Marillion

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Marillion

Background information
Origin United Kingdom
Genre(s) Progressive rock, Neo-progressive rock, Art rock
Years active 1979–present
Label(s) Racket Records, EMI, Capitol
Members
Steve Hogarth (aka "h")
Steve Rothery
Pete Trewavas
Mark Kelly
Ian Mosley
Former members
Fish
Mick Pointer
Diz Minitt
Brian Jelliman
Doug 'Rastus' Irvine

Marillion are 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 vocalist & 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[1] 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[2] 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[3] 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.[citation needed]

Marillion are widely considered within the industry[4] 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'.[5]

The band is also renowned for having an extremely dedicated following[6] 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[7] and regular fanclub[8] publications.

Contents

[edit] Lineup

Current Lineup:

Former members:

[edit] History

[edit] The Fish Era

(see also Marillion discography (Fish era))

Marillion was formed in 1979 as Silmarillion, after J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Silmarillion, by Mick Pointer, Steve Rothery, and others. They played their first gig at Berkhamsted Civic Centre on 1 March 1980.[9]

The band name was shortened to Marillion in 1981 to avoid any sort of copyright conflicts.[10] at the same time as Fish and bassist Diz Minitt joined after an audition at Leyland Farm Studios in Buckinghamshire on 2 January 1981. Rothery and keyboardist Brian Jelliman completed the first line-up; the first gig with this line-up was at the Red Lion Pub in Bicester on 14 March 1981. By the end of 1981, Kelly had replaced Jelliman, 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 1970s), and Yes. Marillion's first recording was a demo tape produced by Les Payne in July 1981 that 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 (early versions of "The Web", "Three Boats Down from The Candy", and "Forgotten Sons") and were subsequently signed by EMI. They released their first single, "Market Square Heroes", in 1982, with the epic song "Grendel" on the B-side of the 12" (30cm) 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 born out of the intensive gigging of the previous years. Although it had some obvious progressive rock stylings, it also had a darker edge, suggested by the bedsit squalour on the album's cover. Hardcore progressive rock fans still consider it their best album to this date; music critics hail it as a key album for the genre as a whole. During the tour to promote Script for a Jester's Tear, Mick Pointer left the band. The second album, Fugazi, built upon the success of the first album with a more electronic sound and produced the single 'Assassing', although the band encountered numerous production problems.[3]

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

Their third and commercially most successful studio album, Misplaced Childhood, was quite possibly their most cohesive work. With the blessing of their record company, the band was free to depart stylistically from 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 on the road, representing the strains of constant touring that would result in the 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 had always made it very clear that the oft-speculated-upon reunion would never happen. However, when Fish headlined the 'Hobble on the Cobbles' free concert in Aylesbury's Market Square on 26 August 2007, the attraction of playing their debut single in its spiritual home proved strong enough to overcome any lingering bad feeling between the former band members, and Kelly, Mosley, Rothery, and Trewavas replaced Fish's backing band for an emotional encore of 'Market Square Heroes'.

In a press interview following the event, Fish denied this would lead to a full reunion, saying that: "Hogarth does a great job with the band. We forged different paths over the 19 years."[11]

[edit] 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 the Fish era was furnished by Mark Wilkinson.

[edit] 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. As quoted from Steve Hogarth, "Holidays in Eden was to become Marillion's “pop”est album ever, and was greeted with delight by many, and dismay by some of the hardcore fans".[12] 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. An independent film based on the album, which featured the band, was also released.

The next album, Afraid Of Sunlight would be 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.[13] The recovery was finally undertaken in 2001, and both Steve Hogarth and Steve Rothery were invited.[14]

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.[15] 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 different approach and was received by fans with mixed reactions.[16]

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[citation needed] and they were able to raise more than enough money to record and release Anoraknophobia in 2001.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

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 (this 'thank you' to the fans also occurred with the previous album, Anoraknophobia).

