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Marillion

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Marillion are an English Rock group formed in Aylesbury in 1979, whose 13 studio album career is generally regarded as comprising of two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original frontman Fish in late 1988 after their first 4 albums and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve Hogarth in early 1989, with whom a subsequent 9 albums have been released to date. The core lineup of Steve Rothery (the sole remaining original member), Pete Trewavas, Mark Kelly and Ian Mosley has been unchanged since 1984. The band has enjoyed [critical] and commercial success with a string of UK top 10 hits spanning their career and even an [entry] into the Guinness book of records. The band's music has changed stylistically over their career. Their original sound (with Fish) on vocals is best described as progressive rock of a style similar to Genesis (prior to 1981), Pink Floyd, Van der Graaf Generator. In 1988/89, Fish left the band and was replaced by Steve Hogarth. Over the years since then the band's sound has changed dramatically and now is best described as indie rock along the lines of Radiohead, Keane, Coldplay et al.

Marillion are widely considered [within the industry] to have been one of the first acts to have fully recognised and tapped the potential for commercial musicians to interact with their fans via the [Internet], circa 1996, and are nowadays often characterised as a Rock 'Web Cottage Industry'.

The band are renowned for an extremely dedicated following with some fans regularly travelling intercontinentally to attend single gigs, driven in large part by the close fanbase involvement which the band cultivate via their [website], [podcasts], bi-annual [weekend conventions] and regular [fanclub] publications.

The established collective noun for the Marillion fanbase is 'Freaks'.

Lineup

Studio album personnel since 1982:

There were also three transient drummers (Jonathan Mover, Andy Ward and John Marter) who joined and left the band in quick succession between the departure of Pointer in 1983 and the arrival of Mosley in January 1984. However, easily the most significant personnel change event in Marillion's history is the departure of lead singer Fish in 1988 and the arrival of his replacement, Steve Hogarth in 1989.

History

The Fish Era

(see also Marillion discography (Fish era))
The band was formed as Silmarillion after J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Silmarillion in 1979. The band name was shortened to Marillion in 1980, reportedly following the threat of legal action from the Tolkien estate. The early works of Marillion contained Fish's poetic and introspective lyrics, melded with a complex and subtle musical tapestry to create a sound that reflected the band's influences, notably early Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator, Rush (specifically from the late '70s), and Yes. The group released its first single, "Market Square Heroes", in 1982, with an epic song "Grendel" on the B-side of the 12" version. Following the single, the band released their first full length album in 1983.

The music on their debut album Script for a Jester's Tear, (1983) was borne out of the intensive gigging of the previous years. Although it had some obvious progressive rock stylings, it also had a darker edge, reflecting the bedsit squalor suggested by the cover. By hardcore prog-rock fans, it is still considered their best output to this date. By critics it's hailed as a key album of a whole genre. The second album, Fugazi (1984) built on the success of the first album, with a more electronic sound, though the band encountered numerous [production problems].

Marillion then released their first live album 'Real to Reel' in November 1984 featuring songs from Fugazi, Script for a Jester's Tear and Cinderella Search (B-side to Assassing) recorded in March and July 1984.

Misplaced Childhood
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Misplaced Childhood

Their third studio album, and commercially their most successful album, Misplaced Childhood (1985), was quite possibly their most cohesive work. Having a Midas touch from their recording company, their hands were free and they agreed on creation of something music history would never forget. And they succeeded. It might be a departure stylistically, showcasing their ability to juxtapose pert pop ballads ("Kayleigh" charted at #2 in the United Kingdom, behind charity fundraiser "You'll Never Walk Alone" by the Crowd) with longer song cycles of lost youth and first loves. The album went to #1 in the UK.

The fourth studio album, Clutching at Straws (1987) shed some of its predecessor's pop stylings and retreated into a darker exploration of excess, alcoholism, and life in hotels, representing the strains of constant touring that would result in the imminent departure of Fish to pursue a solo career. The loss of the larger-than-life Fish left a hole that would be difficult to fill. After lengthy legal battles, informal contact between Fish and the other four band members apparently did not resume before 1999. Although reportedly now on good personal terms, both camps have made it very clear that the oft-speculated-upon reunion will never happen.

Trivia

Several early Marillion albums contain "Pink Floyd" references. One of them is in the inside ilustration of the album Fugazi which shows a bedroom in disorder. On the floor of the room it possible to see the cover of Pink Floyd´s album "The Wall" open on the floor. Another clue was left by Fish on the album Misplaced Childhood In the song "White Feather", Fish sings "Divided we stand, together we rise". It is a distortion of the verse "Together we stand, divided we fall", the last cry of the song "Hey You", also from "The Wall".

The H Era

After the split, the band turned to Steve Hogarth, the former keyboardist and sometime vocalist of The Europeans, to fill the hole that Fish left. Hogarth stepped into a difficult situation, as the band had already recorded demos of the next studio album, which would become Seasons End, with Fish on vocals, and using Fish's lyrics. After Fish left the group, taking his lyrics with him, Hogarth set to work, crafting new lyrics to existing songs with lyricist and author John Helmer. The demo sessions of the songs from Seasons End with Fish vocals and lyrics can be found on the bonus disc of the remastered version of Clutching at Straws, while the lyrics found their way into various Fish solo albums such as his first solo album, Vigil In a Wilderness of Mirrors, some snippets on his second, Internal Exile and even a line or two found its way to his third album, Suits.

