SCRIPT FOR A JESTER'S TEAR

I missed Marillion in their first incarnation and only became aware of the earlier albums after being introduced to the Hogarth era by my astute older brother. I love the Hogarth stuff and became aware through blogs and other reviews of a considerable split in the Fish/Hogarth camps. I took my time in approaching the first 4 albums. I am a big fan of earlier Genesis and expected to like this album for this reason, having read many comparisons of Fish with Peter Gabriel (not a bad thing!) To my surprise and pleasure, it was not Genesis I was reminded of (although elements are there of course) but due to the structure and use of the vocals I was reminded of Van der Graf Generator. Fish's vocals are very reminiscent of Peter Hammils. The music is always interesting and all the songs are strong. This is a very strong debut , the band seems to have sprung up fully formed.