MARILLION

In 1983, musical world seems to be in a dead-end. While the big Zeppelin did crash after Bonham's dead, Pink Floyd was releasing the 1st Roger Waters solo album Final Cut. Genesis and Yes were going nowhere with the Genesis album (aka Shapes) and 90125.

Then radio station CHOM-FM started to play a song called He Knows You Know on a regular basis. It is that year I discovered Marillion. Script For A Jester's Tear still remains a masterpiece today and the best album produced by the band. Despite the poor drumming from Mick Pointer, this album has everything a prog lover can ask for, including the wonderful illustration from Mark Wilkinson.

Album starts with what is probably the most emotional song Marillion did write. Script is that good. I love this song. Everything seems perfect in this 8+ minute song. From the a cappella "So Here I Am Once More" to the final "Can You Still Say You Love Me", the song is a roller-coaster between great guitar solos and more quiet sections.

He Knows You Know and Garden Party are the most straight-forward songs and are very good. The Web and Chelsea Monday are both real gems with again great guitar parts by Rothery.

Then, the grand finale of the album, Forgotten Sons. Starting with sounds coming from many radio channels, including snippet of Market Square Heroes, the song hits us right from the beginning. Each and every musician has his shining moments. Even the drum is sounding good, thanks to the military march beat. The final section, sung by Fish, starting with "You're just another coffin" is just to give goose bumps.

With this first album, Marillion did help the progressive music to stay alive. I did listen to those songs thousand of times since 35 years, and they are as good as they were back in 1983. Masterpiece, I give 5 stars.

This is Marillion's fourth and final studio album before the departure of the original vocalist-lyricist Fish and the arrival of Steve Hogarth, with whom the band would steer into quite another direction over the decades to come. It's clearly my favourite of the Fish era, and happens to be among my dearest vinyls. I had waited anxiously for its release, as it was during the two-year period of my most dedicated fandom ever [for any artist], in the age of 16-18. I liked it right from the first listen and I've never grown tired of it - having wisely avoided to over-play it all these years. Compared to the breakthrough album Misplaced Childhood (1985), this sounds more mature and far less cheesy. As great as MC is in its suite-oriented coherence and continuity, Clutching at Straws is sonically much more nuanced to my ears, and furthermore I think it has the finest lyrics Fish has ever written.

'Hotel Hobbies', 'Warm Wet Circles' and 'That Time of the Night' form a mini-suite which is simply fantastic. Already in the opener the dynamic changes from delicacy to intensive outburst and back is spellbinding, while the melodic and lyrical content in 'W.W.C.' is awesome. I'm even fond of the quiet interlude-like section ("It was a wedding ring, destined to be found..."). This opening suite is a good example of how Steve Rothery's guitar has much more elegance and variety in sound than on earlier Marillion albums. The CD version contains 'Going Under' which I know as a single's B-sider. Not quite up to the high quality of the album, this simple and introspectively moody little song, but an OK addition.

'Just for the Record', a song about alcoholism, is a minor prog gem hidden behind the "drunken" fast-tempo intro, and contains a really cool synth solo. 'White Russian' is a strong classic, with hair-raising lyrics written in Vienna: "we buy fresh bagels in a corner store, where swastikas are spat from aerosol".

The second side is not quite as perfect, but great enough not to drop my full rating. 'Incommunicado' sounds like an attempt for a hit single (I don't know if it was one), but its positive energy is pretty enjoyable nevertheless. 'Torch Song' is another fine song about drinking. I like the spoken dialogue of Doctor Finlay and Mr Torch. 'Slàinte Mhath' used to feel slightly duller than the album in general, but it has aged very well, and admittedly it was a good concert opener at the time. 'Sugar Mice' is the most sentimental song, not necessarily progressive but emotionally all the more impressive. Again, the lyrics - soaked in self-pity - really get under one's skin. 'The last Straw' is a powerful end piece for this excellently produced Neo Prog album. A definite masterpiece of its era, and a timeless classic.

