Today, I’ll be looking into the biggest and most influential band of the so-called neo-prog movement that started in the UK in the early 80’s, Marillion. Marillion formed in 1979, originally under the name of Silmarillion, which is a posthumous book of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien about the early history of Middle Earth. The roots of Marillion go back to 1977, when drummer Mick Pointer and bassist Doug Irvine played together in a band called Electric Gypsy. Pointer and Irvine would leave that band in late 1978 to form their own band called Silmarillion. They would perform only one show in 1978 as an instrumental band with keyboardist Neil Cockle, and guitarist Martin Jenner. By 1979, however, the line up had become Pointer, Irvine (on vocals along with the bass), Steve Rothery (guitar), and Brian Jelliman (keyboards). This lineup played their first show in March of 1980. According to Mick Pointer, the band had shortened its name to Marillion by this time; while other sources say it happened in 1981 to avoid copyright issues. In 1981, another crucial lineup change happened when band founder Doug Irvine left and was replaced by William “Diz” Minnitt, and a singer named Derek William Dick joined. Derek Dick took the stage name of “Fish” (who can blame him, lol). Apparently, he came by the nickname of Fish, much in the same way as Chris Squire of Yes, due to each of them enjoying long baths. By the end of 1981, “Diz” was replaced on bass by Pete Trewavas and Jelliman was replaced on keyboards by Mark Kelly. The line up that would go on to record their first album was now in place. Three of them remain in the band to this day–Rothery, Trewavas, and Kelly.
While their early lineups recorded some demos in 1980 and early 1981, which are now collectors items, it was the lineup of Fish, Rothery, Trewavas, Kelly and Pointer who would release their first official single. This came about after Marillion played on the BBC Radio show “Friday Rock Show,” in 1982. This led to the band being signed by EMI records, who would release the first single called “Market Square Heroes,” released in October of that year, backed by “Three Boats Down from the Candy.” A special 12’ version of the single also included the 17 minute long song “Grendel.” The song “Market Square Hero,” refers to an early supporter of the band known as “Brick.” According to Fish, a “market square hero,” is defined as someone who was a “Would-be revolutionary,” who had all of the qualities of a leader, but without direction or goals, only anger and frustration. “Brick,” is described as a “leftie,” and/or “skinhead,” and he reportedly died in 2011. “Market Square,” is the street on which The Red Lion Pub, where the band first played after Fish joined, is located.
By 1983, Marillion released their first album, “Script For a Jester’s Tear.” Many still count it as one of Marillion’s finest, if not their absolute best. It was ranked at #40 on Prog Magazine’s “!00 Greatest Prog Albums of all Time” list, and as such I reviewed it (I will include my link to the review in the comments. I rated it 4.5 out of 5 stars). Fish is credited with writing all of the lyrics, while the music is credited to the band as a whole, although later re-issues of the album also give credit to previous members Minnitt and Jelliman on some tracks; recordings of early versions while they were in the lineup exist. The concept seems to be that of a poet, aka, the Jester, writing of unrequited love, and the effects it has on him. The album was a major success in the UK, though it did not do well in the US, only reaching 175 on the Billboard 200 album chart. As I mentioned in my review, though, I became aware of the band at the time as I saw the video for the song “Garden Party” on MTV and it always stuck with me. The first single in the UK was another one I like quite a bit, “He Knows You Know,” which hit the UK top 40. “Garden Party,” was the second single and it hit the UK top 20.
Following the tour for the album, the final original founding member, Mick Pointer, was fired from the band as Fish found him to have “awful timing,” and felt that he did not grow as a musician like the rest of the band had. Finding a drummer to replace him, however, turned out to be quite an ordeal. The band went through 3 drummers in a 6-month period. First up was original Camel drummer Andy Ward, then John “Martyr” Marter, followed by Jonathan Mover (later of GTR). They finally hit gold with Ian Mosley, who had played with respected artists such as Daryl Way, Gordon Giltrap and Steve Hackett. It is interesting to note that Steve Hackett was the guitarist in Genesis during their golden era, as Marillion were often accused of being Genesis clones in their early days. As mentioned, he played with Mosley, and was one of the key members of the short lived GTR (along with Steve Howe from Yes and Asia), with Jonathan Mover, so Hackett played with 2 of the drummers in Marillion. Ian Mosley remains in Marillion to this day.
