Marillion - Post 1988
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Formed in the early eighties, Marillion achieved their most commercial success in 1985 with the release of the singles Kayleigh and Lavender from the Misplaced Childhood album. The follow up album, Clutching at Straws featured the hit singles Incommunicdo and Sugar Mice, but following the release of this album extrovert frontman Fish left the band citing the cliched "musical differences" as the reason for the split. Unfortunately to this day the majority of people are under the impression that this was the end of Marillion. The intention of this article is to set the record straight.
A guide entry concentrating on Marillion's Fish era can be found here
So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish
In 1988, the four remaining members of Marillion began the search for a new frontman. After listening to many audition tapes they finally decided on ex How We Live and Europeans vocalist Steve Hogarth.
Getting close to Season's End
The fusion of the existing band members and Steve Hogarth who promptly nicknamed himself 'H' to distinguish himself from guitarist Steve Rothery produced 1989's Season's End album. As a Marillion album, Season's End was in places musically similar to the Fish era music as Steve Hogarth had yet to fully establish himself at the front of the band. The album, however, did feature lyrics that were more rooted in the real world than Fish's lyrics had become of late.
The first single to be released from the album, Hooks in You was an out and out rocker which would soon become a live favourite. Also released as singles were The Uninvited Guest and Easter, a beautiful ballad about the troubles in Northern Ireland.
The cover of the album displayed four Marillion icons meeting untimely ends: A silhouetted magpie's feather was seen falling from the sky onto barren desert sands; The clown portrait from the cover of 1984's Fugazi album was seen slowly sinking into a stagnant pond; a silhouette of the chameleon made famous on the covers of the first three Marillion albums was seen, tongue extended, precariously balanced on the fragile branch of a tree about to be engulfed in flames; and the tip of the jester's cap, the most famous Marillion symbol of all was to be seen falling out of a bright blue sky. Even the album's title Season's End suggested that Marillion were quite happy to find themselves at the end of an era and were looking forward to embracing the future with renewed vigour. Unfortunately the future did not embrace them in quite the same way and sales of Season's End were poor compared to sales of the previous album Clutching at Straws which briefly occupied the number one spot in the UK album charts.
Something Waiting To Happen, Something Learning to Fly
In 1991, Marillion returned with a new offering, Holidays in Eden, a more commercial album than Season's End. In tracks such as Cover My Eyes (Pain and Heaven), No One Can and rework of Hogarth's ex band's Dry Land there should have been a major hit, but the world had lost interest and each of these singles in succession failed to provide the band with anything other than a minor hit.
The album also featured a wonderful end section comprising the three songs This Town, The Rake's Progress and 100 Nights which intertwined with each other providing an interesting glimpse of the way Marillion was to go with the next album.
Fallin' From the Moon
After disappointing chart successes from the string of Holidays in Eden singles, Marillion changed tack altogether and in produced what is still considered by many to be their finest work to date, 1994's Brave album. A fictional work derived from a real starting point, a news story about a girl found wondering with amnesia on the Severn bridge, Brave charts the girl's
descent into madness and her eventual suicide.
Interestingly the vinyl version of this double album came with a double tracked fourth side which would either play the final track, Made Again or just the sound of waves lapping at the shore when the end of the record was reached depending on where the needle fell at the start of the side.
Brave was a concept album which shunned the commercialism of Holiday's in Eden. Three singles (Alone again in the Lap of Luxury, The Hollow Man and The Great Escape) were released from the album, but as with all albums of this type it is required that the listener hears the entire work from start to finish in order for the album to make the most impact. It is hardly surprising therefore, that the singles failed to achieve commercial success.
Dayglo Jesus on the Dash
Disillusioned by Brave's lack of commercial success, Steve Hogarth was clearly frustrated at his inability to get Marillion recognised as the relevant and contemporary band that they had turned into. Unfortunately in the years since Fish's departure, the world
had turned away from progressive rock as a form of popular music and sadly Marillion had become labelled as a purveyor of songs of this genre and hence a bit of a joke in the music press and the public's eye alike. The band that Hogarth had inherited at the top of the musical ladder was now being dragged down under the weight of the baggage that was associated with its name.