Brief Encounter is aptly named - it's an EP churned out by EMI in a bid to introduce Marillion to the US market, where they'd be supporting Rush on the Power Windows tour. It collects the two major non-album B-sides from the Misplaced Childhood era (Lady Nina and Freaks) with a clutch of live tracks from the Hammersmith Odeon concerts in January 1986. It's a pleasant enough listen, but those B-sides are hardly essential and more satisfying live albums from Marillion are readily available. These days, the easiest way to get Brief Encounter is as a bonus disc on recent CD reissues of Real to Reel, and I'd call that about right.

"Neo-prog 'guilty pleasure'?"

1. Kayleigh (03:33)

Between the albums Fugazi (1984) and Misplaced Childhood (1985) EMI and Marillion negociated about the music: the band wanted to make a concept album, EMI was OK but on the condition that Marillion delivered a commercial song, for a hit single. Well, we know the result, that commercial song became Kayleigh: it reached the #2 position in the UK (in The Netherlands #12, in Germany #7 and in the USA #74) and it remained 14 weeks in the charts, then Marillion got the headline spot on the Milton Keynes festival and all concerts at the Wembley Arena were sold out, incredible for a progressive rock rooted band!

About the title Fish said: "I'd wanted to write a song about a girlfriend I'd split up with, whose name was Kay (in 2012 she passed away). Which of course we couldn't do. So we added her middle name, Lee, and it became Kayleigh instead. "But it wasn't just about Kay, it was inspired by three or four different people in my life."

The song starts with a fragile guitar riff that carry you away to a climate that alternates between romantic and melancholic, perfectly blended with Fish his tender vocals. The refrain features a soft outburst in which Fish sounds more powerful, to emphazise his deep feelings about the broken relationships. Halfway Rothery delivers a splendid guitar solo, very moving and powerful, as a long and desperate cry how it all went wrong. In the final phrase "Maybe it will prove that we were right. Or ever prove that I was wrong" Fish strongly sings the word "wrong" and the music fades away.

This timeless composition made many fans happy and lots of daughters were named Kayleigh. But listening to Kayleigh I still have strong mixed feelings after all those years, is this a brilliant ballad or a tedious tearjerker? Well, from now on it's my 'guilty pleasure'.

2. Lady Nina (03:41)

Fish said: "I was going through a very Bohemian element, you know. I remember hanging about this place called 'Rasputins', which was one of the famous German brothels, and I used to go along and just write there at night with the girls, and talk to the girls, sitting in the red light of the bar. Lady Nina was written there."

Typical early Marillion neo-prog song featuring strong guitarwork, propulsive drum beats, an important role for the vocals and lyrics from Fish ("I know you'll never act with me, I know that you're in love with me. So how do I compare to the sailors of the ships of the night? Was I all right? Did you come tonight, lady Nina?" and in the final part pleasant synthesizer flights.

1. Punch and Judy (3:18) :

Punch And Judy was the first song I ever witnessed live from Marillion, on the annual Dutch Pinkpop festival, in 1984 (60.000 visitors). With a few hundred Marillion freaks we had gathered in front of the stage and when Marillion arrived , they were welcomed as 'neo-prog heroes'. Soon after the band had started the concert with Punch And Judy, I was in the middle of a jumping, yelling, roaring, swinging, singing and clapping crowd. And everybody joined Fish his animated gestures ('Punch, Punch, Punch'), wow, welcome to the realm of Neo-Prog. This song-oriented and melodic new genre appealed to many young people, and for the first time in my life I noticed a lot of women between the audience! On one hand they wanted to swing, sing and clap with Neo Prog, on the other hand they wanted to be mesmerized by an Old School Progrock frontman, with a painted face.

A strong point in Punch And Judy are the lyrics: a cynical lookback at a marriage that started romantic ('Whatever happened to lover's lane. Whatever happened to passion games. Sunday walks in the pouring rain.') but gradually the husband got bored ('Now I vegetate with a colour TV') and finally wanted to get rid of his wife (World war three, suburbanshee. Just slip her these pills and I'll be free. No more Judy, Judy, Judy no more. Goodbye Judy.'). Briljant cynical lines, in my opinion inspired by his own difficulties with relationships (part of his borderline personality-like behaviour).

Musically this is a strong, typically neo-prog composition, the subtle slowdown and accellaration moments are fuelled by a dynamic rhythm-section (inluding the outstanding new drummer Ian Mosley) and the colouring by guitar and keyboards is tasteful, but also functional to the vocals and lyrics.