Marillion in 2007, left to right: Steve Rothery, Steve Hogarth, Mark Kelly (back row), Pete Trewavas, Ian Mosley (back row)
Marillion in 2007, left to right: Steve Rothery, Steve Hogarth, Mark Kelly (back row), Pete Trewavas, Ian Mosley (back row)

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.[citation needed] 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, 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.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

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

[edit] Compilations

[edit] Singles

  • Market Square Heroes (October 1982)
  • He Knows You Know (January 1983) #35 UK
  • Garden Party (June 1983) #16 UK
  • Punch & Judy (January 1984) #29 UK
  • Assassing (April 1984) #22 UK
  • Kayleigh (May 1985) #2 UK (UK sales 200000 - Silver), #74 US, #14 US Mainstream Rock, #16 Holland
  • Lavender (August 1985) #5 UK
  • Heart Of Lothian (November 1985) #29 UK
  • Lady Nina (April 1986), #30 US Mainstream Rock
  • Garden Party [Live] (July 1986)
  • Incommunicado (May 1987) #6 UK, #24 US Mainstream Rock, #31 Holland
  • Sugar Mice (July 1987) #22 UK
  • Warm Wet Circles (October 1987) #22 UK
  • Freaks [Live] (November 1988) #24 UK
  • Hooks In You (August 1989) #30 UK
  • The Uninvited Guest (November 1989)
  • Easter (March 1990) #34 UK
  • Cover My Eyes (Pain & Heaven) (May 1991) #34 UK, #13 Holland
  • No One Can (July 1991) #33 UK
  • Dry Land (September 1991) #34 UK
  • Sympathy (May 1992) #17 UK, #25 Holland
  • No One Can [Reissue] (July 1993) #26 UK
  • The Great Escape [Spiral Remake] (January 1994) #38 Holland
  • The Hollow Man (March 1994) #30 UK
  • Alone Again In The Lap Of Luxury (April 1994)
  • Beautiful (May 1995) #29 UK, #46 Holland
  • Man Of A Thousand Faces (May 1997)
  • Eighty Days (September 1997)
  • These Chains (September 1998)
  • Between You & Me / Map Of The World (September 2001)
  • You're Gone (April 2004) #7 UK, #24 Holland
  • Don't Hurt Yourself (July 2004) #16 UK
  • The Damage [Live] [Digital Single Only] (October 2004)
  • See It Like A Baby [Digital Single Only] (March 2007) #45 UK
  • Thank You Whoever You Are / Most Toys (June 2007) #15 UK, #6 Holland

[edit] Live albums

[edit] Racket Records Releases

  • Live at the Borderline (Racket 1, 1992) - now repackaged as part of the Front Row Club
  • Live in Caracas (Racket 2, 1992)
  • Live in Glasgow (Racket 3, 1993) - now repackaged as part of the Front Row Club
  • Tales From The Engine Room (Racket 7, 1998) - remix of This Strange Engine by The Positive Light (Marc Mitchell and Mark Daghorn)
  • Marillion Rochester (2 CDs, Racket 8, 1998) - given away free to those who contributed to the "Tour Fund" for the 1997 American tour.
  • Piston Broke (Album) (Racket 9, 1998)
  • Unplugged at the Walls (2 CDs, Racket 10, 1999)
  • marillion.zodiac (Racket 11, 1999)
  • marillion.co.uk (Racket 12, 2000, reissued 2002 & 2005)
  • How We Live: Dry Land (Racket 13, 1987)
  • The Wishing Tree: Carnival of Souls (Racket 14, 2001)
  • Crash Course - An Introduction to Marillion (Racket 15, 2001, reissued with different selections in 2002, 2004, and 2006)
  • ReFracted! (2 CDs, Racket 17, 2001) (From Dusk 'til Dot volume 1 - The Making of Afraid Of Sunlight)
  • Another DAT at the office (2 CDs, Racket 18, 2001) (From Dusk 'til Dot volume 2 - The Making of This Strange Engine)
  • Anorak in the UK (2 CDs, 2002) (Double CD version of live album of same name, but does not contain 'Easter')
  • Fallout (2 CDs, Racket 19 2002) (From Dusk 'til Dot volume 3 - The Making of Radiation)
  • Caught in the Net (2 CDs, Racket 20, 2002) (From Dusk 'til Dot volume 4 - The Making of marillion.com)
  • AWOL (Racket 21, 2002) (Sampler CD of the current band members' solo projects)
  • Brave Live 2002 (Racket 22, 5 April 2002)
  • View from the Balcony (Racket 23, 2003, reissued 2005, Front Row Club Sampler)
  • Remixomatosis (Racket 24, different from proposed but abandoned 2004 retail album of the same name)
  • Popular Music (2 CDs, Racket 25, 2005, audio companion to the 'Wish You Were Here' DVD Set
  • Marbles by the Sea (Racket 25, 2005) (Live performances of Marbles from Marillion Weekend 2005)
  • Unzipped (2 CDs, Racket 27, 2006) (The Making of Anoraknophobia)
  • Smoke (Racket 28, 2006) (Sunday night 'Mellow' set from Marillion Weekend 2005)
  • Mirrors (2 CDs, Racket 29, 2006) (Saturday night 'Party' set from Marillion Weekend 2005)
  • Friends (Racket 30, 2007) (Saturday night 'Rarities and Covers' set from Marillion Weekend 2007)
  • Family (2 CDs, Racket 31, 2007) (Sunday night 'Ultimate' set from Marillion Weekend 2007)

