Marillion Real To Reel

Featuring the best material from their first two albums as well as their classic debut single "Market Square Heroes," 1984's Real to Reel is an excellent live document of Marillion, the undisputed leaders of the short-lived mid-'80s progressive rock revival. In fact, these recordings make a strong case for the many fans who actually prefer the band's more refined live versions over their rather flat studio counterparts. For the uninitiated, Marillion basically picks up where Peter Gabriel-era Genesis left off, writing complex, multifaceted, and unashamedly overblown compositions topped with dense, often incomprehensible lyrics from vocalist Fish. Thematically, the darkly ironic "Assassing" and the flippant "Garden Party" are complete polar opposites and clearly display the band's incredible creative scope. But the album's centerpiece has to be the dramatic, ten-minute war chronicle "Forgotten Sons."

Featuring the best material from their first two albums as well as their classic debut single "Market Square Heroes," 1984's Real to Reel is an excellent live document of Marillion, the undisputed leaders of the short-lived mid-'80s progressive rock revival. In fact, these recordings make a strong case for the many fans who actually prefer the band's more refined live versions over their rather flat studio counterparts. For the uninitiated, Marillion basically picks up where Peter Gabriel-era Genesis left off, writing complex, multifaceted, and unashamedly overblown compositions topped with dense, often incomprehensible lyrics from vocalist Fish. Thematically, the darkly ironic "Assassing" and the flippant "Garden Party" are complete polar opposites and clearly display the band's incredible creative scope. But the album's centerpiece has to be the dramatic, ten-minute war chronicle "Forgotten Sons."

Featuring the best material from their first two albums as well as their classic debut single "Market Square Heroes," 1984's Real to Reel is an excellent live document of Marillion, the undisputed leaders of the short-lived mid-'80s progressive rock revival. In fact, these recordings make a strong case for the many fans who actually prefer the band's more refined live versions over their rather flat studio counterparts. For the uninitiated, Marillion basically picks up where Peter Gabriel-era Genesis left off, writing complex, multifaceted, and unashamedly overblown compositions topped with dense, often incomprehensible lyrics from vocalist Fish. Thematically, the darkly ironic "Assassing" and the flippant "Garden Party" are complete polar opposites and clearly display the band's incredible creative scope. But the album's centerpiece has to be the dramatic, ten-minute war chronicle "Forgotten Sons."

Featuring the best material from their first two albums as well as their classic debut single "Market Square Heroes," 1984's Real to Reel is an excellent live document of Marillion, the undisputed leaders of the short-lived mid-'80s progressive rock revival. In fact, these recordings make a strong case for the many fans who actually prefer the band's more refined live versions over their rather flat studio counterparts. For the uninitiated, Marillion basically picks up where Peter Gabriel-era Genesis left off, writing complex, multifaceted, and unashamedly overblown compositions topped with dense, often incomprehensible lyrics from vocalist Fish. Thematically, the darkly ironic "Assassing" and the flippant "Garden Party" are complete polar opposites and clearly display the band's incredible creative scope. But the album's centerpiece has to be the dramatic, ten-minute war chronicle "Forgotten Sons." The CD reissue also features an excellent bonus track titled "Emerald Lies." ~ Eduardo Rivadavia. Allmusic.com

Brief Encounter is the title of a compilation EP by Marillion with two studio and three live tracks that EMI's American label Capitol Records released there in 1986, coinciding with the band's tour of the U.S. and Canada that year. The band was Rush's support act on the Power Windows tour and also played headline gigs at smaller theatres. The "mini album" contained five tracks: the band's European breakthrough single "Kayleigh" (which had also entered the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100); its b-side "Lady Nina"; "Freaks", released in Europe as the b-side of the follow-up single "Lavender"; and live recordings of the first two albums' title tracks, Fugazi (1984) and Script for a Jester's Tear (1984).

1988's The Thieving Magpie is a sprawling double-disc live set which manages to tie up virtually all the loose ends from Marillion's years with charismatic frontman Fish. Like 1984's Real to Reel mini live album, Magpie offers mostly sterling performances packed with both feeling and technical precision, which often times manage to better their studio counterparts thanks to their road-worthy fluidity. But unlike that seamlessly assembled mini live album, it does suffer from the occasional silence between tracks, or even noticeable variations in sound quality, crowd noise, and general ambiance. Sure, most listeners won't give a hoot about such details when faced with the sheer creative breadth (some would say absurdity) of such Marillion magnum opuses as "Fugazi," "Script for a Jester's Tear," and "Chelsea Monday" to name but a few…

After the album-tour-album cycle of Script for a Jester's Tear, Fugazi, and the subsequent Euro-only release of Real to Reel, Marillion retreated to Berlin's Hansa Ton Studios with Rolling Stones producer Chris Kimsey to work on their next opus. Armed with a handful of lyrics born out of a self-confessed acid trip, Fish came up with the elaborate concept for 1985's Misplaced Childhood. Touching upon his early childhood experiences and his inability to deal with a slew of bad breakups exacerbated by a never-ending series of rock star-type "indulgences," Misplaced Childhood would prove to be not only the band's most accomplished release to date, but also its most streamlined. Initial record company skepticism over the band's decision to forge ahead with a '70s-style prog rock opus split into two halves (sides one and two) quickly evaporated as Marillion delivered its two most commercial singles ever: "Kayleigh" and "Lavender." With its lush production and punchy mix, the album went on to become the band's greatest commercial triumph, especially in Europe where they would rise from theater attraction to bona fide stadium royalty.

After the album-tour-album cycle of Script for a Jester's Tear, Fugazi, and the subsequent Euro-only release of Real to Reel, Marillion retreated to Berlin's Hansa Ton Studios with Rolling Stones producer Chris Kimsey to work on their next opus. Armed with a handful of lyrics born out of a self-confessed acid trip, Fish came up with the elaborate concept for 1985's Misplaced Childhood. Touching upon his early childhood experiences and his inability to deal with a slew of bad breakups exacerbated by a never-ending series of rock star-type "indulgences," Misplaced Childhood would prove to be not only the band's most accomplished release to date, but also its most streamlined. Initial record company skepticism over the band's decision to forge ahead with a '70s-style prog rock opus split into two halves (sides one and two) quickly evaporated as Marillion delivered its two most commercial singles ever: "Kayleigh" and "Lavender"…