ESSENTIAL COLLECTION

'Essential Collection' is a compilation album of Marillion that was released in 1996. It has tracks from all their four studio albums, 'Script For A Jester's Tear' of 1983, 'Fugazi' of 1984, 'Misplaced Childhood' of 1985 and 'Clutching At Straws' of 1987. It has also a track from their debut EP 'Market Square Heroes' of 1982 and two tracks that were only released as singles. All these tracks were released by Marillion in the time when Fish was still a member of the band.

'Essential Collection' has nine tracks. 'Grendel' is from their debut EP 'Market Square Heroes'. It's an epic and complex song inspired by John Gardner's book 'Grendel'. This is an adaptation of the Anglo-Saxon poem 'Beowulf' by Marillion. This track is one of the best tracks from the band, and it's also one of their most progressive too. This composition is frequently compared (mostly unfavourably), with 'Supper's Ready' of Genesis. Curiously, this EP was produced by David Hitchcock, who also had produced the Genesis studio album 'Foxtrot', with 'Supper's Ready' on it. So, this happy or unhappy coincidence, forced a big comparison between both pieces. 'He Knows You Know' is from 'Script For A Jester's Tear'. It's a song that tells us about the abuse of drugs, and alludes particularly to intravenous drug use. This is the shortest song on the album but it still is a great track and represents also another great musical moment on the album. It's a powerful song with powerful lyrics too. The song begins with the guitar followed by Fish's voice and soon the keyboards appear also and then, the song reaches its great musical climax when the drum section enters on the scene. 'Jigsaw' is from 'Fugazi'. It's a bit slow rock song, very nice and I particularly like of it very much. This is a song about everything with Marillion, their music, their audience and the accusation of being a Genesis' clone, what really bothered them. This is a sensual song with beautiful lyrics that we want to sing as we take our morning shower and leaves us well prepared to begin our day's work. Definitely, I love this song. 'Punch And Judy' is also from 'Fugazi'. The lyrics of the song are an amusing subject about a married life, a marriage that gone bad. It's the shortest track on that album but still is a very good song. This is a wonderful song although not very typical of their music until now. However, it features everything that's great in Marillion's songs, catchy riffs and melodies and their typical sound so characteristic of Fish's era. 'Cinderella Search' was never released on any of their studio albums. It was released on their single 'Assassing', in 1984 and it was the B side of that Marillion's single. It was released from their second studio album 'Fugazi'. It remains as one of my preferred songs from the 'Fugazzi' sessions, though not featured on the original album. 'Kayleigh' is from 'Misplaced Childhood'. It was also released as the A side of Marillon's first single 'Kayleigh' and with 'Lady Nina' as the B side. It was also released as a single to the US market with 'Kayleigh' as the A side and 'Heart Of Lothian' as the B side. A 12' version was also released with the alternative mix and an extended version of 'Kayleigh' as the A side with an extended version of 'Lady Nina' as the B side. This is maybe the most recognizable Marillion's tune. It's also one of their most accessible tracks. 'Lavender' is also from 'Misplaced Childhood'. It was also released as the A side of the Marillon's second single 'Lavender', taken from that studio album, with 'Freaks' as the B side. A 12' version was also released with 'Lavender Blue' as the A side and 'Freaks' and 'Lavender' as the B side. It features beautiful lyrics, nice vocals and great musicianship. This is a ballad track, albeit short. 'Lady Nina' was never released on any of their studio albums too. It was released on their single 'Kayleigh' and it was the B side of that Marillion's single. It was released on their third studio album 'Misplaced Childhood'. It was also released as a separated single in U.S.A. It was the A side of that single. This is possibly one of the poppiest tracks of the band. The hook is huge, and even when the lyrics get flowery they still work in the context. 'Torch Song' is from 'Clutching At Straws'. It's one of the slower tracks on that album. It's a romantic ballad which shows how Fish has developed very good manners performing this kind of songs. Fish's vocals shine here and all the players are solid, as usual. Despite be a ballad, it's very beautiful, not spectacular, but good enough. This is a great prog rock song, really.

Conclusion: 'Essential Collection' is one of the many compilation albums released by Marillion. This is also another compilation album from them focused on their musical era with Fish. And as is usual, we are in presence of a good compilation album of the band. It's very short but it covers the all era of Marillion with Fish. Thus, we have one track from their debut work, their EP 'Market Square Heroes', four tracks from their four studio albums with Fish, one track per album, and two non-album's tracks, tracks that were only originally released as singles. Therefore, we can say that 'Essential Collection' is a very well representative compilation album of Marillion. All tracks chosen to be part of it are great and represent a good showcase for the band, which means that 'Essential Collection' is a good starting point to all people who are newbie with Marillion. So, this is a compilation album that deserves to be rated with 3 solid stars.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)