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Marillion: Brave

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: EMI Records
Released: 1994
Time:
 71:00
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: *******... (7/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.marillion.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2002.03.16
Price in €: 10,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Bridge (Hogarth/Kelly/Mosley/Rothery/Trewavas) - 2:55
[2] Living With the Big Lie (Hogarth/Kelly/Mosley/Rothery/Trewavas) - 6:46
[3] Runaway (Helmer/Hogarth/Kelly/Mosley/Rothery/Trewavas) - 4:40
[4] Goodbye to All That: (Hogarth/Kelly/Mosley/Rothery/Trewavas) - 12:26
        (i) Wave
        (ii) Mad
        (iii) The opium den
        (iv) The slide
        (v) Standing in the swing
[5] Hard as Love (Helmer/Hogarth/Kelly/Mosley/Rothery/Trewavas) - 6:41
[6] The Hollow Man (Hogarth/Kelly/Mosley/Rothery/Trewavas) - 4:08
[7] Alone Again in the Lap of Luxury (Hogarth/Kelly/Mosley/Rothery/Trewavas) - 8:13
        (i) Now wash your hands
[8] Paper Lies (Helmer/Hogarth/Kelly/Mosley/Rothery/Trewavas) - 5:49
[9] Brave (Hogarth/Kelly/Mosley/Rothery/Trewavas) - 7:54
[10] The Great Escape (Helmer/Hogarth/Kelly/Mosley/Rothery/Trewavas) - 6:22
        (i) The last of you
        (ii) Fallin' from the moon
[11] Made Again (Helmer/Hogarth/Kelly/Mosley/Rothery/Trewavas) - 5:02

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


STEVE HOGARTH - Percussion, Keyboards, Voices, Arranger, Producer
MARK KELLY - Keyboards, Arranger, Producer
IAN MOSLEY - Percussion, Drums, Arranger, Producer
STEVE ROTHERY - Guitar, Arranger, Producer
PETE TREWAVAS - Bass, Arranger, Producer

additional personnel:
TONY HALLIGAN - Uilleann pipes
LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC - Callos, and Flute
DARRYL WAY - Orchestral arrangemment on 'Falling From The Moon'

DAVE MEEGAN - Arranger, Producer, Engineer
CHRISTOPHER HEDGE - Assistant Engineer
MICHAEL HUNTER - Assistant Engineer
NIALL FLYNN - Assistant Engineer
ANDREA WRIGHT - Assistant Engineer
BILL SMITH - Graphic Design
JOHN ARNISON - Management
ANN LAWLER - Assistant management

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2000 CD Never 4512
1998 CD EMI 97038
1994 CD IRS 28032
1994 CS IRS X4-28032
1994 CD IRS X2-28032

RECORDED AT CHATEAU MAROUATTE Tocane, St. Apre, France.
ADDITIONAL RECORDING PARR STREET Liverpool.
MIXED AT PARR ST. Liverpool & SARM WEST London.
Written at The Racket Club, Buckinhamshire, between April '92 and January '93.
Recorded between February and September '93.
Recording facilities at Marouatte conceived and assembled by Chris Hedge assisted by Tony (laughing boy) Leighton.
Released February 1994.



Rebounding from the inconsistent Holidays In Eden, Marillion retreated to the studio for 15 months to write and record the concept album Brave. Telling the story of an abused girl wandering on Severn Bridge, the album is a solid mix of symphonic tracks with a pronounced rock edge. A band known for trilogies, the final set of "The Great Escape," "The Last of You" and "Falling From the Moon" form one of the most dynamic showcases for vocalist Steve Hogarth and guitarist Steve Rothery. Brave remains the most complex Marillion release to date, with layers and layers of sound. A full-length movie of Brave, directed by Richard Stanley, was released in Europe in conjunction with the album.

