A thread to talk about Marion, the band (c or d?)

So are they really worth a listen now? I'm not convinced but maybe I unfairly overlooked them at the time. Too busy listening to the Wedding Present probably.

As well you should be. Just got their new single....but am afraid to play it.

Back to Marion, one of them had facial hair, as I remember.

So are they really worth a listen now?

Probably not unless you liked them a bit then. ;-) I am waiting to see if Dr. C has anything to say -- and it's probably not flattering!

And of course, there was the infamous incident where he was arrested for stealing garden gnomes to, sadly, fund his habit.

He's now working on new music again, so I hear.

Tony Grantham was last seen in a band called Chalk which briefly got some hype around Manchester.

They were loud as hell when I saw them live. "Let's All Go Together" was by far my favourite song on their debut, which was patchy at best.

Oh man. Should I laugh or cry?

puressence kicked their asses. (although to say puressence were patchy would be an insult to patches.)

i was going to start wanging on about how britpop dulled everything so much that bands like marion had to play to the lowest common denominator rather than reaching for the sky, but a) it's probably not entirely true and b) i'm way, way too tired and grumpy tonight.

Heheh, very honest that. Puressence are certainly a little more restrained in ways but if we put together their singer with Marion's guitarists then THAT would have been a band -- not that Puressence's guitars weren't good, I should note. ;-)

Due to my Johnny Marr fandom I checked out a bit of their second album, but it left no impression.

Ned is very much OTM about the singer overdoing it a bit. One did wish he would just calm down a little at times. I can see why people compare The Killers to Marion, but I find the Killers a lot easier to deal with overall. And I think the singer is better, too.

Also I don't think Cunningham brought any radical change to New Order either, but I notice some guitar parts strewn here and there that are actually quite nice and don't sound like the kind of thing Barney would do.

Completley OTM.

Both Marion records are excellent, especially the second.

www.torr.org/blog

..or maybe just a crappy hoax.

great band. even the bsides. and other than a few singles, far more of a 'rock' band than most of their jangly britpop contemporaries.

Classic.

These, 60ft. Dolls and Geneva are all painfully underrated.

I love the first Marion and Geneva albums. I remember liking the seconds from them too at the time but haven't listened to them in years. Of the stuff I picked up in the mid-'90s in my search for anything that sounded remotely like Suede, I still listen to those, Strangelove, and Puressence. I permanently shelved Rialto, Ballroom, Jocasta, and probably a few others I can't think of now. I do have fond memories of the Longpigs album but haven't thought to put that one on in a while; not sure if I'd still like it. Don't think I've ever heard 60ft Dolls; at the time I mentally slotted them under generic garage rock based on the name and image but maybe I'll give them a shot.

Ooh, I don't think I've - consciously or unconsciously - listened to or heard anything by Strangelove and/or Puressence in years! The one and only time I saw Marion live they were incredible and Jaime was very energetic onstage. I never saw Geneva live, sadly. I never really gave Rialto that much of a chance, to be honest, as by the time 'Monday Morning 5:19' was out I was kinda beginning to feel a bit of fatigue with the post-Urban Hymns phase that indie seemed to be going through at the time.

60ft. Dolls were more of a late '70s punk/new wave thing, and therefore may not be your thing, but I still The Big 3 has actually held up really well, and their second LP (Joya Magica) deserved better.

Okay, so I listened to Strangelove's Time for the Rest of Your Life earlier and my god has it held up well. Some genuinely beautiful guitar playing throughout, a highly underrated alternative rock record.

As far as Marion goes - Classic. I think 'Vanessa' is a storming track. Used to howl along to it on my way to band rehearsals, as a warm-up.
Still got the day job, mind.

I was always a bit like that *wavey hand* but then i saw them do one of the best gigs i've *ever* seen at Sheffield Leadmill circa '94.

I hope me laddo is doing alright

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/jaime-harding-marion-jailed-arson-11742460

On that Britpop Now! one-off TV thing that Damon Albarn presented, Marion's performance was only second to Pulp's. Blur's "LOL look we're playing 'Country House' wearing traditional posh country gear" schtick looks fucking ridiculous now, and Elastica, Supergrass and The Boo Radleys were okay, but nothing came close to those two.