The band prepared the follow up to “Script…” during this time period, which also had many production issues. The resulting album, “Fugazi,” Mover was still with the band when recording began, and received a writing credit on the song “Punch and Judy” (A demo of the song with Mover is a bonus track on some versions of the album). However, when the album’s producer suggested making the album a concept album Mover was the only band member to speak out against it. Fish felt as though Mover was challenging him and he was fired. Despite the issues during recording, “Fugazi” actually performed even better than “Script…” in the UK reaching #5 on the charts. “Punch and Judy,” and “Assassing,” both hit the UK top 30. Following “Fugazi,” the band released their first live album “Real to Reel”, which debuted at #8 on the UK charts.
Up next, in 1985, we have another one of their finest albums, “Misplaced Childhood.” This one also made Prog Magazine’s list at #20, their highest ranked album on that list. My review will be linked in the comments; I gave it a perfect 5 out of 5 stars. The album is based on Fish’s childhood and is inspired by an LSD trip he took. I love every moment of this album. The song “Kayleigh,” is the only Marillion song to hit the hot 100, albeit at #75. Back home in the UK, it and “Lavender,” are the band’s only two top 5 singles. The album hit #1 in the UK. A third single, “Heart of Lothian,” also hit the UK top 30. I highly recommend this album to experience Fish-era Marillion at its finest. In 1986 the band’s US label released a 5 song EP called “Brief Encounter,” while they were touring the US opening for Rush, in order to try to boost their popularity in the states. It contained 3 Studio tracks, “Keyleigh,” it’s flipside, “Lady Jane,” and the flipside of the “Lavender” single, “Freaks,” (which is a favorite of mine), as well as live versions of the title tracks from their first 2 albums: “Script for a Jester’s Tear,” and “Fugazi.” It sounds like a great collection, but I don’t know how much it helped them stateside.
For the follow-up the band released “Clutching at Straws,” in 1987. This one also made the Prog Magazine list at #47, and I will link my review in the comments; I gave it a 4.75 out of 5 stars. This album is a full on concept album, focused on a character named “Torch,” who is supposed to be a descendent of “The Jester,” from the previous albums, and is basically a representation of Fish himself. “Torch,” much like Fish himself, is not doing so well, fearing that he would become like Torch if he kept up the frantic touring schedule with Marillion. Torch is an alcoholic with a failed marriage, and a singer in a band. He spends time in hotel rooms, drunk and basically pissed off at the world. I know this sounds depressing, but somehow it makes for a wonderful album. Stand out tracks are “Warm Wet Circles,” “White Russian,” and “Incommunicado.” However, the subject matter of the album is a harbinger of events to come, as Fish felt that the band’s manager was pushing them too hard to tour in order to benefit from his 20% commission. Fish gave the band an ultimatum to choose him or the manager. They chose the manager, and Fish left marillion following the tour in 1988. Marillion fans were in shock, as he had been the face of the band and a uniquely talented performer. Many fans, even today, will only listen to Fish era Marillion. Lawsuits would follow, it took until 1999 before Fish and the other band members were able to become friendly again. The Fish era officially came to a close with the release of the 1988 live album “The Thieving Magpie.”
Marillion were then faced with the challenge of finding a new singer. While there does not seem to be much information on the audition process, the band chose Steve Hogarth, who had been a singer and keyboardist in new wave bands The Europeans, and How We live. “H” as he would become known was about to leave the music business in frustration after failing to achieve success. Hogarth had a friend, however, in Darryl Way, who had been a founding member of prog band Curved Air. Way recommended that Hogarth send a demo to Marillion, as he knew they were seeking a new singer. Marillion liked what they heard and invited Hogarth to meet with the band at Pete Trewavas’ house on January 24, 1989. They ended up going to Trewavas’ garage as he had cats in the house and Hogarth, apparently, is allergic to them. The audition went well, and Marillion offered him the job. However, in the meantime, Hogarth had gotten a lucrative offer to play keyboards on the upcoming U.S. tour by the band “The The.” However, in the end he went with Marillion, as he would be made a full partner in the band, and it was a permanent position. And permanent, indeed it was, as Marillion have had no other line up changes since “H” joined.