Dale Jensen, All-Music Guide, © 1992 - 2002 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



Eine junge Frau wird von der Polizei auf einer Brücke aufgegriffen und verweigert jede Aussage. Um diese wenig spannende Zeitungsnotiz rankt sich Marillions Konzeptalbum Brave. Die Songtexte erzählen die fiktive Geschichte dieser Frau und wurden von den britischen Soft-Rockern mit dem typischen, emotionsgeladenen Sound versehen. Das klingt ganz nett, ist aber für 71 Minuten eindeutig zu dürftig. Steve Hogarth'Organ streift bisweilen hart an der Lästigkeit vorbei. Dennoch: Für tapfere Freunde dieser Moll-lastigen Klänge ist Brave ein Muß.

© Audio



Marillion is a cult band, having had only one major hit in the US in 1985, "Kayleigh". Since then they have changed iconoclastic singers and changed their sound to be one of the few bands that I would argue are actually *progressive* rock, along with bands like King Crimson, Tool, Radiohead, and Spocks Beard. Their fans are so rabid as to having put a fund together (60K USD) to bring the bad to tour in the US. Their website marillion.com actually has regular, new content from the band members that isnt just self-serving piffle. They asked fans to pre-pay for an unmade album so they wouldn't have to take an advance from a record company. Now that's not only ballsy, but it shows what happens when you really have resolve in what you are doing and have a real trust with your audience.

So a band like this makes generally damn good music, but once in a while you get a true opus that pales all others in the catalogue. For Marillion, this is Brave. A concept album that can be accessible, and that I would argue sits with the Who's Quadrophenia, Pink Floyd's The Wall, and the Genesis 3 album Lamb Lies Down on Broadway but sonically closer to Radiohead's more organic work and Peter Gabriel. These guys fucking have it down on this album. The liner notes make a small but important request: "Play it Loud with the lights off". Curl up with a favorite wine and tune in, because by the end of it, you will have consumed the rest of the bottle.

Starting with the sounds of waves and a deep repeating drone that carries into the first seconds of symphonics, the start is one that pans and takes you down a slow path until the singing begins and a small ripple of fear climbs up the back of your neck.

The opening lyric starts:

Staring out over the Bridge
A million photo flashes fom the water down below
Dawn light bouncing through the mist
Roar of traffic and police radios

Apparently Brave is a story extrapolated from a famous UK newscast where a runanway girl was found looking over a bridge with amnesia and apparently ready to commit suicide. Brave is Hogarths lyrical attempt to write a history and a story around it. While it is fictional, it feels real in its empathy and heavy in its anguish.

The album cuts no corners but doesn't come off as pretentious. Its a narrative with highs and lows, brief glimmers and dark abysses. The band is beyond solid, and the sound is so full as to almost bursting (apparently Brave was recorded in a large British castle with impeccable acoustics - certainly couldn't have hurt), with Hogarth pushing the limits particularly; he changes rapidly between full songs to sweeping segues and quiet interludes. Rothery has never sounded this good and into his sound; he can switch course on a dime, his solos are tasteful and dynamic - no unecessary wanking here. Mark Kelly fills the sound with his varied array of atmospherics and piano flourishes, but does shine in several spots on the ivories and particularly on hammond organ, where he takes some ballistic right hand runs during Hard As Love. He turns Hollow Man into almost hopeful dirge, with the title track into an eerie dream sequence coupled with near liquid basslines and H's ethereal vocals (worthy of any Enya album). The rhythm section of Trewavas and Mosley are far too underrated - Pete is a master of economy, no over the top slap antics, but completely solid, slinky, punchy bass. His sound is dense and precise, while Mosley compliments him by keeping impeccable time (be those times odd or not) and never cluttering the compositions. Of particular note would be the lead single from the album Alone Again in the Lap of Luxury and Runaway. The album is not without it's radio-friendly bits, with Paper Lies, Hard As Love and Alone Again being good to give your Top 40 friends a taste, and Made Again makes a great ballad (it starts with a vague flavour of the Beatles Blackbird and builds to a stunning ending to not only the song, but the entire album).

