Marillion
Encyclopedia
Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury
, England in 1979. Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish
in late 1988, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve Hogarth
in early 1989.
The band continue to tour internationally, and were ranked 38th in Classic Rock's
"50 Best Live Acts of All Time" in 2008.
(lead guitar, and the sole 'pre-Fish' original member), Pete Trewavas
(bass), Mark Kelly (keyboards) and Ian Mosley
(drums) has been 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.
Marillion's music has changed stylistically throughout their career. The band themselves 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 would be sometimes compared with Gabriel
-era Genesis
.
More recently, their sound has been compared, on successive albums, to that of Radiohead
, Massive Attack
, Keane, Crowded House
, The Blue Nile
and Talk Talk
, although not consistently comparable sonically with any of these acts. The band themselves in 2007, tongue-in-cheek, described their own output merely as: "Songs about Death and Water since 1979..."
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 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.
The band are also renowned for having an extremely dedicated following (often self-termed 'Freaks') 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, biennial conventions and regular fanclub publications.
's book The Silmarillion
, by Mick Pointer, Steve Rothery, and others. They played their first gig at Berkhamsted Civic Centre on 1 March 1980.
The band name was shortened to Marillion in 1981 to avoid potential copyright conflicts at the same time as Fish and bassist Diz Minnett 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 Minnett 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
, Pink Floyd
, 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" version. Following the single, the band released their first full-length album in 1983.
, was born out of the intensive gigging of the previous years. Although it had some progressive rock stylings, it also had a darker edge, suggested by the bedsit squalour on the album's cover. 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.
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 was Misplaced Childhood
. With the blessing of their record company, the band was free to depart stylistically from their previous albums, in the process developing a more mainstream sound. The lead single from the album, "Kayleigh
", received major promotion by EMI and gained heavy rotation on BBC Radio 1
and Independent Local Radio
stations as well as television appearances, bringing the band to the attention of a much wider audience. The band were able to showcase their ability on the album to juxtapose pert pop ballads ("Kayleigh
", charting at No. 2 in the United Kingdom, behind charity fundraiser "You'll Never Walk Alone
" by The Crowd
, and "Lavender
", which charted at #5) with longer song cycles of lost youth, first love, drug abuse, drink, prostitution and, ultimately, rebirth and redemption, all inspired by Fish's life experiences. Following the exposure given to "Kayleigh" and its subsequent chart success, the album went to No. 1 in the United Kingdom, knocking Bryan Ferry
off the top spot and holding off a challenge from Sting, who released his first solo album in the same week. The album came sixth in Kerrang!
magazine's "Albums Of The Year" in 1985. Kayleigh also gave Marillion its sole entry on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #74.
, 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. It did continue the group's commercial success, however; lead single "Incommunicado" charted at No. 6 in the UK charts gaining the band an appearance on 'Top of the Pops'. Fish has also stated in interviews since that he believes this was the best album he made with the band. The album came sixth in Kerrang!
magazine's "Albums Of The Year" in 1987. The loss of the larger-than-life Fish left a hole that would be difficult to fill. Fish explained his reasons for leaving in an interview in 2003:
Giving the band a choice to continue with either him or the manager, the band sided with the manager and Fish left for a solo career. His last live performance with the band was at Craigtoun Country Park
on 23 July 1988. After lengthy legal battles, informal contact between Fish and the other four band members apparently did not resume until 1999; Fish would later disclose in the liner notes to the 2-CD reiussue of Clutching at Straws that he and his former bandmates had met up and discussed the demise of the band and renewed their friendship, and had come to the consensus that an excessive touring schedule and too much pressure from the band's management led to the rift.
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."
