Marillion Real To Reel

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"…

Before the arrival of the deluxe, double-CD reissues that restored Marillion's entire discography to glory in the late '90s, 1988's B-Sides Themselves was the only source for Fish-era fanatics to experience the many rarities of the colorful progressive rockers' career. Sure enough, no time is wasted with subtlety here, as the monumental "Grendel" opens this collection with 18 minutes of over the top pomp and grandeur. Less challenging, but equally entertaining nuggets like "Charting the Single" and "Three Boats Down From the Candy" follow, but the clear highlights are contained in the songs previously heard on the band's live albums; first single "Market Square Heroes" and the exquisite "Cinderella Search" were featured on 1984's Real to Reel, while the punchy "Freaks" was first heard on 1988's The Thieving Magpie…

Superb boxset that makes me remember why these guys were my favorite band in my teenage years. The official 80s live albums either missed the duration and the coherence of a full concert experience. This boxset has 5 such experiences on offer. With this boxset compiling 5 concerts from the 82-87 period we get a dazzling overview of their career. Each of these shows had previously been 'available' as bootlegs, but the sound quality in this box doesn't sound like bootlegs at all.