[edit] Videos / DVDs

  • Recital of the Script (1983, reissued on DVD 2003)
  • Grendel/The Web EP (1984) - OUT OF PRINT
  • 1982-1986 The Videos (1986) - OUT OF PRINT
  • Sugar Mice/Incommunicado (1987)
  • Live from Loreley (1987, reissued on DVD 2004)
  • From Stoke Row To Ipanema ('A Year in the Life...') (1990, reissued on DVD 2003)
  • A Singles Collection (US version: Six of One, Half-Dozen of the Other) (1992)
  • Brave, the Movie (1995, reissued on DVD 2004)
  • Shot in the Dark (2000, reissued on DVD 2002) - OUT OF PRINT
  • The EMI Singles Collection (2002)
  • Brave Live 2002 (2002) - SHORTLY OUT OF PRINT
  • A Piss-Up in a Brewery (2002) - OUT OF PRINT
  • Before First Light (2003)
  • Christmas in the Chapel (2003)
  • Marbles on the Road (2 DVDs, 2004)
  • Wish You Were Here (4 DVDs, 2005)- OUT OF PRINT
  • Colours and Sound (2 DVDs, 2006)
  • Bootleg Butlins (2007)
  • Something Else (2007, bonus DVD released with Somewhere Else)
  • Somewhere In London (2 DVDs, 2007)

[edit] Christmas CDs

(Free issue to Fan Club members only, very limited runs. All titles now out of print, although are available for purchase as download only when taking out or renewing Fan Club membership.)

  • Christmas 1998 Happy Christmas Everybody (1998)
  • Christmas 1999 marillion.Christmas (1999)
  • Christmas 2000 A Piss-up in a Brewery (2000) - Now repackaged as part of the Front Row Club
  • Christmas 2001 A Very Barry Christmas (2001)
  • Christmas 2002 Santa and his Elvis (2002)
  • Christmas 2003 Say Cheese! (2003)
  • Christmas 2004 Baubles (2004)
  • Christmas 2005 Merry XMas to our Flock (2005)
  • Christmas 2006 The Jingle Book (2006)
  • Christmas 2007 Somewhere Elf (2007)

[edit] 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)[17] 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 "SnowWhere Else" tour in November / December 2007), the Front Row Club will transition to a download only digital distribution format.