. 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". Despite its pop stylings, the album failed to crossover beyond the band's existing fanbase and produced no major hit singles.
that took the band 18 months to release. The album also marked the start of the band's longtime relationship with producer Dave Meegan
. While critically acclaimed, the album received little promotion from EMI and 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. Once again, it received little promotion and no mainstream radio airplay, and its sales were disappointing for the band. Despite this, it was one of their most critically acclaimed albums and was included in Q
's 50 Best Albums of 1995. 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. In 1998, Steve Hogarth claimed this was the best album he had made with the band.
was released in 1997 with little promotion from their new label Castle Records, 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 different approach and was received by fans with mixed reactions.
marillion.com
was released the following year and showed some progression in the new direction. The band were still unhappy with their record label situation. As Steve Hogarth explained:
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. By this time the band had also parted company with their long-time manager, saving 20 per cent of the band's income.
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. This time fans responded by pre-ordering 18,000 copies.
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 18,000+ 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).
The band’s management organised the biggest promotional schedule since they had left EMI and Steve Hogarth secured interviews with prominent broadcasters on BBC Radio
, including Matthew Wright, Bob Harris
, Stuart Maconie
, Simon Mayo
and Mark Lawson
. Marbles also became the band’s most critically acclaimed album since Afraid of Sunlight, prompting many positive reviews in the press. The band released "You're Gone" as the lead single from the album. Aware that the song was unlikely to gain much mainstream radio airplay, they released it in three separate formats and encouraged fans to buy a copy of each format to get it into the UK top ten. The single reached No. 7, the first time a Marillion song had reached the UK top ten since "Incommunicado
" in 1987 and the band‘s first chart hit since "Beautiful" in 1995. The second single from the album, "Don‘t Hurt Yourself", reached #16. 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 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 album Marbles.
, 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 No. 45 (March 2007) and the traditional CD release of Thankyou Whoever You Are / Most Toys, which made UK#15 and No. 6 in Holland during June 2007.
In July 2008 the band posted a contest for fans to create a music video for the soon-to-be released single "Whatever is Wrong with You", and post it on YouTube. The winner would win £5,000.
Happiness Is the Road
, released in October 2008, again featured a pre-order "deluxe edition" with a list of the fans who bought in advance, and a more straightforward regular release. It is another double album, with the first disc (based on a concept) slated for a wider general release in 2009, and the second (consisting of the other songs that aren't part of the theme) only available from their website. Before the album's release, on 9 September 2008, Marillion achieved a world first by pre-releasing their own album via P2P networks themselves. Upon attempting to play the downloaded files, users were shown a video from the band explaining why they had taken this route. Downloaders were then able to opt to purchase the album at a user-defined price or select to receive DRM-free files for free, in exchange for an email address. The band explained that although they did not support piracy, they realised their music would inevitably be shared in this manner anyway, and wanted to attempt to engage with p2p users and make the best of a bad situation.
.
An as yet untitled seventeenth studio album has been worked on for much of 2011, and is reportedly scheduled for release at some point in the first half of 2012.
of The The
asked me to play piano on his tour. I always say I had to make a choice between the most hip band in the world, and the least.” In the same interview, he claimed: “We’re just tired of the opinions of people who haven’t heard anything we’ve done in ten years. A lot of what’s spread about this band is laughable.”
Much of the band’s enduring and unfashionable reputation stems from their emergence in the early 1980s as the most commercially successful band of the neo-progressive rock
movement, an unexpected revival of the progressive rock
musical style that had fallen out of critical favour in the mid-1970s. Some early critics were quick to dismiss the band as clones of Peter Gabriel
-era Genesis
due to musical similarities, such as their extended songs, a prominent and Mellotron
-influenced keyboard sound, vivid and fantastical lyrics and the equally vivid and fantastical artwork by Mark Wilkinson
used for the sleeves of their albums and singles. Lead singer Fish was also often compared with Gabriel due to his early vocal style and theatrical stage performances, which in the early years often included wearing face paint. In fact, Marillion’s influences were more diverse than that. Fish was heavily influenced by Peter Hammill
, two of guitarist Steve Rothery’s biggest influences were David Gilmour
and Andrew Latimer
, keyboard player Mark Kelly’s biggest inspiration was Rick Wakeman
, Pete Trewavas especially loved Paul McCartney
´s bass lines and Mick Pointer was fond of Neil Peart
's drumming.