The cover art is also great, showing the marriage in its final state, hilarious but with a dark Roald Dahl-like undertone.

2. Market Square Heroes (4:48) : A splendid rock song with powerful vocals and pleasant work on guitar and keyboards, a perfect crowd pleaser!

3. Three Boats Down From The Candy (4:02) : Another very good rock song featuring Fish his distinctive vocals.

My rating: 3,5 star

Side 1 :

Assassing - full version (7:01) :

On my 12" version of the Assassing single by Marillion everything matches: the intricate Mark Wilkinson cover, the dynamic neo-prog, the passionate vocals, the venemous lyrics and, last but not least, the outstanding drums by new member Ian Mosley.

About the sultry intro Steve Rothery told: "The germ of the idea came while we were writing at Mountain studios in Wales in the summer of '83. I'd just got my Roland guitar synthesizer and was experimenting with it and Fish had been driving us all mad by playing Islamic records he'd got from Peter Hammill, at great volume all the time".

Then a catchy beat and dynamic music, focussing on Fish his vocals and lyrics, pretty emotional and personal. I read that Fish his sarcastic lines point at his former friend and ex-Marillion drummer Mike Pointer, Fish was very disappointed about him and felt bitterly hurt. This generated wonderful poetical words with a bitter undertone: "I am the assassin, with tongue forged in eloquence. I am the assassin, providing your nemesis." To emphasize his anger he repeated the words "My friend" several times, spoken with a lot of venom!

We can also enjoy a powerful guitar solo, Mark Kelly his distinctive synthesizer flights and Ian Mosley his fluent drumwork. But Fish shines with his vocals and creative lyrics, loaded with references, like: "The scarf with the fugi knot" (Fugi is a corruption of Thuggee, worshipers of Kali who would strangle their victims in the name of religion. The method of strangulation was by a yellow scarf into which a one rupee had been knotted.) and "Non-com observer" (this refers to non-combatant, not non-commissioned, in this case. It was a term used especially in Vietnam and Korea meaning film crews, journalists, photographers and the like who were involved in the documenting of events, and were not required to take part in any military action."). The dynamic and melodic atmosphere on Assassing (typical neo-prog) appealed to the fans,. And it became a popular composition during the concerts, also due to Fish his mesmerizing stage antics.

Side 2 :

Cinderella Search - full version (5:24) : Originally this is a not a Fugazi album track. The atmosphere is mellow featuring the sentimental side of Fish ( wonderful poetry with a strong Freudian undertone, about sex, addictions and fear for rejection) and sensitive electric guitar runs. Halfway a short break, then a compelling accelaration with powerful drums, melancholical vocals and fiery electric guitarplay, slowly fading away. Simply beautiful.

Assassing - edited version = not on UK version (3.38)

The single reached the #22 position in the UK charts in May 1984, supported by a smooth video featuring Fish like a kind of New Wave singer. But on stage Fish was way more captivating, with a new outfit for Assassing during the Real To Reel tour (late 1984), see my avatar.

My rating: 3,5 star.

Between 1980 and 1982 Marillion had worked on a strong live reputation, and earned a large and fanatic cult following. In the end it was EMI that recognized their huge potential, culminating in the debut album Script For A Jester's Tear (1983) and a serie of singles since Market Square Heroes (1982). The collaboration with Mark Wilkinson and his mindblowing artwork contributed to the magic of early Marillion. I was lucky to find my first regular job in 1982 so I could purchase all those (pretty expensive) early Marillion singles and t-shirts, embellished with the highly imaginative Mark Wilkinson artwork.

One of my favourite Marillion singles is Garden Party. In an interview on the Internet Fish explains the content: "Garden Party is a cynical outlook, the microcosm of Cambridge where the upper class is used to uphold a plastic facade rather than a reality and it becomes and act that rather a lot of people feel the need to maintain at Cambridge (where Fish lived with his girldfriend, EN). I objected especially to a guy who told me all about the troubles in Palestine when he'd never ever been there because Palestine was a very hip thing to discuss at wine and cheese parties, you know? I reacted very, very aggressively to that situation." And about the subtitle The Great Cucumber Massacre: "Two of the most common delicacies at garden parties are cucumber sandwiches and egg sandwiches. In Britain the construction of a sandwich is much simpler than here in the US - it is: slice of bread, butter, filling, butter, slice of bread. At the `best' garden parties such sandwiches will have had the crusts removed and be cut into little triangles. Many hundreds of these will be consumed hence 'The Great Cucumber Massacre' sub-title."

