02 February 2008

MARILLION

They came straight outta Scotland in the early eighties, playing a brand of lengthy dramatic rock songs that can only be described as progressive. At this point in the write up comes the obligatory reference to Genesis.

Originally calling themselves Silmarillion (after a J.R.R. Tolkien book), they shortened their name to Marillion about the time lead singer Fish joined up.

Fish stayed with the band through most of the eighties, and put out four studio albums with them before heading out on his own. He still records as a solo artist, and they still go on with a new singer, Steve Hogarth.

Though anybody who's interested in hearing these songs already knows all that, so I'm really just wasting your time.
Here's a few songs that didn't end up on their albums, or on the expanded re-issues:

Marillion - "Madcap's Embrace" An early session recording. Not the best sound, but listenable.
Marillion - "Institution Waltz" Another early session recording. Fish later recorded a version of this on his own.
Marillion - "Lavender" (single remix) Not sure why they didn't add this to the remastered Misplaced Childhood. It's longer than the album version, with an extra verse.
Marillion - "Gisabun" (live in Edinburgh, 1987) A short song often pulled out near the end of their shows.
Marillion - "Warm Wet Circles" (single remix) Again, I'm not sure why they left this off the expanded remaster of Clutching at Straws. The music is a bit different than the album version, and the vocal on the chorus is altered.

Marillion (Fish years) discography:

Script for a Jester's Tear, 1983 (buy)
Fugazi, 1984 (buy reissue)
Real to Reel, 1984 (live album)
Misplaced Childhood, 1985 (buy)
Brief Encounter, 1986 (US-only ep)
Clutching at Straws, 1987 (buy reissue)
B'Sides Themselves, 1988 (B-sides compilation) (buy)
La Gaza Ladra, 1988 (live album) (buy)


1 comment:

steven said...

This will be nice to pass on to a friend who's very into Marillion, but completely lost at using the internet. Thanks.