As Jonh Wilde summarised in Melody Maker
in 1989: "At the end of a strange year for pop music, Marillion appeared in November 1982 with "Market Square Heroes
". There were many strange things about 1982, but Marillion were the strangest of them all. For six years, they stood out of time. Marillion were the unhippest group going. As punk was becoming a distant echo, they appeared with a sound and an attitude that gazed back longingly to the age of Seventies pomp. When compared to Yes
, Genesis
and ELP
, they would take it as a compliment. The Eighties have seen some odd phenomena. But none quite as odd as Marillion. Along the way, as if by glorious fluke, they turned out some singles that everybody quietly liked – "Garden Party", "Punch and Judy
" and "Incommunicado
". By this time, Marillion did not need the support of the hip-conscious. They were massive. Perhaps the oddest thing about Marillion was that they became one of the biggest groups of the decade. They might have been an anomaly but they were monstrously effective."
The band’s unfashionable reputation and image problem has often been mentioned in the media, even in otherwise positive reviews. In Q
in 1987, David Hepworth
claimed: “Marillion may represent the inelegant, unglamorous, public bar end of the current Rock Renaissance but they are no less part of it for that. Clutching at Straws
suggests that they may be finally coming in from the cold.” In the same magazine in 1995, Dave Henderson wrote: “It’s not yet possible to be sacked for showing an affinity for Marillion, but has there ever been a band with a larger stigma attached?” He also claimed that if the album Afraid of Sunlight “had been made by a new, no baggage-of-the-past combo, it would be greeted with open arms, hailed as virtual genius.” In Record Collector
in 2002, Tim Jones claimed they were "one of the most unfairly berated bands in Britain" and "one of its best live rock acts." In 2004, Classic Rock
s Jon Hotten wrote: “That genre thing has been a bugbear of Marillion's, but it no longer seems relevant. What are Radiohead
if not a progressive band?” and claimed Marillion were “making strong, singular music with the courage of their convictions, and we should treasure them more than we do.” In the Q
& Mojo
Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd
& The Story of Prog Rock, an article on Marillion written by Mick Wall
described them as “probably the most misunderstood band in the world”. In 2007, Stephen Dalton of The Times
stated: “The band have just released their 14th album, Somewhere Else
, which is really rather good. Containing tracks that shimmer like Coldplay
, ache like Radiohead
and thunder like Muse
, it is better than 80 per cent of this month’s releases. But you are unlikely to hear Marillion on British radio, read about them in the music press or see them play a major festival. This is largely because Marillion have – how can we put this kindly? – an image problem. Their music is still perceived as bloated, bombastic mullet-haired prog-rock, even by people who have never heard it. In fairness, they did once release an album called Script for a Jester's Tear
. But, come on, we all had bad hair days in the 1980s.”
Despite publishing a very good review for their 1995 album Afraid Of Sunlight
and including it in their 50 Best Albums of 1995, Q
refused to interview the band or write a feature on them. Steve Hogarth later said: “How can they say, this is an amazing record… no, we don’t want to talk to you? It’s hard to take when they say, here’s a very average record… we’ll put you on the front cover.”
In 1999, DJ Simon Mayo
commented on BBC Radio 1
: "Marillion ... where are they now? And who cares anyway?" Fans objecting to the comment brought the station’s computer system to a standstill with thousands of emails of complaint. Mayo subsequently apologised for his comment to keyboard player Mark Kelly when he phoned the show to take part in a quiz.
To accompany the release of Anoraknophobia
in 2001, the band issued a press release asking critics to review the album in “a manner that is both accurate and fair. So, our challenge to you is to firstly listen to the album. Then write a review without using any of the following words: "Progressive rock", "Genesis
", "Fish", "heavy metal", "dinosaurs", "predictable", "concept album". Because if you do, we'll know that you haven't listened to it.”
Reviewing the band’s appearance on BBC Two
’s The Future Just Happened in 2001, Gareth McLean
of The Guardian
described the band as "once dodgy and now completely rubbish" and their fans as "slightly simple folks". He also dismissed the band’s efforts to continue their career without a label by dealing directly with their fans on the Internet, claiming: "One suspects that their decision occurred round about the time that the record industry decided to shun Marillion."