Marillion recorded their first album with H, “Seasons End,” and released it in September of 1989. The album did well in the UK, reaching #7 on the charts, and producing a top 40 single in “Easter.” Although the song credits do not reflect it, it seems that some of the songs were started with Fish’s involvement. An additional lyricist named John Helmer, was commissioned to write lyrics, and is credited on many of the songs. Interestingly, though, Hogarth also has a writing credit on every song. To my knowledge, Fish never had any legal challenges to the writing credits. Other singles from the album are “Hooks in You,” and “The Uninvited Guest.” As for the change in singer, Kerrang magazine in the UK was very complimentary of Hogart’s debut with Marillion, stating the following:
"Vocally and lyrically, of course, we find ourselves on new ground. Hogarth's certainly got a voice, smooth as glass and emotive as hell. And, in common with his more famous predecessor, it's a very un-American voice, the vowel sounds are all Queen's English. But there the comparisons end. Steve Hogarth is no Fish clone. He's no Peter Gabriel nor Phil Collins apologist, either. He doesn't need to be. He's got a voice of his own – and when you listen to it on tracks like 'Easter', and 'Seasons End' or 'After Me', you can almost forget the band ever had another singer."
Much like with Genesis, however, many fans are still divided into Fish or H camps, just like the Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins camps. Personally, I like both singers in both bands, as I think they all made great music.
The next album up, “Holidays in Eden,” was released in 1991, and is the first album in which H was fully involved from the beginning. Many fans and even H himself refer to the album as their most poppy album. It seems that their preferred producer, Chris Kimsey, who had produced “Misplaced Childhood,” was unavailable, as he was producing the Rolling Stones “Steel Wheels” album, and legally unable to work with anyone else for a full year. The band’s label EMI suggested that they use Chris Neil, who was known for producing pop artists. The band were reluctant, but gave in when Neil said that Marillion was his son’s favorite band, and his son would never forgive him if he made a “crap album” with Marillion. That won them over and they went with him. In listening to the singles from the album as I type this, they are quite pop indeed, but not bad either. My iTunes/Apple Music account seems to avoid this album, as I only have liked the opener “Splintering Heart,” and the closer “100 Hearts.” (Me from a day or so later is listening to “How Can It Hurt,” and I quite like it as well.) Following “Holidays in Eden,” they released a compilation called “A Singles Collection: Six of One, Half-Dozen of the Other,” so titled as it has six singles from the Fish era and the six thus released to that point from the H era. More notable about the album is the inclusion of two new tracks. One is a cover of Rare Bird’s song, “Sympathy,” which Marillion took to #17 on the UK chart, and “I Will Walk On Water.
The band spent most of 1993 recording the next album. After “Holidays in Eden” failed to give them a bigger audience despite the pop leanings, Marillion decided to return to their prog rock roots on “Brave,” released in 1994. This album was ranked at #29 on the Prog Magazine list (my review is linked in the comments).It is a concept album based on the account of a teenage girl in the mid-80s who was found on the bridge between England & Wales who was unable to communicate with authorities. The album was very successful, making the top 10 in the UK. I gave the album a perfect 5 out of 5 stars in my review. The album is amazing from start to finish. It is difficult to single out particular tracks on this one when they are all so good, but I’ll go with “Living With the Big Lie,” “Goodbye to All That,” and “Hard as Love.” Again, I can’t stress enough how good this album is. I highly recommend it.
To follow up “Brave,” the band next released “Afraid of Sunlight” in 1995. This one also made the Prog Magazine Countdown at #90. (Review linked in comments.) While it is difficult to follow a stellar album like Brave, they delivered a strong album (I gave it 4 out of 5 Stars). The album, while not a full-on concept album, has a theme of exploring the destructive side of celebrity. My favorite tracks are “Cannibal Surf Babe,” and “Beautiful.” While the album is critically acclaimed, the band was disappointed in its sales. They felt that EMI did not promote the album well. EMI, in turn, dropped them. This would be their final studio album on EMI. The label did release a live album in 1996 called “Made Again,” which featured live recordings from the “Holidays in Eden,” and “Afraid of Sunlight,” tours on disc 1, and a full live recording of the “Brave” album from its tour on disc 2. They also released a compilation in 1997 called “The Best of Both Worlds,” similar to the “Six of One, Half Dozen of the Other,” compilation they released earlier, with half of the songs featuring Fish, and the other half with H.
