h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm afraid I could only recomend their first album, Script. It just went downhill from there for me.

Script is good, but naive.. the Genesis influence is too much for me on this one. I think "Misplaced Childhood" best represents the Fish years, whilst "Brave" and "Afraid of Sunlight" best sum up the Steve Hogarth years.

Alas, their greatest fall was never cracking America..

Clutching At Straws was in fact a poor Misplaced Childhood II, even though the band had attempted to avoid this. (If you read your tour guides). Script was Phenominal, Fugazi and Childhood were both fine albums. One thing that always did it for me with Marillion was the artwork! I could look at the album covers for ages, and yet next time I picked one up, would see somthing I missed before.

I disagree. I don't think Clutching is a poor Misplaced Childhood at all - the themes are different, the production is different, the music is harder and more dynamic. I think it's fair to say they wrote it with their eye on the American market - as the excellent sleevenotes to the recent re-issue confirm - but it didn't have a hope in hell's chance there.

IMHO, it contains some of their strongest songs - The 'Warm Wet Circles' trilogy at the start ,'White Russian', 'Sugar Mice', 'Torch Song', 'Slainte Mhath', all excellent songs. 'The Last Straw' is a bit of a dirge, and 'Just For The Record' is flimsy, but otherwise a damn fine record. A brilliant journal of a band falling apart.

Grendel.

If you want a good diary of a band falling apart (but not quite managing it at the time) get Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. A very fine piece of work, despite - or even because of the turmoil within the band at the time.