I own the 12" Version (and the t-shirt, it still fits after 35 years, haha!).

Side A :

Garden Party - full version (7:11) This song became a stage favourite, in fact Garden Party is more rock than prog. But Marillion their fresh new progressive rock (labelled as neo-prog) appealed to many young people and also many women, they loved the melodic and welcoming approach in the music and on stage. Here on Garden Party 'it's neo-prog party time', and no huge and clinical distance, like between the Seventies progrock dinosaurs and their audience. So enjoy the catchy beat, the cheerful synthesizer flights, the rocky guitar and, last but not least, Fish his strong and distinctive venomous vocals and sarcastic lyrics. One part of the lyrics was very popular during the concerts: 'I'm punting, I'm beagling, I'm wining, reclining, I'm rucking, I'm f xxx ing'! This final word (on PA I had to censore it) was loudly screamed by the fans, they felt one with their neo-prog messiah Fish! And the Scottish giant loved these provocative language, I presume inspired by Jim Morrison.

Charting the Single - live version, London Hammersmith Odeon 18 April 1983 (6:30).

Pleasant neo-prog featuring a very inspired Fish and a tasteful colouring by powerful guitar and varied keyboards, a typical song that comes more to live on stage, as you can hear.

Side B :

Margaret - live version, Edinburgh Playhouse, 7 April 1983 (12:17).

A homegame for Fish in this excellent live track entitled Margaret (an old van?) that starts with a Scottish folk tune, featuring Fish and Steve Rothery, then a keyboard that sounds like a Scottish bagpipe, what a great live atmosphere! The song turns into a catchy beat with powerful vocals and strong work on guitar and keyboards, fuelled by a dynamic rhythm-section. To emphasize that great live atmosphere, Fish introduces all band members who play a short solo on their instruments, there is even some Peer Gynt Suite from Grieg (the bridge between classical and neo-prog) and finally a huge crowd participation, and lots of clapping and yelling, the fans loved it!

My rating: 3,5 star

My first 'Marillion early stage experience' was June 1984, at the annual Dutch Pinkpop festival concert during the Fugazi tour, and it turned out to be my most magical one! We arrived the evening before the concert, slept in our car, the next morning we joined the hundreds of Marillion fans (with Marillion t-shirts, banners and some dressed like a jester), and in an euphoric mood we all gathered in front of the stage. The Pinkpop Marillion gig was an unforgettable experience: an inspired band and the charismatic frontman Fish delivering his funny song introductions and theatrical stage antics. From that moment I wanted to experience 'the early stage Marillion' everyday and bought one bootleg after another. I have always cherished these bootlegs, also because I was very disappointed about The Thieving Magpie live double album. Because that was not the great live atmosphere I knew from the exciting Marillion gigs. In 2013 EMI released Early Stages : The Highlights (a compilation of the 6-CD collector's box' Early Stages : The Official Bootlegs 1982-1988) featuring most of the bootleg recordings I was so exited about, and as a bonus the previously unreleased Fife Aid 1988 version of Market Square Heroes.

Disc 1: Early Marillion was an exciting live band: from their first gig in 1980 and they build an excellent live reputation, earning a huge cult-following. There was always a very pleasant interaction between the band and the fans, and we could enjoy 'the Fish talks' (with that Scottish accent). And often more powerful and slighty extended versions than the studio tracks. Songs also developped, just listen to She Chameleon: an other keyboard sound (more subdued) and a more rocky guitar, a pretty embryonal sound. The Mayfair and Marquee concerts also deliver a cosy 'pub-atmosphere', the advantage of a small venue. Musically I notice that Mark Kelly often uses a Farfisa organ in the very early days, on She Chameleon, Chelsea Monday and Forgotten Sons. And I am not pleased with Mick Pointer his frequent and irritating hi-hat hitting. The drums skills are way better on the other tracks after 1982, with Andy Ward and later Ian Mosley. A nice surprise is the Mellotron violin sound in the intro of Script For A Jester's Tear (yes, Marillion had a Mellotron M400 on stage!), it's not on the later album version. Another nice surprise is the synthesizer improvisation halfway Forgotten Sons (also not on the later album version). These are the extra's you are waiting for on releases like this!