After leaving EMI, the band signed with Castle Communications sub label called Raw Power. In 1997, they released their ninth studio album, and the first on their new label, called “This Strange Engine. In looking at this album on my streaming library, I discovered that a new deluxe edition of this album is due to be released on November 22 of 2024, less than 2 weeks from the time of this writing. I have quite enjoyed most of the tracks from this album. Of particular note is the 15+ minute epic title track that H wrote as a tribute to his father, who was a marine engineer and officer. Unfortunately, Castle also did not give much promotion to the album. The band announced that they did not have the funding to tour in the US. The US fans though, would not be deterred, and raised $60,000 for the band to come to the States. The band would take note of this early instance of “crowdfunding,” and would come to use it extensively a few years down the line.
Their second release on Castle and tenth overall studio album, titled “Radiation,” was released in 2018. The band consciously chose to be experimental and try to break away from their signature instrumental sounds. Rothery, for example, did not use his signature digital delay and chorus effects on his guitar, and used borrowed Gretch and Harmony guitars instead of his usual Squier Stratocaster. The result was not popular with fans. The album only reached the UK top 40 at #35 and only remained there for one week. They would not make the top 40 in the UK again until 2007. The album was re-mixed in 2013 and re-released as “Radiation 2013,” in order to try and correct what they felt were some production issues on the original release. That is the version that I have in my streaming library. On that version, I have enjoyed the tracks “Under the Sun” and the 10 minute “A few Words for the Dead.”
Their third and final album under the Castle contract, and 11th overall studio album, “
marillion.com” was released in 1999. The title reflects Marillion’s increasing use of the internet to communicate with fans, and foreshadows their increasing use of crowdfunding. Porcupine Tree mastermind Steven Wilson co-produced 5 of the 9 songs and the songs “Interior Lulu” and “Tumble Down the Years,” were originally recorded for “Radiation,” but left off of that album as the band felt they weren’t finished enough. They re-recorded them and included them here. I have enjoyed “Go!”, “Built-In Bastard Detector,” and the 15+ minute “Interior Lulu.”
With their disappointment over the lack of success during the three album Castle era, Marillion decided to try something truly revolutionary. Instead of signing with one of the several independent labels who wanted to sign Marillion, Hogarth sent out an email to fans asking:
"...how would you guys feel about buying a record we haven't made yet – because if you did we'd be really grateful..."
The response was overwhelmingly positive. 12,674 fans responded, and raised over 150,000 English Pounds for the financing of the album. This was more than an advance from a record label would have been, and it gave the band full control over the creative process and the resulting product. This is widely recognized as the first instance of a band crowdfunding an album through pre-orders. Interestingly, the band worked out a deal to distribute the album worldwide with their original label EMI on the Liberty Records label, but the album would be the property of the band itself. The resulting album, called “Anoraknophobia” (an anorak is a British term for a certain style of raincoat. Conceived as a play on the word “Arachnophobia,” and is actually meant to mean “No fear of anoraks (anorak NO phobia). It was released in 2001. Fans who pre-ordered the album received a special edition of the CD with a 48-page booklet listing everyone who donated before a certain date. The special edition also contained a bonus disc with a song called “Number One,” and “enhanced features.” The album was ineligible to chart in the UK, as the pre-order process could not be verified, and retail versions of the CD contained a sticker of “Barry,” the cartoon style character on the album cover which was considered a gift to entice people to buy the album. They also made a single available of the songs “Between You and Me,” and “Map of the World,” which came with a bonus copy intended to be given to the purchaser's local radio station for radio airplay. I have enjoyed the songs “Quartz,” “Map of the World,” and “Separated Out.” While the crowdfunding was seen as successful in getting the album made, the album is not considered to be a commercial success, and is one of their lowest selling albums. They would release a live album, titled “Anorak in the UK,” in 2002. EMI would go on to release another compilation album, called “The Best of Marillion,” in 2003.