Hogarth's second album with the band, Holidays In Eden, was the first he wrote in partnership with the band, and includes the song "Dry Land" which Hogarth had written and recorded in a previous project with the band How We Live. Holidays in Eden is considered by many to be Marillion's most commercial and mainstream album, containing mostly radio-friendly songs. However, it was followed by Brave, a dark and richly complex concept album that took the band 18 months to release. The album also marked the start of the band's long time relationship with producer Dave Meegan. An independent film based on the album, which featured the band, was also released. While critically acclaimed, it did poorly commercially, but it is now considered to be one of the best progressive rock albums to come out of the 90s.

Afraid Of Sunlight
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Afraid Of Sunlight

The next album, Afraid Of Sunlight, was released in a hurry, and it became the band's last album with record label EMI. The album itself, however, is also considered to be one of Marillion's classic albums. One track of note on the album is Out Of This World, a song about Donald Campbell, who died while trying to set a speed record on water. The song, in turn, inspired an effort to recover both Campbell and the Bluebird K7, the boat which Campbell crashed in, from the water. The recovery was realized in 2001, and both Steve Hogarth and Steve Rothery were invited to the occasion.

What follows is a string of albums and events that saw Marillion struggling to find their place in the music business. This Strange Engine was released in 1997 with little promotion from their new label, and the band could not afford to make tour stops in the US. However, their dedicated US fanbase decided to solve the problem by raising some $60,000 themselves to give to the band to come to the US. The band's loyal fanbase, combined with the internet, would eventually become vital to the band's existence.

The band's tenth album Radiation saw the band taking a drastically different approach in an effort to sound more modern and reflect the influence of more modern bands like Radiohead. The album was received by fans with mixed reactions. marillion.com was released the following year and showed some progression in the new direction. The band, still unhappy with their record label situation, decided that it would be worth tapping into their loyal fanbase and seeing if they would help fund the recording of the next album by pre-ordering it before recording even started. The response from the fans was overwhelming, and they were able to raise more than enough money to record and release Anoraknophobia in 2001. The band was able to strike a deal with EMI to also help distribute the album. This allowed Marillion to retain all the rights to their music while enjoying commercial distribution.

The success of Anoraknophobia allowed the band to start recording their next album, but they decided to leverage their fanbase once again to help raise money towards marketing and promotion of a new album. The band put up the album for pre-order in mid-production, and the fans once again responded overwhelmingly. Marbles was released in 2004 with a 2-CD version that is only available at Marillion's website - as a thank-you gesture to the 17000 fans who pre-ordered Marbles, their names were credited in the sleeve notes. The band released the singles You're Gone and Don't Hurt Yourself, both of which reached the UK Chart in the Top 10 and Top 20 respectively, thanks again to the fans. Following this, they released a download-only single, The Damage (live), recorded at the band's sell-out gig at the London Astoria. It was the highest new entry in the new UK download chart at number 2. All of this has succeeded in putting the band back in the public consciousness, making the campaign a success. Marillion continued to tour throughout 2005 playing several summer festivals and embarking on acoustic tours of both Europe and the United States, followed up by the "Not Quite Christmas Tour" of Europe throughout the end of 2005.

A new DVD [Colours and Sound] was released in Feb 2006, this new documentary DVD documenting the creation, promotion, release, and subsequent European tour in support of the latest album 'Marbles'. Marillion are currently recording new material with engineer Michael Hunter for their upcoming fourteenth studio album (currently untitled) expected to be released in early 2007.

See also

Discography

Studio albums

All of the albums up to and including Afraid of Sunlight were subsequently reissued in double-CD sets containing extensive bonus material.

Compilations

Remixes

See also Remixomatosis 2004 and Christmas 2004 below

Live albums

Racket Records Releases

Some of the Racket Records releases are part of a series originally titled From Dusk 'til Dot. These releases, one per album from Afraid of Sunlight to marillion.com consist of demo recordings of the tracks and excerpts from the "jams" that the band play in their studio during the writing stages of their process. The Making of Brave was repackaged to be part of this series, and Unzipped was added covering the material from Anaraknophobia.

Videos / DVDs

Christmas CDs

(Free issue to Fan Club members only, very limited runs. All titles now out of print.)

Front Row Club Releases

Following an idea implemented by King Crimson, Marillion have examined their archives of concert recordings and are releasing the best shows (either by performance quality, by sound quality, or importance/rarity of the show) on a subscription basis. Fans pay for a subscription of 4 (originally 6) shows up front, and as the shows are released, they are automatically mailed to the subscriber. Fans can also use their "credit" to purchase back-issues, provided they are still in stock. Only a limited number of copies are manufactured for each FRC release (believed to be no more than 3000) and are not re-issued once sold out.

Related artists

External links

 

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