The Reading Rock festival in 1983 was a kind of home game for Marillion, all those many Marillion fans generated an euphoric atmosphere. I love the Grendel version with a very strong grand finale, featuring howling electric guitar and majestic Mellotron choirs, neo-prog goose bumps! In Charting the single you can hear a freaky intro with the Minimoog synthesizer, also not on the studio version.

Disc 2 : The Hammersmith Odeon gig in 1984 was the Fugazi tour, the album that showcased Marillion their own musical formula (no more a pastiche of Gabriel-era Genesis), the band was an experienced and tight unit. We can enjoy a very good atmosphere and sound, this is early Marillion at its creative peak: excellent versions of Assasing (Ian Mosley was such an asset), Punch And Judy (huge crowd participation) and the absolute highlight Fugazi (great spirit and Fish singing "the world is totally Fugazi", wearing that Vietnam outfit, how compelling). Halfway the concert Fish told the crowd about Marillion and "the new direction", as a prelude to the new songs, from the forthcoming new album Misplaced Childhood. You can hear the difference with the Fugazi tracks, Fish became more dominant with his vocals and lyrics and there is less chemistry,in my opinion. But the crowd loved it, especially the sentimental Kayleigh.

In 1987 Marillion had become a 'biggie': the smash hit Kayleigh became #2 in the UK with 200.000 sold copies, and Misplaced Childhood even reached the #1 ranking in the UK with 300.000 sold copies (both in 1985). So in 1987 Marillion had earned the status to play in the huge Wembley Arena, during the Clutching At Straws tour. Again the atmosphere and sound are very good, Fish does his funny song introductions and the crowd participation is fine . But personally I found the tracks close to boring, Fish had taken total control, and it was no surprise that this was the final album from Marillion with Fish.

Fife Aid, St. Andrews 1988 : A two day festival that also featured Rick Wakeman, Jack Bruce, Phil Manzanera, and Osibisa! It was Fish his final performance with Marillion, so Fish singing "I found smog at the end of my rainbow, I found my thoughts shift slowly into phase. Declared the constitution of the walkway, I realise it's time to plan the day" was pretty ironical! I like this version of Market Square Heroes (the previously unreleased bonus track), with strong drumming and a surprising break featuring parts of My Generation (The Who) and Let's Twist Again (Chubby Checker) with an inspired Fish, "you are the heroes" he tells the public in the end, goodbey.

This is another obvious attempt from EMI to plunder the wealthy wallets of the longing progheads! But on the other hand it's also a very good introduction to the magical early Marillion live, if you don't own that 6-CD box, like me.

Prologue: Those were disappointing progrock years for me, between 1978 and 1983, with And Then There Were Three by Genesis, Tormato by Yes, Love Beach by ELP and The Final Cut by Pink Floyd and even my beloved Rush flirted with reggae and new wave, on Signals in 1982. In March 1983 I stumbled upon an album that had caught my eye, due to the mindblowing artwork: Script For A Jester's Tear by Marillion. A year ago I had listened to their maxi single Market Square Heroes/Grendel but I was not really convinced of their potential. However, I took a look at the awesome vintage instruments (like Strat ' and Yamaha guitar, Rickenbacker ' and Fender fretless bass, Minimoog synthesizer and Mellotron) and the fascinating, poetrical lyrics. Then I decided to give Marillion a second chance, the rest is history.

1. Script For A Jester's Tears (8:39) : What an incredible and legendary first part with only Fish his almost spoken words and tender Grand piano, then the music becomes more lush and finally a bombastic eruption featuring howling guitar runs and emotional vocals ('Yet another emotional suicide, overdosed on sentiment and pride'). Next the composition alternates between catchy, dreamy and compelling, in perfect balance to support the wonderful Fish vocals and the poetrical lyrics. All topped by Mark Kelly his distinctive sparkling synthesizer flights. The outstanding final part delivers dramatic vocals and moving work on guitar, with the use of sustain (Steve Rothery is a huge fan of Carlos Santana).

