Prog Song Pit

Fugazi is the best album from Fish era Marillion and that song is the best on it imo. In general I preferred IQ while Marillion came off as a bit too theatrical although Mr Dick certainly had a fantastic stage presence and that no doubt helped them become successful ( Pete Nicholls on the other hand was a bit shy and suffered from stage fright)

I'm more ambivalent. Not up to the standards of the Script. The only thing worthwhile about this song was the vocal. The instrumental backing needs a shot of adrenaline or smelling salts or something. The instruments didn't really interact with the vocal, not with any sort of intricacy. In fact, I would say there was a disconnect. They were just holding down chords or arpeggiating as with the finger picking. The finger picking was so simple that it just felt unworthy. The vocal was fantastic and I think Fish stands in his own right apart Gabriel, but he tires me out long term. My big criticism of Marillion was they weren't more instrumentally driven, and I would apply that same criticism to this song. I'll have to go over the lyrics again, but seem to have a pornography theme. Fish handles psychologically sensitive themes with beautiful sensitivity.

Question: Is the intention of this thread to premiere and discuss songs in the form of vocals and lyrics or in the broader Prog sense as musical pieces?

That was an enjoyable song.  I hadn't heard it before.  I'm familiar with the Misplaced Childhood album, and this song compares favorably with that.  Can't really contribute a deep analysis of what I heard, but I liked the fact that it had dynamics, a dramatic structure, and interesting melodies.

As Steve said, this song (and everything else on Marillion's first two albums) compares favourably with Misplaced Childhood, an album that never clicked with me. Though Fish's vocals are undoubtedly an acquired taste (like Peter Hammill, in my opinion his real inspiration), they work very well with both the music and the lyrics. When Hogarth stepped in to replace Fish, the band gained a lot in terms of subtlety, though they lost the visceral impact of their original singer's personality.

When i listen to them, it is exclusively Fish era and I mainly keep to Script, Fugazi, and my personal favorite: Clutching At Straws, the only album of theirs that i entirely enjoy. 

Edited by Horizons - February 27 2015 at 12:04

nice idea man... I'll listen to this later and post my thoughts.

inb4 The Mars Voltage

NO!!! 

exactly what I mean.  Unlike that drivel earlier..  while I can't stand TMV.. one thing I can not say about them is they are bland or formulaic.. or derived. Thus they have a value that goes FAR beyond whether I like them or you do or whatever.  That is what prog should do. If you aren't pushing the boundaries you are just a generic knockoff prog band. 

However when you push the boundaries.. you will lose people. That could be.. and should be seen as a positive in this particular branch of music. Prog.  Shame I just can't enjoy them. Strange.. for heavy aggressive music is STRAIGHT right up my stylistic alley.



Edited by micky - February 27 2015 at 13:49

For some reason, since the first time I heard "Incubus", the part which stuck to my mind the most is when Fish goes "ooooo-AH!" at the start of the song. I keep humming that bit during the day (and I probably sound pretty stupid for doing so ).
And I love that sweet guitar solo in the middle.

Apart from that, I too think that Fish sounds a bit like Gabriel, but I don't think that Marillion and Genesis sound similar on Fugazi. On that album, Marillion have more punch than classic Genesis (Incubus isn't the right song to showcase that, though).