Marillion

Categories: British musical groups | Progressive rock groups

Marillion

Image:Marillion.jpg
Years active 1979–present
Status Active
Origin England}}}
Genre(s) Rock
Label(s) Racket Records
Members Steve Hogarth (aka "H")
Steve Rothery
Pete Trewavas
Mark Kelly
Ian Mosley

Marillion are a British Rock group formed in Aylesbury in 1979, whose 13 album career is generally regarded as comprising two eras, delineated by the departure of frontman Fish and arrival of Steve Hogarth in 1988. The core lineup of Steve Rothery (the only original member), Pete Trewavas, Mark Kelly and Ian Mosley has been unchanged since 1984. The band has enjoyed critical and commercial success with a string of UK top 10 hits spanning their career and even an entry into the Guinness book of records.

The band's music has developed stylistically over their career and avoids easy pigeonholing, though it has been variously (although perhaps unhelpfully) described as Rock, epic rock, classic rock, art rock, progressive rock and neo-progressive rock.

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Lineup

Studio album personnel since 1982:

There were also three drummers (Jonathan Mover, Andy Ward and John Martyr) who joined and left the band in 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.

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History

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The Fish Era

The band was formed as Silmarillion after J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Silmarillion in 1979. The band name was shortened to Marillion in 1980, reportedly following the threat of legal action from the Tolkien estate. 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 bands influences, notably early Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator and Yes. The group released its 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, (1983) 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. The second album, Fugazi (1984) built on the success of the first album, with a more electronic sound, though the band encountered numerous production problems.

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Misplaced Childhood

Their third and commercially most successful album, Misplaced Childhood (1985), was quite possibly their most cohesive work. It was quite a departure stylistically, showcasing their ability to juxtapose pert pop ballads ("Kayleigh" charted at #2 in the United Kingdom) with longer song cycles of lost youth and first loves. The album went to #1 in the UK.

The fourth album, Clutching at Straws (1987) 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 before 1999. Both sides have made clear though that a reunion will never happen.

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The H Era

After the split, the band turned to Hogarth, the former keyboardist and sometime vocalist of The Europeans, to fill the hole that Fish left. Hogarth stepped into a difficult situation, as the band had already recorded demos of the next studio album, which would become Seasons End, with Fish on vocals, and using Fish's lyrics. 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 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. An independent film based on the album, which featured the band, was also released. While critically acclaimed, it did poorly commercially, but it is now considered to be one of the best progressive rock albums to come out of the 90s.

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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. The album itself, however, is also considered to be one of Marillion's classic albums. 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, in turn, inspired an effort to recover both Campbell and the Bluebird K7, the boat which Campbell crashed in, from the water. The recovery was realized in 2001, and both Steve Hogarth and Steve Rothery were invited to the occasion.

What follows is 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 US. However, their dedicated US fanbase decided to solve the problem by raising the money themselves to give to the band to come to the US. The fundraiser worked well, and the band was able to tour 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 worth tapping into their loyal fanbase and seeing if they would help fund the recording of the next album by pre-ordering it before recording even started. The response from the fans 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 - as a thank-you gesture to the 17000 fans who pre-ordered Marbles, 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 download chart at number 2. All this has succeeded in putting the band back in the public consciousness, making the campaign a success. Marillion continues to tour and play summer festivals in 2005 while recording new material with engineer Michael Hunter for their upcoming fourteenth studio album.


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Discography

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Studio albums

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

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Compilations

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Remixes

See also Remixomatosis 2004 and Christmas 2004 below

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Live albums

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Racket Records Releases

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Christmas CDs

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Front Row Club Releases

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Videos

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Related artists

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External links

fr:Marillion it:Marillion es:Marillion nl:Marillion no:Marillion pl:Marillion pt:Marillion