Radiation (1998)
At the bottom of this post, for the Brave album, I wrote: "I suspect later albums are going to be even of lesser interest to me, but I'll buy them as I find them in the wilds and report back."
And I have done just that, finding quite a bit of Marillion in the wilds for pennies. Some are live albums, so I just jettisoned them to the sale pile. As I write this, along with Radiation, I have three other studio titles found in the last year. When I get to them, I will report here my findings, though I suspect I won't have too much to offer for fans or curiosity seekers.
Because, as I predicted on Brave, I don't think these albums are going to do very much for me. Radiation is about as far away from my interest level as can possibly be, at least sporting a prog rock lens. It's more of an indie rock album, with some 70s classic art rock sounds. Mostly mellow and a bit of a slog to get through. Never really understood how my prog rock brethren managed to land on the sound that Marillion and others were peddling during this era. I was plugged into a different lamp it seems.
Apparently the 2013 remaster brings about a much better end product. I seriously doubt I would be swayed all that much, but who knows.
Source: 2001 Sanctuary UK (CD)
10/30/25 (review)
Fugazi (1984)Going back to 1983: It had taken me a few listens to get into, but Script for a Jester's Tear ultimately won me over. So I was quite excited to obtain Fugazi as soon as it was released to the marketplace. I had yet to hear IQ and other bands coming from the neo prog camp - or what was starting to be referred to as the New Wave of British Progressive Rock. Therefore Marillion was my gateway drug into contemporary progressive rock. As their music went, so did my interest in it.
The opener 'Assassing' is an exhilarating piece, and had me thinking real time that this was going to be an album for the ages. But it quickly dropped off from there - at least in terms of energy level. It was something of a head fake - a distinctive turn to hard rock. Which in retrospect many of the neo prog bands were quite adept at. Ultimately I didn't even hold onto Fugazi, thinking it second rate prog for newbies, falling into that 90s crowd that turned their collective noses up at such twaddle. It wasn't until 2005 that I decided a revisit was in order. OK - now I get it.
Fugazi is a progressive rock album. There's a revelation, eh? Why I didn't have the patience for it initially is rather perplexing considering all the 70s albums I'd absorbed by then. Most of them not exactly easy listening. Perhaps because Marillion were a contemporary group - and they did after all start the album off guns-a-blazing - I guess I just wanted more of that. Rather Fugazi has all the trademarks of the neo prog genre with digital instrumentation, complex yet accessible compositions, and a Gabriel-esque vocal delivery. The reality is Marillion were a foundational group of the movement versus a follower. Major label exposure and subsequent sales totals only pushed the new genre into the limelight for the masses. It wasn't to last but the middle 80s held much promise, thanks to the efforts of Fish & Co.
For 2023, it brings in the whole 80s nostalgic pull. Of course I conveniently filter what I want from it, and I'm completely dishonest with myself on what the 80s reality truly was for me. Nothing beats rose colored glasses. You oughta buy a pair of 'em. +1 listen.
Ownership: 1984 EMI UK (LP). Gatefold.
1984 (first acquired); 12//05; 4/23/23 (review)
I bought this new on LP (US version) when it first came out, as I was still quite the fan of Marillion. Real time, Script for a Jester's Tear had won me over on repeated attempts, and Fugazi on a lesser scale, so Misplaced Childhood was under evaluation from the beginning. I liked it - just enough. But ultimately it found itself on the sale pile with so many records of its ilk back in the 90s. Now for the last three years, I figured this might be an easy find on LP to try again, but no such luck. I have found it, but the dealers wanted too much, and I wasn't certain I would enjoy it, so I passed. When this CD showed up a thrift shop, I had to pull the trigger. And I'm happy to say that - perhaps no surprise - I'm getting more out of this now. Of course it's Neo Prog 101, and is just as much AOR music as it is Genesis-like prog. Whereas the latter was all I wanted back then - and certainly wouldn't complain today if it really was that way - my tolerance levels for 80s arena rock has gone up substantially. There's the combo of well written tunes and time-of-life remembrance. This is a CD that will likely be replaced with an LP, as that's where the nostalgia lies. And the UK originals are a gatefold versus the single sleeve American version. I think I'll splurge for that. We'll see (and that day arrived, locally at a record store no less, some five months later.)
Ownership: 1985 EMI UK (LP). Gatefold.
1985 (first acquired); 3/26/22 (review)
In a parallel universe, I could see myself having stuck with Marillion and been a loyal fan to this day. In the life I chose, I remained loyal to IQ instead. There were a lot of parallels between the two bands from their beginning neo prog roots to their ultimate embracing of pop rock. Of course Marillion were far more popular with the general public, so it was much harder for them to retrace their steps. Steps that IQ proudly went back on and never lost their way again. Because I ultimately dropped Marillion at the time after Misplaced Childhood, I never heard another one of their albums, only adding Clutching at Straws many years after the fact. And with Marillion what that basically means is that I have no foundation whatsoever with the "Hogarth era". Even Fish will tell you that Hogarth has done an extraordinary job with the band, and it made no sense for him to return. To be honest, this album was much better than I thought it was going to be. It's not really my kind of progressive rock, definitely forged into the 90s model of mixing in commercial sounding pop and alt rock. But there was far more 80s neo prog in here than I thought there would be. Especially in the former half of the album. I almost kept it anyway. But I have no nostalgia here as I do for other bands of the era. And that's what would have been needed for me to continue on. I suspect later albums are going to be even of lesser interest to me, but I'll buy them as I find them in the wilds and report back.
Source: 1994 IRS (CD)
3/30/22 (review)
Other Marillion albums I own and need to review: Market Square Heroes (EP); Script for a Jester's Tear; Clutching at Straws; Afraid of Sunlight; This Strange Engine; Sounds That Can't Be Made.
3/26/22 (new entry)
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