SCRIPT FOR A JESTER'S TEAR

Though Marillion remain popular to this very day, for many, it is the first four albums that really matter. Released in 1983, 'Script For A Jester's Tear' would kick-start a hugely-successful decade for the group, with follow-up 'Fugazi', the commercial smash 'Misplaced Childhood' and 1988's 'Clutching At Straws' all continuing the shiny, keyboard-and-guitar dominated neo-prog themes. Of course, the glue that links these four albums is lead-singer Derek Dick, more commonly known as Fish, and once he left the group thanks to internal tensions following the release of the popular 'Clutching At Straws', Marillion would change forever. However, this is where the Marillion story begins and, alongside 'Misplaced Childhood', it remains the group's defining statement, a cunningly-crafted, pop-edged, instrumentally- impressive album filled with haunting melodies and Fish's trademark squawking jester vocals. Both the title-track and the epic 'The Web' are the stand-outs on an album with a strangely- sombre tone, but in truth, one can happily listen to 'A Script For A Jester's Tear' all the way through without feeling the need to flick the needle forward. Alongside IQ's 'Tales From The Lush Attic' and Twelfth Night's 'Fact & Fiction', this is undoubtedly one of the high watermarks of the early-1980's neo-prog scene. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2010