In 2002, Marillion started a tradition that continues to this day, the Marillion Weekend. The event is essentially an official fan expo, with the band’s full involvement and participation. The band performs, and has signing sessions with fans and other activities. Initially held at “Holiday Camps” in the UK, but has over time moved to various locales around the world. (If anyone reading this has attended one, I’d love to hear from them!)
In 2004, the band returned to form a bit with the next album, “Marbles.” Apparently, “Anoraknophobia,” was successful enough to begin recording the album independently, but decided to turn back to crowdfunding about halfway through the recording process, and this time there were 18,000 pre-orders. The double CD was available on the band’s website and the single version in retail stores. It is crucial to listen to the double CD version for the brilliant 18 minute epic “Ocean Cloud.” This is the sixth and final Marillion album to make the Prog Magazine countdown at #52. (My review is linked in the comments.) I ranked it at 4 out of 5 stars, mostly on the strength of “Ocean Cloud,” which I am listening to as I type this section. There are 4 pieces of the title track scattered throughout the album and are just little interludes. I do like the album opener, “The Invisible Man,” and the closer “Neverland. All three of my favorites on the album are over 12 minutes in length, and I believe they often do their best work on the longer tracks, especially in the “H” era. Otherwise I found the album to be a bit uneven, but the good outweighed the bad. The album did much better than its recent predecessors. The single “You’re Gone.” hit #7 on the UK chart, which is the first time they made the top 10 since 1987’s “Incommunicado.” The album sold well enough to have made the top 30, except that it was ineligible to make the charts due to, once again, the inclusion of stickers inside the package. The band released a DVD in 2006 called “Colours and Sound,” which documents the “Marbles,” era from recording the album through the tour.
In 2007, they released album #14, titled “Somewhere Else.” Marbles was successful enough that crowdfunding was not necessary. This is another one that doesn't often come up when I am shuffling songs on iTunes/Apple Music. The only songs that I have heard are “Thankyou Whoever You Are,” “Most Toys,” (which I love), and “Last Century for Man.” The album did well in the UK (of course, the US has completely ignored Marillion, outside of their hardcore fans, since Fish left.) It was the first album since “Radiation” to make the top 40, peaking at #24, and produced a top 20 hit in “Thankyou Whoever You Are,” which hit # 15. Reaction from critics was mixed. This album is made of relatively shorter tracks with the longest being just under 8 minutes.
In 2008, the band released “Happiness Is the Road,” which is essentially a double album, but they released it in two separate volumes simultaneously. Disc one is called “Essence” and contains songs that are considered to be a part of the concept of the album. Disc two is called “The Hard Shoulder,” and contains the non-concept songs. The concept, according to a Google search, is: “a musical exploration of life's meaning, with a focus on self-discovery and spirituality.” Interestingly, the initial idea was to release a single album, which is the songs on disc two. Many of the songs there have been tinkered with for several years, going back as far as the ”Brave” sessions. However, a health scare on the “Something Else” tour suffered by Hogarth, inspired what would become disc 1. According to Hogarth in 2009:
"During the 'Somewhere Else' tour I was suffering with my health. It was self-induced really. I wasn't eating properly and was also under a lot of stress both within my domestic situation [recent divorce] and professionally [on tour]. My body eventually rebelled and although I won't go into gory details, I ended up needing surgery. I was referred to a doctor in Utrecht, Holland who performed a minor operation (on the afternoon of the Utrecht show!). The doctor was also a healer and after the surgical procedure, he held his hands over me. I noticed that there were tears running down his face during this, and afterwards he told me that the tears were mine, not his. He had felt much of the guilt, regret and consequent pain that I was carrying and he said he would recommend a book that I must read. He wrote the name of the book on his prescription pad and gave it to me. "Read that! It will make you better," he said. The book is The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle. I bought the book and read it slowly. Much of what it contains resonated with my own thoughts and instincts and it crystallized my own ideas of the meaning of life. I would recommend the book to everyone. 'Essence' is directly influenced by the book, although much of what I have written was written before I read it. The theme of the 'Essence' CD is life's journey, time and its passing, and the meaning of life."
Once again, this is one where I can only honestly state that I am only familiar with 2 tracks, and both are from disc 2. “The Man from the Planet Marzipan,” and “Real Tears for Sale.” This album also relied on crowdfunding through pre-sales.
