REAL TO REEL

There are Live-Albums and Live-Albums... I'd like to divide them into two categories, really, although there are more... but mainly you get either those that, as an act of duty, have been put out to give the listener a "best of" performed in concert - and therefore please the record-company, because they promise to sell a lot - or there are those that "scream" for an official release because they truly capture essential, magical moments of an artist on stage, not depending on expected songs.

Luckily "Real to Reel" is belonging to the second category, it's a burst of energy making you feel as if you're part of the crowd. Marillion, who were fighting to grow from cult-status to major-league, had a lot to prove and you can feel the hunger and passion that made them deliver - and deliver they did. I don't want to name stand-out-tracks or performances here, cause it's the whole thing that can really blow your mind, but if I'd have to pick only one it must be "Garden Party", cause - with the brilliance of Ian Mosley's drumming - here you can hear it in the way it always should have been, as is the case with "Assassing" and other tracks from "Fugazi" that, taken before an audience, come to life here at last.

The band finally had got together and they were ready to take the top, which is what they did soon afterwards. A real Live-Record, not a second of boredom. I think I'd go too far to give it a five star-rating here, though - perhaps because it's over too soon, I can't tell, I would not call it an "essential masterpiece of prog", but an excellent showcase for a hungry band that had the power and the skills to make it big. "Real to Reel" will always stay a personal favorite of mine when it comes to "Marillion with Fish", and in general it's still a very good live-album highly recommended to all Prog-Lovers.

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