REAL TO REEL - BRIEF ENCOUNTER

'Real to Reel - Brief Encounter' is a compilation album from Marillion. The first disc contains the band's debut live album, 'Real to Reel.' The second disc contains the compilation EP, 'Brief Encounter.'

The first four tracks of 'Real to Reel,' "Assassing," "Incubus," "Cinderella Search," and "Emerald Lies," were recorded at the Spectrum in Montreal, Canada on 19-20 June 1984. The final three tracks, "Forgotten Sons," "Garden Party," and "Market Square Heroes," were recorded at De Montfort Hall in Leicester, England on 5 March 1984.

'Real to Reel' is an excellent live representation of the first two Marillion albums: 'Script For a Jester's Tear' and 'Fugazi.' The former is a masterpiece of progressive rock and among my favorite debut albums of all time, alongside 'In the Court of the Crimson King' by King Crimson and 'Tales from the Lush Attic' by IQ. The former is a decent effort from the band, though it does suffer from difficult second album syndrome. However, 'Fugazi' was the first album to feature Ian Mosley on drums, who was previously playing in Steve Hackett's band. Ian Mosley is still the drummer for Marillion today and has been in the band for 4 decades. I love what Mick Pointer, the original Marillion drummer, has done with his own band, Arena. Unfortunately, his drumming on 'Script for a Jester's Tear' is no where near the level of technicality and finesse of Ian Mosley. Even the live performances of the songs from the debut album ("Forgotten Sons," "Garden Party," and "Script for a Jester's Tear") sound far more powerful with Mosley on drums than the studio versions with Pointer.

Marillion were an amazing live band with Fish (Derek Dick) as their frontman. Obviously, he is inspired by Peter Gabriel's stage presence and employs the theatricality and makeup into his own performances. Even though this is merely an audio recording, I can envision Fish on stage portraying the jester. When Marillion released 'Misplaced Childhood' in 1985, Fish no longer continued using makeup. With or without makeup, Fish is a larger-than-life character on and off stage. This is especially apparent on live videos, but is nevertheless apparent on live albums such as 'Real to Reel.' Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of Fish as a singer. I've always seen him as more of a poet or a storyteller, like I would Roger Waters. Nevertheless, Fish gives every performance his all, and always gives the audience their money's worth. Some people may argue that Fish's lyrics are too wordy. I feel that he peaked as a lyricist on the last two albums he did with Marillion: 'Misplaced Childhood' and 'Clutching at Straws.' Fish has a penchant for words and wordplay, which is partly why I'm a massive fan of him and his time in Marillion.

Many of the songs on 'Real to Reel' are faithful to their studio counterparts. However, there are a couple highlights that are worth mentioning. The extended coda of "Forgotten Sons" is majestic. "Garden Party" and "Market Square Heroes" are perfect closers for a show because of their buoyancy.

'Brief Encounter' contains two studio tracks and three live tracks. The studio tracks are both b-sides, "Lady Nina" being the b-side to "Kayleigh," and "Freaks" being the b-side to "Lavender." The live tracks include "Kayleigh," and the first two albums' title tracks.

In conclusion, 'Real to Reel - Brief Encounter' is a good compilation album that features great live performances of songs from the first two Marillion records. Live albums can sometimes be hit-or-miss from any band, because many live albums contain overdubs and edits. When I listen to a live album, I want it to sound as authentic to a live performance as possible, as if I was there in the audience when it was recorded. This album contains excerpts of two shows. Typically, if I am ever in the mood to listen to a Marillion live album from this era of the band, I'll listen to the live shows included in the deluxe album box sets. That is why I don't return to 'Real to Reel - Brief Encounter' too often. However, after listening to it in preparation for this review, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not perfect, but it's a great product of what Marillion were all about during this point in their career.