  • Front Row Club Issue 1 (FRC-1, Ludwigshalle, Dieburg, Germany, 9 November 1998)
  • Front Row Club Issue 2 (FRC-2, The Academy, Manchester, England, 18 November 1999)
  • Front Row Club Issue 3 (FRC-3, The Luxor, Arnhem, Netherlands, 25 June 1995)
  • Front Row Club Issue 4 (FRC-4, The Borderline Club, London, England, 9 May 1992) - SOLD OUT
  • Front Row Club Issue 5 (FRC-5, The Barrowlands, Glasgow, Scotland, 4 December 1989) - SOLD OUT
  • Front Row Club Issue 6 (FRC-6, Michael Hunter, River, 1994) - SOLD OUT
  • Front Row Club Issue 7 (FRC-7, Salle de Fetes Beaulieu, Lausanne, Switzerland, 19 October 1991)
  • Front Row Club Issue 8 (FRC-8, Le Spectrum, Montreal, Canada, 6 September 1997) - SOLD OUT
  • Front Row Club Issue 9 (FRC-9, Forum, London, England, 28 April 1996)
  • Front Row Club Issue 10 (FRC-10, Moles Club, Bath, 12 December 1990)
  • Front Row Club Issue 11 (FRC-11, Bass Brewery Museum, Burton-On-Trent England, 17 November 2000)
  • Front Row Club Issue 12 (FRC-12, Sala Bikini Barcelona. Spain, 12 December 2000)
  • Front Row Club Issue 13 (FRC-13, Ahoy Rotterdam, Netherlands, 29 September 1995)
  • Front Row Club Issue 14 (FRC-14, The Ritz Roseville, MI, USA, 22 February 1990)
  • Front Row Club Issue 15 (FRC-15, Curtain Call)
  • Front Row Club Issue 16 (FRC-16, Ateneu Popular de Nou Barris Barcelona, Spain, 10 January 1998)
  • Front Row Club Issue 17 (FRC-17, 013 Tilburg, Netherlands, 13 October 2001)
  • Front Row Club Issue 18 (FRC-18, The E-Werk, Köln, Germany, 2 September 1992) - SOLD OUT
  • Front Row Club Issue 19 (FRC-19, Civic, Wolverhampton, England, 4 November 1998) - SOLD OUT
  • Front Row Club Issue 20 (FRC-20, Copenhagen, 28 May 1994)
  • Front Row Club Issue 21 (FRC-21, London, 28 February 2001)
  • Front Row Club Issue 22 (FRC-22, Utrecht, 29 May 1997)
  • Front Row Club Issue 23 (FRC-23, Aylesbury, 30 April 2004) - SOLD OUT
  • Front Row Club Issue 24 (FRC-24, Paris, 18 November 1998)
  • Front Row Club Issue 25 (FRC-25, Mannheim, 4 December 1999)
  • Front Row Club Issue 26 (FRC-26, Oxford, 25 July 1999)
  • Front Row Club Issue 27 (FRC-27, Cambridge, 17 September 1995)
  • Front Row Club Issue 28 (FRC-28, São Paulo, 5 October 1992)
  • Front Row Club Issue 29 (FRC-29, Philadelphia, 9 October 2004) - SOLD OUT
  • Front Row Club Issue 30 (FRC-30, Bielefeld, 20 March 1994)
  • Front Row Club Issue 31 (FRC-31, Milwaukee, 20 September 1997)
  • Front Row Club Issue 32 (FRC-32, Richmond, 3 August 2002) - SOLD OUT
  • Front Row Club Issue 33 (FRC-33, Cologne, 24 July 1991)
  • Front Row Club Issue 34 (FRC-34, Utrecht, 3 December 2005) - SOLD OUT
  • Front Row Club Issue 35 (FRC-35, London, 5 December 2005) - Free bonus issue with FRC-34 - SOLD OUT
  • Front Row Club Issue 36 (FRC-36, Bensacon, 5 October 1989)
  • Front Row Club Issue 37 (FRC-37, New York City, 12 June 2005)
  • Front Row Club Issue 38 (FRC-38, Warsaw, 22 May 2007)
  • Front Row Club Issue 39 (FRC-39, Liverpool, 16 September 1991)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Marillion lineup
  2. ^ Press
  3. ^ a b Marillion's official website.
  4. ^ Sound On Sound.
  5. ^ Web Cottage Industry
  6. ^ Sound On Sound.
  7. ^ weekend Marillion convention website.
  8. ^ The Web - Marillion fansite.
  9. ^ Market Square Heroes - The Authorised Story of Marillion. Mick Wall. Page 28.
  10. ^ http://www.progfreaks.com/Marillion/Biography/Chapter1.htm
  11. ^ Fish and Marillion reunite
  12. ^ http://www.marillion.com/music/albums/holidays.htm
  13. ^ Out of this World, Trivia
  14. ^ Band Member Journal : A Day in the Lakes
  15. ^ marillion.com | NEWS - Press Room - Anoraknophobia | The Official Marillion Website
  16. ^ marillion.com | MUSIC - Discography - Radiation | The Official Marillion Website
  17. ^ Front Row Club

[edit] Links

The history of the band's use of the internet is described by Michael Lewis in the book Next: The Future Just Happened as an example of how the internet is shifting power away from established elites, such as record producers.

[edit] External links

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