Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Marillion
Label: EMI Records
Released: 1996
Rating: 4.5/5
»Made Again« is a double live album from the legendary British art rock champions Marillion, and it marks the final farewell to their long-running partnership with the famous EMI label. It was their first official live release for the general market with singer Steve Hogarth in the lineup (not counting the limited-run live releases for members of the Marillion fan club, of course). It’s actually a double live collection stitched together from three different venues, recorded in three different periods.
The first half of disc one captures a live show in London on September 29, 1991, back when they were promoting the ‘pop rock’-leaning record »Holidays In Eden« (1991), their second studio effort with Mr. H on board. So it’s no surprise that performances from the first two albums with the cult singer dominate here. He was still the new guy back then, and he had to convince most of the fans that the band wouldn’t get any worse artistically after the departure of original vocalist Fish (real name Derek Dick), quite the opposite. The punchy »Splintering Heart« makes for a hugely authoritative opener to this first part of the live recording, followed by plenty of melodic, salt-of-the-earth favorites, led by the immortal pacifist ballad »Easter«, the should-have-been hits from the early nineties »No One Can« and »Cover My Eyes«, and the epic »Seasons End« (1989) treat »The Space«, while the melodramatic »Waiting To Happen« is a minor surprise in the middle of this set of live classics that have long since become fixtures.
The second half of the disc has a recording from the Rotterdam show on September 29, 1995, when they were touring the album »Afraid Of Sunlight« (1995). From here on, too, it’s a seriously nice bouquet of performances, opened by the hard-rocking ‘rabble-rouser’ »Hooks In You« and continuing with the gorgeous ballad »Beautiful«, while on »Kayleigh« and »Lavender«, their biggest hits from the Fish era, Mr. H does a decent job, but of course far less convincingly than the legendary Scottish merrymaker. The superb versions of »Afraid Of Sunlight« and »King« offer a great glimpse into this artistically very successful period, as their EMI contract was slowly running out.
The real value of »Made Again« lies in the second disc, though, because it contains the complete live performance of their concept-album masterpiece »Brave« (1994), which in places comes off even more convincing than the studio version. This recording comes from a show in Paris on April 29, 1994, where they were promoting the aforementioned classic live. »Brave« was the album on which Marillion with Hogarth in the lineup first found that right artistic chemistry between them, the one that still drives them forward today, and proved they could keep creating works of art without Fish. This live performance, which turned out great in every respect, is one more clear piece of evidence for that claim. The »Made Again« booklet is especially interesting for longtime and newer fans alike, because it includes excerpts from Hogarth’s tour diary, in which the legendary singer describes how he felt before, during and after individual shows, along with various ‘side’ adventures from the different tours.
»Made Again« is a terrific double live document that still offers a near-perfect window into Marillion’s live scene in the first half of the nineties, the early era with Mr. H in the lineup. It’s hard to believe that the band was actually in a steep commercial decline at the time, with EMI more or less shrugging when the two parted ways in 1996, because in this phase of their career Marillion hit numerous artistic peaks and created a whole heap of unforgettable music. Five years later, when it was already too late and they’d long since gone independent with their own label, the lofty EMI courted them to come back, in vain.
Lineup
Steve Hogarth – vocals
Steve Rothery – guitar
Pete Trewavas – bass guitar, backing vocals
Mark Kelly – keyboards, backing vocals
Ian Mosley – drums
Production
Marillion
Track list
CD1:
1. Splintering Heart
2. Easter
3. No One Can
4. Waiting to Happen
5. Cover My Eyes
6. The Space
7. Hooks In You
8. Beautiful
9. Kayleigh
10. Lavender
11. Afraid of Sunlight
12. King
CD2:
1. Bridge
2. Living with the Big Lie
3. Runaway
4. Goodbye to All That
5. Wave
6. Mad
7. The Opium Den
8. The Slide
9. Standing in the Swing
10. Hard As Love
11. Hollow Man
12. Alone Again in the Lap of Luxury
13. Now Wash Your Hands
14. Paper Lies
15. Brave
16. The Great Escape
17. The Last of You
18. Falling from the Moon
19. Made Again