Now, being an ardent Marillion fan, I could be seen as patently biased, I would like to say that while I have pretty much completely enjoyed every album since H joined as vocalist (1988), Brave sits in its own space that had I place as worthy of special status. Few can pull off something of this scope, and to have done it once, it deserves some recognition and a wider audience. It is a nearly flawless album (a line of lyric here, a symphonic section that could have been lengthened there). It shows no signs yet of being dated after 7 years, it isn't condescending or pompous while it is grand and expansive, and it actually seems to offer something for almost everyone without seemingly trying to pander to anyone.

Making this album was its namesake, and I thank Ian, Pete, Mark and the 2 Steves for being so.

© 2001 InTune.org



Viel Zeit ist seit ihrem letzten Studio-Album, "Holidays in Eden", vergangen. Doch jetzt sind Marillion wieder da. Und erneut hat sich einiges verändert. Mit den Marillion, die mit Leadsänger Fish melodiöse, pathetische Epen geschaffen hatten, hat das neue Album genauso wenig zu tun wie mit den ersten Scheiben, die sie zusammen mit dem neuen Frontmann Steve Hogarth ablieferten. "brave" ist zunächst einmal ein Konzeptalbum, das erste in der Marillion-Geschichte. (Wenngleich natürlich "Misplaced Childhood" und auch "Clutching at straws" Konzeptalben-ähnliche Züge trugen.) Inspiriert wurde es - nach offiziellem Bekunden der Band - von einem Zeitungsartikel, den Hogarth vor einigen Jahren zufällig entdeckte. Die Polizei hatte ein junges Mädchen aufgelesen, das von zuhause weggelaufen war und auf die Fragen und Hilfsangebote der Beamten keinerlei Reaktion zeigte. Diesem Mädchen schufen Marillion eine fiktive Vorgeschichte, die sie in "brave" musikalisch darstellen.

Der erste Titel "bridge" ist als Einleitung gedacht und versetzt den Hörer in die Lage des gerade von der Polizei entdeckten Mädchens.

When they ask her name
Would she please explain
She simply chooses to say ... nothing.

"living with the big lie" schildert die Widersprüche und Bedrohungen in einer zunehmend aus den Fugen geratenden Welt und "runaway girl" beschreibt die stillen Hilferufe des Mädchens, dessen Reaktionen oft nicht oder mißverstanden werden.

Die Konsequenz folgt mit "goodbye to all that", der Flucht aus dieser Welt. Die Ängste und Psychosen, die Fluchtwege und Hoffnungen werden auch in den weiteren 7 Titeln der CD thematisiert.

Musikalisch ist "brave" sicherlich eines der besten Alben dieses Jahres. Marillion spielen hier so psychedelisch angehaucht wie nie zuvor. Dennoch wird deutlich, daß sie exzellente Rocker sind, allen voran der Ausnahme-Gitarrist Steve Rothery. Aber auch Hogarths rauhe Stimme paßt atmosphärisch hervorragend zur Thematik des Albums. Dazu kommen zahlreiche faszinierende Hall- und Verzerreffekte, die man teilweise erst nach mehrmaligem Hören richtig wahrnimmt. Faszinierend auch die Verwendung von eigentlich Genre-untypischen Musikinstrumenten, wie Cellos, Flöte und einer Art Dudelsack.

Beim Text ist der Gesamteindruck nur leicht differenzierter. Denn obwohl Hogarth nicht an die sprachliche Qualität und den Pathos des früheren Texters und Leadsängers Fish heranreicht, schreibt auch er gute, kritische und interessante Texte.

Just to express what he's thinking
Must a man take all the mail will bring ?
Are we living only for today
It's a sign of the times...we believe anything...and nothing.

Lobenswert auch das ausführliche Booklet und das tolle Front- und Rückseitencover. Und um den positiven Eindruck, den man vom Design der CD gewinnt, abzurunden, ist die Silberscheibe selbst gar nicht silbern, sondern eine Picturedisk.

Zusammenfassend muß man feststellen, daß Marillion nun offensichtlich endlich in der Lage sind, das Leben nach Fish zu gestalten. Die etwas innovationslosen ersten Gehversuche mit Hogarth sind nun mit "brave" offiziell beendet. Wer einem guten Rockalbum mit zahlreichen ruhigen, psychedelisch angehauchten und einigen eindringlichen schnelleren Nummern nicht abgeneigt ist, sollte sich ruhig mal Marillions neueste CD antun. Auch wenn's beim ersten Hören noch nicht funkt : das Album bietet zahlreiche Sahnestückchen.