2. He Knows You Know (5:22) : This is more melodic rock, wonderfully coloured by guitar and keyboards, with the focus on Fish his powerful vocals and his cynical lyrics.

3. The Web (8:48) : Another great start, now with a telephone call and then a climate that shifts between bombastic outbursts and catchy beats. We can enjoy those sparking Mark Kelly synthesizer flights, strong Fish vocals and a long and moving guitar solo, emphasizing Rothery his important role on this album.

4. Garden Party (7:15) : Cheerful melodic rock with a strong tension between the mellow and up-tempo atmospheres and tasteful work on keyboards and guitar. Fish sings in the vein of the provocative Jim Morrison: 'I'm rocking I'm f xxx ing !

5. Chelsea Monday (8:16) : A sultry atmosphere featuring subtle guitarwork (with slide and sustain), a buzzing bass and dramatic vocals ('Catalogue princess, apprentice seductress, buried in her cellophane world in glitter town, of Chelsea Monday)', culminating in a sumptuous outburst with fiery and howling guitar runs, goose bumps! The dramatic shifting moods match perfectly with the contrasts of the life of the young woman in this song, topped by awesome, very compelling guitarwork (sustain, volume pedal). The final part changes from bombastic to a slowly fading, dreamy atmosphere, with wonderful words about a sad situation. What a superb composition, legendary (neo) progrock!

6. Forgotten Sons (8:21) : Another very captivating and compelling composition about a victim of society, this time those who are unemployed and choose to go into the army. Fish shines with his venemous vocals and lyrics, the atmosphere fits perfectly with Fish his anger. Halfway another highlight in (neo) progrock, a breathtaking instrumental part with biting electric guitar runs, accompanied by propulsive drum beats, culminating in a very compelling final section with moving electric guitar and dramatic vocals ('On the news a nation mourns you unknown soldier count the cost, for a second you'll be famous but labelled posthumous'). In order to top this sumptuous neo prog grand finale, Marillion got the brilliant idea to use the unsurpassed Mellotron (choir section) in the EMI studio, again goose bumps!

The bonus disc: This is an interesting extra feature with often a more or less different colouring of the instruments, especially in Grendel (string-ensemble, halfway a jam session by guitar and keyboards and finally a guitar solo with wah-wah), Chelsea Monday (acoustic guitar, powerful Moog Taurus bass pedal sound and a remarkable presence of Mellotron violins in the final part) and He Knows You Know (softer climate, with Mellotron and organ sound).

Epilogue: I was 22 years old when I bought the vinyl in 1983, now I am 57 and listening to this album I am still carried away by Marillion their wonderful first album, timeless music! And it paved the way for the socalled neo- progressive movement, as a bridge between the Seventies and the Eighties. Because early Marillion is rooted in the classic progressive rock sound, but less self-indulgent and less complex. And it features that typical Eighties attitude: more song oriented, more melodic and more 'down to earth' lyrics. Marillion remained superior, and IQ second best.

This fancypants 2017 reissue of Misplaced Childhood combines an inessential new remaster of the album with some demos and B-Sides you may well already have (especially if you got the 2CD version of the previous remaster) and a rather inessential Steven Wilson mix of the album. (Seriously, can we get over this weird urge to have Steven Wilson mix every prog album ever? Misplaced Childhood's original mix is perfectly fine.)

Still, there's one major draw here which I found made the package worth my while, even if the new remaster won't oust my existing edition of the album - it's an absolutely dynamite live show from Utrecht, including a full runthrough of the album.

It's notable for coming from 1985, substantially earlier in the tour than the other officially-released live performances of the full album - both those from The Thieving Magpie and the rare Curtain Call boxed set hail from the 1986 leg of the tour, when the band were beginning to feel the burnout which would characterise the deliciously bleak Clutching At Straws.

On top of that, on The Thieving Magpie you don't get a full concert (you get the Misplaced Childhood performance on one disc and on the other disc a range of live odds and sods from different gigs), and the Curtain Call recording quality is not what it could be; conversely, here the recording quality is crystal-clear, the energy of the band is superb, and you get the full gig including encores and Fish's stage patter. It may well be the definitive live recording from the Misplaced Childhood era, and as a result is an extremely apt inclusion to this boxed set.