GARDEN PARTY

My version is from THE SINGLES '82 - 88' with exactly the same set except the format is in CD instead of vinyl. Indeed, if the vinyl is still available in the market, I wan to acquire it as the single is really worth collecting. The song Garden Party is one of the songs mostly played by the band from the two worlds: Fish as well as Hogarth. Composition-wise it's a wonderfully crafted song with good lyrical verse. I remember vividly in the past, a jazz radio station in Bandung (KLCBS) played this song that really surprised me as this is NOT a jazz tune after all.

The other two live tracks Charting The Single and Margaret are good representation of how dynamic the band live performance was. I really love Margaret that sometimes I played it many times especially on the part that Fish introduced his bandmates.

It's an excellent package. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

"Garden Party" is a single release by UK progressive rock act Marillion. The 7" single was released through EMI Records in June 1983. It´s the second single released to promote the band´s debut full-length studio album "Script for a Jester's Tear" (March 1983), where the A-side of the single appears as track number 4. The B-side track is a live version of "Margaret" (a non-album track). The band also released a 12" maxi-single version of "Garden Party" featuring a live version of "Carting the Single" as an extra track. "Garden Party" appears in two different versions on the 7" and the 12", as the the lyric part "I'm [%*!#]ing" was replaced by "I'm miming" on the 7" version, which was done to give the song a chance to be played on mainstream radio, while the version of the song featured on the 12" is the original album version featuring the "I'm [%*!#]ing" lyric part.

"Garden Party" is a powerful, jagged, and clever progressive rock song, but "Margaret" and "Carting the Single" are probably the two least remarkable tracks from the early part of Marillion´s discography, so in terms of track selection this single/maxi-single isn´t that necessary. Considering that this live version of "Margaret" and the studio version of "Carting the Single" were both included on the 1988 "B'Sides Themselves" compilation album, even less so. Even the least interesting tracks from the 80s treasure chest of Marillion songs are still good quality material though, so a 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.