Außerdem kann ich mich nur der Emfpehlung von Marillion anschließen :

Play it Loud with the lights off.

Andreas Neumann - 19. Januar 1997
ursprünglich erschienen in AmigaGadget Nr.15
 

 L y r i c s


BRIDGE

"A bridge is not a high place..."

Staring out over the bridge
A million photo flashes from the water down below
Dawn light bouncing through the mist
Roar of traffic and the crack of police radios

When they ask her name
Would she please explain
She simply chooses to say
Nothing


LIVING WITH THE BIG LIE

It all began with the bright light
The bright light and the noise
The chaos of the senses and the scream of desire
Touching and being touched
A million loose ends to tie up
Ticking of the clock and the cradle rock

The colours stand still
And then they move around
Comin' in and out of focus upside down

Empty winter trees
How space feels
Love of the soft ... the flowers and the sky

One fine day
The chaos subsides
Bleeds into awareness
And a lifetime of surprise

The beauty of your mothers eyes
The pain when you fall
You drink it in and marvel at it all
But you never really figure it out

You get used to it

The babble of the family
And the dumb TV
Roar of the traffic and the thunder of jets

Chemicals in the water
Drugs in the food
The heat of the kitchen and the beat of the system

The attitude of authority
The laws and the rules
Hit me square in the face, first morning at school

The heroes and the zeroes
The first love of my life
When to kiss and to kick and to keep your head down
When they're choosing the sides

I was never any good at it
I was terrified most of the time
I never got over it

I got used to it

Alone in the city at seventeen
With the hollow and the lonely
The drowning and the drowned
I was made to feel worthless
The wretched and the mean
Beat me up like a weapon I can't run away from or find a way round

Holdin' on, holdin' on

The greed and the missiles
Exploding somewhere every day
Hideous dark secrets under the sea and in holes in the ground

The cold war's gone
But those bastards'll find us another one
They're here to protect you, don't you know?
So get used to it
Get used to it!

The clash of religions
And the loaded prayers
Information
The face of starvation and the state of the nation

The sense that it's useless
And the fear to try
Not believing the leaders, the media that feed us
Living with the big lie

You get used to it
Get used to it!
It's okay, I got used to it


RUNAWAY

Did you cry when they dragged you home
Put a lock on the door and the telephone
Was a runaway girl all they could see
Have the nights and the days that you've come through
Made the right seem wrong and the false seem true
Was a runaway girl all they could see
A teenage extra from the satellite TV

Runaway girl
Too bad, too bad
Runaway girl
Too wild, too wild

Were they deaf to the prayer behind your lies
Maybe they didn't dare to ask you why
Was a runaway girl all they chose to see
All they were prepared to admit to

Runaway girl
Too bad, too bad
Runaway girl
A real wild child

So you cower in the towns forgotten places
And you make your bed with unfamiliar faces
And at last you've got your freedom but that's all you've got
You're tryin' to make your mind up if you're better off

You pretend to wait for washing in some laundromat
But you're damned if you'll give them the satisfaction of you going back
You'd freeze to death before you'd share a roof with them
And you'd starve before you'd let him get his hands on you again

Did you cry when they dragged you home
Did you cry when they dragged you home
Poor little runaway, poor little runaway


GOODBYE TO ALL THAT

They try to trace her in the town
Appeal for information on the local news
Someone must have missed her by now
A mother or a father or a friendly face to talk her down
She's heading for the great escape
Heading for the rave
Heading for the permanent holiday ...
I. Wave
Hold your breath 'till you feel it begin
Here it comes
Do you feel that?
Feel this?
Get used to it

She had the face of the Statue of Liberty
Oh free me
The fire and ice of Amazon and Eskimo
Take me home
The edge and the glance of high fashion
Ask me about next year
II. Mad
Tell me I'm mad
How should I know
Tell me I'm mad
I have been here for so long
Help me paint a picture
They say it's a lie
Tell me I'm mad
You're a fine one to decide

