al this March 28-30... Have a wonderful 2025!
Digibirder
2025-01-08 19:18:19 +0000 UTCThanks. I really needed this. I was also a junior in high school at the time. I was a fan of Marillion and I recall going to the record store after school on release day and picking this CD up. It was a dreary day which felt appropriate for this album. I remember really enjoying this from the start and loved how different it was from their previous album. This is an album I need to be in the right mood to listen to it. But it is an album I've come back to many times over the years. It still stands up really well. I find this is a great album to listen to when I'm feeling down as I find it very cathartic.
Steve Esterle
2025-01-08 18:21:54 +0000 UTCHearing your enthusiasm for Marillion, I encourage you to follow up with Afraid of Sunlight and This Strange Engine - for many, and me specifically, this is one of the greatest three album runs of all time. It had been quite a while since I listened to Brave... as soon as Hogarth's vocals entered over the soft piano, the tears began to flow...
Christopher Arters (relative timeworx - Mr.A)
2025-01-08 17:24:42 +0000 UTCFinally, here it is. Thank you for this video. I will watch it and enjoy it tonight. My favourite Marillion album.
Carlos Regidor Iglesias
2025-01-08 15:54:09 +0000 UTC
