SCRIPT FOR A JESTER'S TEAR

For a fan of new wave like me, discovering Marillion was like seeing the light, in the sense that Neo-Progressive rock is an style that covers the hunger of every new wave fan that looks for something more concerned once in a while, and Marillion is the best band for, at least, introduce yourself to this genre

"Script for a Jester's Tear" is the first of the many Marillion's musical proposals, and also to first of the Fish's era. Many people here seem to think that this is the best musical offering from this period, although I don't necessarily agree. It is true that this album contains pretty much all the ingredients that are trademark to Marillion and to any band with Neo-Progressive tendencies, in some cases developed in a truly proficient way, specially in the first songs, but I think they are yet to improve, and I also think they did.

Like I mentioned before, for me the first songs, specially the title track, "Script for a Jester's Tear" and others like "The Web" with their dreamy synthetizers, ocasional flutes and of course Rothery's special guitar work, are the best. We continue with the simply correct "Garden Party", a song with an initial good idea but performed in a way that could have been better (although we are talking about an splendid song too). "Chelsea Monday" is the weak piece here, because its slow and organ based structure fails to convince me. And to finish, "Forgotten Sons", one of their successful hits performed with excellent and speedy guitar solos, probably an introduction to what we can see in "Fugazi"

Finally I have to say that I'm not a Fish fan whatsoever. I know that sometimes he is compared with Peter Gabriel. It is true that the tone of his voice is similar, but that's all, since at least, Gabriel manages to keep a balanced and constant singing pace that has nothing to be with Fish's chaotic way of singing. Well, at the least he managed to create good songs, that could have been better if he actually sang well.