Burn me in the fires of wild heaven
Like it never never never would stop
Tell me I'm mad
Tell me I imagined that
Was it something I didn't say?
Or was it something I said
Leave that stuff alone
Use me instead

I know I'm always falling off the edge of the world
I got space in my bed
You've got Egypt in your head
I've got a headful of Troy
Chandeliers and Charlemagne
Fireworks and toys
III. The Opium Den
"Hold your breath till you feel it begin
Here it comes
Get used to it"

But you sleep like a ghost with me
It's as simple as that
So tell me I'm mad
Roll me up and breathe me in
Come to my madness
My opium den
Come to my madness
Make sense of it again
IV. The Slide
Make a drug of my senses
I'll get you out of your head
I'm sick for you
Love wastes us together
Love holds us together
Love folds us together
Flowers
V. Standing in the Swing
I don't know what you're doing here
When there's murder on the street
I appreciate your concern
But don't waste your time on me
I'm ashes on the water now
Somewhere far away
You think you came here just in time
But you're twenty years too late
You won't have long to wait

"Easy, you said I was easy. This world sharpens teeth. Eat your words..."


HARD AS LOVE

Well I hear that you were looking out to hunt me down
And I guess you're used to having everything you want
But you know that love can be as hard as sticks and stones
I tell you nothing else can be as hard as love can
Well I hear you got my number and you want my name
I'm a stream of noughts and crosses in your R-A-M
But you know that love can be as hard as algebra
Baby nothing else has ever been as hard as love

Hard as love

Well I hear that you were lookin' out to take me home
And I hear that you can handle it and you're not scared
Have you heard about the pictures on my bedroom wall?
Baby nothing else has ever been as hard as love

Hard as love

Well it makes you hungry and it makes you high
It makes you suffer and it makes you cry
But it's all worthwhile

It makes you humble and it makes you crawl
It makes you tremble and it makes you fall
But it's all worthwhile

It makes you desperate and it makes you dream
It makes you dangerous and it makes you scream
But it's all worthwhile
Just lie back and smile

"We will continue to love you even though the rest of the world hates you."

It makes you hungry and it makes you high
It makes you suffer and it makes you cry
It makes you panic and it makes you vain
It makes you primitive and sick inside
It makes you angry and it makes you blind
It makes you guilty and it makes you lie
Tied up and beaten
Spat out and eaten
Suicidal
Nothing's ever been as hard

Well I hear that were lookin' out to change my faith
You can bash me with your book of words, hammer me down
But you know that love can be as hard as six inch nails
Baby nothing else has ever been as hard as love

Hard as love


THE HOLLOW MAN

I think I have become one of the hollow men
As I shine on the outside more these days
I can feel the outside feeding on my inside
Leaves a growing darkness in it's place
I think I have become one of the hollow men
I think I have become one of the lonely
Now that everybody talks to me
I feel I have become one of the empty

Hollow men can stop you with the twinkling of an eye
Hollow men can take you without even reaching out
Hollow men have got you long before you realise

The poison paralyses

I think I have become one of a pair of men
It's a feeling I've been having for some time
I look down upon myself and watch my movements
A blind eye sees the fragile vandalised

Watch this cold world dishing up these endless hollow men
Find us anywhere you look
Come and meet our friends
Stand us in our silly clothes
Put our batteries in
Line us up like fairground ducks
Watch us grin and grin
See the lies behind our eyes
See the will to win
We'll buy you and we'll sell you
But perhaps we'll save your skin

Sit quietly and listen to the breeze
The hollow and the lonely listen too
Sniff the air for something we can use

We're tin-hard and we rattle when we're shaken


ALONE AGAIN IN THE LAP OF LUXURY

See those people there? They look after me
This is a photograph of who I might be
Man in a uniform, bride on his arm
Mum always was a fool for money and charm
He's been talkin' in his sleep again
Sayin' he's sorry, callin' my name
Sayin' how he's so ashamed