Born from this despondency was 1995's Afraid of Sunlight album. One gets the impression listening to this album that Marillion had for all intents and purposes given up on commercial success by this point and were just going to have some fun playing around and making a record. However, because they weren't really trying for a commercially successful record and at the same time weren't trying to produce a concept album such as Brave the songs on this record came across as vibrant, fun, challenging and entertaining.
A single (Beautiful) was released but the best tracks on the album were Gazpacho, the title track, Out of this World - the song that would eventually inspire the raising of Donald Campbell's Bluebird from the depths of Lake Coniston and King - an anthemnic work about the transience of fame and the sorry state of the record industry in 1995 ("And they call you a genius 'cause you're easy to sell...")
This is the Never Ending Show
After parting company with record label EMI, Marillion returned in 1997 with a new album, This Strange Engine. Kicking off with Man of a Thousand Faces, a fascinating song that starts with some simple acoustic guitar and builds to a climax of a school choir providing backing to Hogarth's emotional singing, the album contained much to show that Marillion had well and truly kicked the old "dinosaur rock" image and were now producing music that would be hailed as a work of genius if it weren't for the name.
A single, 80 Days was released - a pleasing pop/rock song that, true to form, failed to set the charts on fire. Dance mixes of this album were created by a duo called The Positive Light and released as an album called Tales from the Engine Room. One of the tracks on the remix album, Memory of Water (Big Beat Mix) achieved limited success in the club scene - an entirely new area for Marillion.
No Religion, No Restraint, No Direction, No Complaints
1998 saw the release of Radiation, Marillion's 10th studio album which again saw a different mix of musical styles. Three Minute Boy was an unadulterated pop song, Born to Run was very bluesy whereas songs like Cathedral Wall provided the high octane rock for which the new Marillion were becoming known.
Although no longer regarded by many as one of Marillion's better efforts, the album does contain The Answering Machine which remains a crowd pleaser on tour. These Chains was released as a single.
We stare at our screens all our lives. What a waste of eyes.
By 1999, Marillion had firmly embraced the Internet revolution and were using their website and mailing list to keep in touch with fans all over the world. This year also saw the release of new album marillion.com which again saw Marillion branching out into other musical styles. House in particular is quite jazz influenced with its muted trumpets conjuring up images of sipping whiskey in smoky, laid back bars.
Other tracks Go!, Deserve, Tumble Down the Years and Build in B*****d Radar were hypnotic pop/rock songs with catchy choruses that the world should really have been singing.
This is the 21st Century
In 2000, seemingly unable to fund the recording of a new album, Marillion approached its fans over its internet mailing list asking how many of them would be prepared to preorder (and pay for) the next album a year in advance so that its recording could be paid for. After an overwhelming response this plan was put into action. 12,000 fans preordered the album and in May 2001 were rewarded with a specially packaged limited edition version of the band's new album Anoraknophobia.
The limited edition version thanked and named the first 8000 people to preorder the album in its booklet. Anoraknophobia has been hailed by fans and critics (at least the ones who actually listened to it) alike as the best thing Marillion have produced in many years.
The album begins with Between You and Me - a blistering rock song with an infectious chorus and continues relentlessly into Quartz which features a kicking bass line by Pete Trewavas and some beautifully timed guitar work by Steve Rothery.
Anoraknophobia also contains This is the 21st Century, Marillion's furthest foray into electronica so far with Hogarth's meandering lyric entwined with drum loops and atmospheric effects. It also includes Separated Out, a song which features samples from the classic 1930's Todd Browning movie Freaks
A Wise Man Once Wrote...
Fish left this band over twelve years ago.
Steve Hogarth has produced eight wonderful albums during his time with Marillion.
What does a band have to do to shake off its past? Must it always be remembered for Kayleigh and the rather twee Lavender, songs that were not representative of the band's output at the time and even less so now?
What hope of changing the attitude towards them does the band have when the popular press continue to pass them off as irrelevant despite the fact that they clearly haven't even listened to the music they're supposedly reviewing?
Well - let's go change some attitudes:
1. Listen to This is the 21st Century at mp3.com
2. Listen to Anoraknophobia
3. Pass on what you've learned. From small acorns...
Find a better way of life / www.marillion.com
