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andrew markworthy · 04-25-2003, 05:22 AM

There are two Marillion eras, as has been said - the 'Fish era' was the first, when the lead singer had the improbable name of 'Fish' (from his habit of taking long baths - he was Christened Derek Dick). The second era was after Fish left to be replaced by a lead singer called Steve Hogarth.

Fish-era Marillion began sounding like Gabriel period Genesis (only rather more dynamic). The albums in chronological order:

Script for a Jester's Tear [first studio album]
Fugazi [second studio album]
Real to Reel [live album]
Brief Encounter [live mini-album intended for North America only; eventually released on CD as a double package with Real to Reel]
Misplaced Childhood [third studio album]
B Sides Themselves [a collection of the B sides of their singles up to this point]
Clutching at Straws [fourth and final studio album]
The Thieving Magpie [live album that is effectively a 'greatest hits live' package]

The thing about Fish-era Marillion is that if you like one thing they did, the chances are you'll like everything they did. If you're being choosy, the live albums are perhaps the most disposable, and of the studio albums, Script for a Jester's Tear is probably the weakest. However, don't overlook 'B Sides Themselves' which includes a magnificent 20-minute song called 'Grendel' that is pure early Genesis and is a lot of fans' favourite track. If you're going to start with one or two albums, pick Misplaced Childhood (which has their biggest singles hit - Kayleigh) and then Clutching at Straws (which is just as good).

I don't know how easily available Marillion CDs are in the USA, but try to get the remasters. This isn't just for sound quality, but also because they came with bonus CDs that collected together B sides of the singles, demo tracks, etc. Plus, there are lengthy sleeve notes.

If you get really keen, then there was (is?) a boxed set of all the Fish-era 12 inch singles on CD in replicas of the original sleeves.

The Hogarth era Marillion is a rather different beast. It sounds less 'prog rock' and more AOR to my ears. It's not bad by any means, but it doesn't personally do anything for me.

04-25-2003, 05:22 AM	#6 of 24
andrew markworthy Member Join Date: Oct 1999 Local Time: 04:30 AM Local Date: 01-08-2009 Posts: 5,483	There are two Marillion eras, as has been said - the 'Fish era' was the first, when the lead singer had the improbable name of 'Fish' (from his habit of taking long baths - he was Christened Derek Dick). The second era was after Fish left to be replaced by a lead singer called Steve Hogarth. Fish-era Marillion began sounding like Gabriel period Genesis (only rather more dynamic). The albums in chronological order: Script for a Jester's Tear [first studio album] Fugazi [second studio album] Real to Reel [live album] Brief Encounter [live mini-album intended for North America only; eventually released on CD as a double package with Real to Reel] Misplaced Childhood [third studio album] B Sides Themselves [a collection of the B sides of their singles up to this point] Clutching at Straws [fourth and final studio album] The Thieving Magpie [live album that is effectively a 'greatest hits live' package] The thing about Fish-era Marillion is that if you like one thing they did, the chances are you'll like everything they did. If you're being choosy, the live albums are perhaps the most disposable, and of the studio albums, Script for a Jester's Tear is probably the weakest. However, don't overlook 'B Sides Themselves' which includes a magnificent 20-minute song called 'Grendel' that is pure early Genesis and is a lot of fans' favourite track. If you're going to start with one or two albums, pick Misplaced Childhood (which has their biggest singles hit - Kayleigh) and then Clutching at Straws (which is just as good). I don't know how easily available Marillion CDs are in the USA, but try to get the remasters. This isn't just for sound quality, but also because they came with bonus CDs that collected together B sides of the singles, demo tracks, etc. Plus, there are lengthy sleeve notes. If you get really keen, then there was (is?) a boxed set of all the Fish-era 12 inch singles on CD in replicas of the original sleeves. The Hogarth era Marillion is a rather different beast. It sounds less 'prog rock' and more AOR to my ears. It's not bad by any means, but it doesn't personally do anything for me.