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Marillion
Marillion

Background information
Origin Flag of United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Genre(s) Neo-progressive rock
Art rock
Alternative rock
Years active 1979–present
Label(s) Racket Records
Members
Steve Hogarth (aka "h")
Steve Rothery
Pete Trewavas
Mark Kelly
Ian Mosley

Marillion is a British Rock group. Formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England in 1979, their recorded studio output comprises fourteen albums and is generally regarded as comprising two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original frontman Fish in late 1988 after their first four albums, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve Hogarth ("h") in early 1989. Marillion has now released ten albums thus far with Hogarth.

The core lineup of Steve Rothery (the sole 'pre-Fish' original member), Pete Trewavas, Mark Kelly and Ian Mosley is unchanged since 1984. The band has enjoyed critical and commercial success with a string of UK Top Ten hits spanning their career, an estimated fifteen million total worldwide album sales and even an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.

The band's music has changed stylistically throughout their career. The band themselves have stated that each new album tends to represent a reaction to the preceding one, and for this reason their output is difficult to 'pigeonhole'.

Their original sound (with Fish on vocals) is best described as guitar and keyboard led progressive rock or neo-prog, and has sometimes been compared with 1970's era Genesis.

In late 1988, citing 'musical differences', Fish left the band and was replaced as vocalist by Steve Hogarth.

The band themselves, on their current sampler CD, offer the tongue-in-cheek description of "Songs about Death and Water since 1979..."

Many current fans would endorse the description of 'complex, melodic rock with a spiritual and sometimes melancholic edge'.

Representative samples of Fish-era Marillion (1987) and h-era Marillion (2004).

In fanbase polls, Clutching at Straws and Brave often emerge as the most highly rated album of each era.

Marillion are widely considered within the industry to have been one of the first mainstream 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 & roll 'Web Cottage Industry'.

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

The fourteenth studio album "Somewhere Else" was released on 9 April 2007. The sleevenotes to Somewhere Else state that: "Marillion's 15th studio album will be released in Spring 2008."

Contents

  • 1 Lineup
  • 2 History
    • 2.1 The Fish Era
    • 2.2 Trivia from the Fish era album covers
  • 3 The Hogarth Era
  • 4 Discography
    • 4.1 Studio albums
    • 4.2 Compilations
    • 4.3 Singles
    • 4.4 Live albums
    • 4.5 Racket Records Releases
    • 4.6 Videos / DVDs
    • 4.7 Christmas CDs
    • 4.8 Front Row Club Releases
  • 5 Related artists
  • 6 References
  • 7 External links

Lineup

Current Lineup:

Former members:

There were also three transient drummers (Jonathan Mover, Andy Ward and John Marter) who joined and left the band in Spinal Tap-esque 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 by Mick Pointer, Steve Rothery and others. They played their first gig at Berkhamsted Civic Centre on March 1, 1980.

The band name was shortened to Marillion in 1981, reportedly following the threat of legal action from the Tolkien estate, at the same time as Fish and bassist Diz Minitt joined after an audition at Leyland Farm Studios in Buckinghamsire on 2nd January 1981. Rothery and keyboardist Brian Jelleyman completed the first line-up. The first gig with this line up was at the Red Lion Pub, Bicester on the 4th of March, 1981. By the end of 1981, Kelly had replaced Jelleyman, with Trewavas replacing Minitt in 1982.

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 Queen, early Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator, Rush (specifically from the late '70s), and Yes. Marillion's first recording was a demo tape produced by Les Payne in July 1981 and included early versions of "He Knows You Know", "Garden Party" and "Charting the Single".

The group attracted attention with a three track session for the Friday Rock Show (including early versions of "The Web", "Three Boats Down from The Candy" & "Forgotten Sons") and were subsequently signed by EMI. They released their 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, 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 music critics it's hailed as a key album of a whole genre. During the tour to promote Script for a Jester's Tear, Mick Pointer left the band. The second album, Fugazi 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
Misplaced Childhood

Their third studio album and, commercially, their most successful album, Misplaced Childhood, was quite possibly their most cohesive work. Given blessings from their recording company, their hands were free and they agreed on creation of a departure stylistically of their previous albums. They were able to showcase their ability to juxtapose pert pop ballads ("Kayleigh," charting 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 United Kingdom.

The fourth studio album, Clutching at Straws 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 until 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 from the Fish era album covers

Two early Marillion albums contain Pink Floyd references in their cover artwork. The back cover of Script for a Jester's Tear depicts Pink Floyd's album A Saucerful of Secrets lying on the floor, along with other records including Bill Nelson's "Do You Dream In Colour" single. The inside cover of Fugazi shows a bedroom in disorder. There we find another set of influential albums scattered about: Pink Floyd's The Wall lies open, with Peter Hammill's Over and Fools Mate nearby. Hammill is a major influence on Fish, and on the musical style of Marillion's first two albums. Hammill also supported Marillion on the UK leg of the Script for a Jester's Tear tour. Cover art from this era was furnished by Mark Wilkinson.

The Hogarth Era

After the split, the band found Steve Hogarth, the former keyboardist and sometime vocalist of The Europeans. Hogarth stepped into a difficult situation, as the band had already recorded some demos of the next studio album, which eventually would have become Seasons End.

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. While critically acclaimed, the album did poorly commercially, but it is now considered to be one of the best progressive rock albums to come out of the 1990s, with some hailing it as the blueprint for Radiohead's OK Computer album, which came out just three years later. An independent film based on the album, which featured the band, was also released.

Afraid Of Sunlight
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. 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 inspired an effort to recover both Campbell's body and the "Bluebird K7," the boat which Campbell crashed in, from the water. The recovery was finally undertaken in 2001, and both Steve Hogarth and Steve Rothery were invited.

What followed was 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 United States. Luckily, their dedicated US fan base decided to solve the problem by raising some $60,000 themselves online 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 trying a radical experiment by asking their fans if they would help fund the recording of the next album by pre-ordering it before recording even started. The response 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 - kind of a 'thank-you' gesture to the 17,000+ fans who pre-ordered it, and as even a further thanks to the fans, 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.

Somewhere Else
Somewhere Else

A new DVD, Colours and Sound, was released in Feb 2006, documenting the creation, promotion, release, and subsequent European tour in support of the latest album 'Marbles'.

April 2007 saw Marillion release their fourteenth studio album "Somewhere Else", their first album in 10 years to make the UK Top #30. The success of the album was further underscored by that of the download-only single See it Like a Baby, making UK #45 (March 2007) and the traditional CD release of Thankyou Whoever You Are / Most Toys, which made UK#15 and #6 in Holland during June 2007.

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

Singles

Live albums

Racket Records Releases

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 four (originally six) 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 3,000) and are not re-issued once sold out.

Marillion have announced that after the January 2008 release of Front Row Club Issue 40 (a live recording from the upcoming "Somewhere Else" tour in 2007), the Front Row Club will transition to a download only digital distribution format.

Related artists

References

  1. Marillion lineup
  2. [1]
  3. Sampler CD
  4. [http://media.marillion.com/albums/cas/incomm.rm Fish-era sample (RealMedia).
  5. [2] h-era sample (RealMedia).
  6. Sound On Sound.
  7. [3]
  8. Sound On Sound.
  9. weekend Marillion convention website.
  10. The Web - Marillion fansite.
  11. Queen: The Magic Years at 7:20, Retrieved from YouTube
  12. Grendel is over seventeen minutes long.
  13. Out of this World, Trivia
  14. Band Member Journal : A Day in the Lakes

External links

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