Alone again in the lap of luxury

Since it happened I had nothin' to say
It used to bother them but now it's okay
Mother cleans his dreadful house every day
Scrubbing at the stains that won't go away

They sent me away to the school in the park
They said it would be good for me
I still hear the other kids cry in the dark

Alone again in the lap of luxury
Is there no escape from the lap of luxury

I don't remember the last time I cried
I don't remember much except lies
See the little girl spirallin' down
This is a photograph of who she is now

"One day this will all be yours" he said
Tidy your room and straight to bed
Tidy up those thoughts in your head

Alone again in the lap of luxury

I could be anywhere right now
If I only had the nerve to leave this house
Maybe somewhere by the sea
Take me somewhere, anywhere please!

We could make a pillow of sand and sleep
We could roll
We could make
We could see
We could scream

Far, Father, Farthest
Oh daddy, you do not do anymore

For God's sake don't pretend to be concerned
Turn into nightmares in the end
Throw a party for all my friends

I. Now Wash your Hands

You give up hope
You settle down
With your favourite soap

Now wash your hands


PAPER LIES

Good morning!
When you look into the mirror
Do you see a face you hardly recognise
If you look into the sun too long
Do the things you see begin to burn your eyes

Paper lies

Just to express what he's thinking
Must a man take all the mail will bring
Are we living only for today
It's a sign of the times
We believe anything and nothing

Paper lies

When you kill the truth
You can make a killing
You might just make losing look like winning

You came to tell the people what's goin' on
But nobody knows whose side you're on
Seems like you're sailin' pretty close to the wind again

Paper lies
You have already won a prize!

I know something that you don't know
Something that you ought to know
It's burning a hole in my pocket book
Listen ... do you want to know a secret?
We can print our own money here
If you let us do a piece on you
We can take you to pieces

When you look into the money
Do you see a face you hardly recognise?
When you get behind the news of the world
Do the things you find begin to bend your mind?

Paper lies

Why don't you let us take a piece out of you?


BRAVE

What a brave, brave girl
Never lied before
Such a plain deceit
Everyone would eventually know
What a brave, brave girl
Never loved before
Placed herself in reach

So he tried
In his own way
To find the heart
Of the tight-packed rose

She's gone now
But oh, she aches
She aches

He will search until he's found
A way to take the days

See her sadness in your face
She's inside you
And she's crying


THE GREAT ESCAPE

Heading for the great escape
Heading for the rave
Heading for the permanent holiday
Heading for the winter trip
Heading for the slide
Heading for the dignified walk away

Heading for the open road
Goodbye to all that
Heading for the automatic overload

Standing in the open boat
Standing in the swing
Waiting for the ringing and the bright light

Waiting to be recognised
Quiet applause will do
They shower you with flowers when they bury you

You're holding on, you're holding on ...

I. The Last of You

Just when I thought I'd seen the last of you
You come here scratchin' at my door
Your pain and anger's in the howling dark
Of every corridor I walk

So tell me more about the love that you rejected
Tell me more about the trust you disrespected
I still don't know, why did you hurt the very one
Why did you hurt the very one
That you should have protected?

II. Falling from the Moon

Don't ask me why I'm doing this
You wouldn't understand
You're asking the wrong questions
You couldn't understand

A bridge is not a high place
The fifty-second floor
Icarus would know
A mountain isn't far to fall

When you've fallen
When you've fallen from the moon

There's murder on the street
I'm ashes on the water now, somewhere far away
I have fallen, fallen from the moon


MADE AGAIN

I have been here many times before
In a life I used to live
But I have never seen these streets so fresh
Washed with morning rain
I have seen this face a thousand times
Every morning of my life
But I never saw these eyes so clear
Free of doubt and pain

Like the whole world has been made again

I have been here many times before
In a life I used to live...

And it's all because you made me see
What is false and what is true
Like the inside and the outside of me
Is being made again by you

And it's all because you made me see
What is false and what is true
Like the inside and the outside of me
Has been made again by you

Like a bright new morning
Like a bright new day
I woke up from a deep sleep
I woke up from a bad dream

To a brand new morning
To a brand new day
Like the whole world has been made again

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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