Following “Happiness Is the Road,” EMI released a 6 CD box set of Fish-era live recordings called “Early Stages,” on November 18, 2008. (It would be replaced in 2013 with a 2 CD “Highlights” version.) Less than a year later, EMI milked the Fish era even more with two simultaneously released live albums in June of 2009. “Live in Lorely,” was recorded in 1987 “Clutching at Straws,” tour, and “Recital of the Script,” recorded in 1983 on the “Script for a Jester’s Tear” tour.
In October 2009, the band released a “new” album, called “Less Is More.” This is considered studio album # 16 for the band. The album is a collection of songs from the “H” era, re-recorded in acoustic arrangements. There is only one actual new song called “It’s Not Your Fault.” This one is not available on Apple Music, and I have never heard it.
It seems that EMI was still not finished with re-visiting the Fish era, however in October 2009 (just a few days after the band released “Less Is More”) they put out yet another compilation album of those songs called “The Singles: 82-88.” The title is self explanatory.
It would be 2012, before the band would release another legitimate album of new material; the first since 2008. The consensus is that it is the best album since Marbles. “Sounds That Can’t Be Made,” has 3 tracks over 10 minutes and only one under 6 minutes. The opening 17 and a half minute epic, “Gaza,” is perhaps the most overtly political song ever. It is a song regarding children growing up in refugee camps, which have been in place for more than 50 years in the Gaza strip. Hogarth interviewed Palestinians, Isrealis. And relief workers before writing the song. He assures everyone that it is not against the Jewish faith in any way, only about the political situation. The other epic length pieces are “Montreal,” and “The Sky above the Rain.” This album, for me, is the beginning of a trio (thus far) of albums that find Marillion hitting a new high point. This album also employed crowdfunding by pre-orders to fund it.
The next album, also crowdfunded, is Marillion’s 18th studio album that took two years to record. The title is “F*ck Everyone and Run (F E A R)” released in 2016. Hogarth explains the title thusly:
”This title is adopted not in anger or with any intention to shock. It is adopted and sung (in the song "New Kings”) tenderly, in sadness and resignation inspired by an England, and a world, which increasingly functions on an “Every man for himself” philosophy. I won’t bore you with examples, they’re all over the newspapers every day. There’s a sense of foreboding that permeates much of this record. I have a feeling that we’re approaching some kind of sea-change in the world – an irreversible political, financial, humanitarian and environmental storm. I hope that I’m wrong. I hope that my FEAR of what “seems” to be approaching is just that, and not FEAR of what “is” actually about to happen.”
I could go on for a long time about how right Hogarth was in my opinion, but I’ll leave it at that. The album sees Marillion continuing to embrace what they do best, making incredible prog rock. The album has 3 multi-part suites, each one followed by a relatively shorter song. Unfortunately, as was the case on several Spock’s Beard albums (see my spotlight on them from issue #9 of the series), the suites are broken into different tracks on the album. This makes the album have 17 tracks instead of 6. I haven’t heard as much of the album as I’d like, but I really like what I have heard. The album was very successful, hitting #4 on the UK charts, their first top 10 album since “Clutching at Straws” in 1987, nearly 3 decades earlier.
In 2019, the band released “With Friends From the Orchestra.” The album contains re-recordings of some of the finest songs from the H-era with an orchestra. There are three 10+ minute epics on the album: “This Strange Engine,” “The Sky Above the Rain,” and “Ocean Cloud.” Interestingly, although the album was recorded in recording studios, It is not counted as a canon studio album like “Less Is More” is considered to be.
In 2022, Marillion released their 19th and, to date, most recent album, “An Hour Before It’s Dark.” As has become the custom, the album was crowdfunded with pre-orders. This album continues the trend of their albums becoming more and more popular, once again hitting the highest position on the (UK) chart since “Clutching at Straws,” by debuting at #2. Much like “F E A R,” the suites (four of them this time) are broken into pieces. The tone of this album is much more upbeat than its predecessor, possibly due to the fact that the world had begun to emerge from the dreadful COVID-19 pandemic. I have loved several of the tracks on the album. If the trend continues, Marillion’s next album should hit #1!
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