In an interview in 2000, Hogarth expressed regret about the band retaining their name after he joined: "If we had known when I joined Marillion what we know now, we'd have changed the name and been a new band. It was a mistake to keep the name, because what it represented in the mid-Eighties is a millstone we now carry. If we'd changed it, I think we would have been better off. We would have been judged for our music. It's such a grave injustice that the media constantly calls us a 'dinosaur prog band'. They only say that out of ignorance because they haven't listened to anything we've done for the last 15 bloody years. If you hear anything we've done in the last five or six years, that description is totally irrelevant ... It's a massive frustration that no-one will play our stuff. If we send our single to Radio 1 they say: 'Sorry, we don't play music by bands who are over so-many years old...and here's the new U2
single.' I suppose it's something everyone has to cope with – every band are remembered for their big hit single, irrespective of how much they change over the years. But you can only transcend that by continuing to have hits. It's Catch 22." However, Hogarth was still able to be optimistic: "You know, at some stage, someone has to notice that we're doing interesting things. Someday someone will take a retrospective look at us and be surprised."
The band have been prepared to send up their unfashionable status, naming their 2001 album “Anoraknophobia” and printing T-shirts with the logo “Marillion: Uncool as F*ck.”
In 2004, the band were denied an appearance on the BBC's flagship chart television show Top of the Pops
, despite the band's single, "You're Gone", becoming a No. 7 hit and the second highest new entry of the week. Following the renewed media interest in the band generated by the song, BBC presenter Jonathan Ross
described the band as “a prog-rock band that sing about goblins”, to which Marillion’s manager Lucy Jordache responded: “Do you think I'd be going round with someone in a pointy hat?” Guitarist Steve Rothery commented: “We recorded Script for a Jester's Tear
22 years ago. I think that was when Ross had his own hair.”
Several bandmembers are currently active in UK music industry bodies – amongst them the FAC
, whilst Mark Kelly was elected in November 2009 to both the Performer and Main Boards of the UK's PPL
.
Former members:
Timeline
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
, England in 1979. Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish
Fish (singer)
Derek William Dick, better known as Fish, is a Scottish progressive rock singer, lyricist and occasional actor, best known as the former lead singer of Marillion.-Biography:...
in late 1988, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve Hogarth
Steve Hogarth
Steve Hogarth also known as "h", is the lead vocalist and occasional keyboardist/guitarist with the British rock band Marillion. Hogarth was formerly a keyboard player and co-lead vocalist with The Europeans and vocalist with How We Live...
in early 1989.
The band continue to tour internationally, and were ranked 38th in Classic Rock's
Classic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
"50 Best Live Acts of All Time" in 2008.
Line-up and sound changes
The core line-up of Steve RotherySteve Rothery
Steve Rothery is the guitarist of the English rock band Marillion. He was born in Brampton, South Yorkshire, England. From the age of six he lived in Whitby, North Yorkshire.-Biography:...
(lead guitar, and the sole 'pre-Fish' original member), Pete Trewavas
Pete Trewavas
Pete Trewavas is an English musician. He joined Marillion in 1982, taking over the role of bassist, from Diz Minnett, while acting occasionally as a backing vocalist and acoustic guitarist.Although he was born in Middlesbrough, Trewavas spent much of his childhood in the Buckinghamshire town of...
(bass), Mark Kelly (keyboards) and Ian Mosley
Ian Mosley
Ian F. Mosley is a drummer in the progressive rock band, Marillion.Mosley joined the band in 1984 after a long search for a replacement of Mick Pointer, who had been left the band in 1983. Mosley had previously, among others, played with former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, both on two of his...
(drums) has been 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.
Marillion's music has changed stylistically throughout their career. The band themselves 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
Fish (singer)
Derek William Dick, better known as Fish, is a Scottish progressive rock singer, lyricist and occasional actor, best known as the former lead singer of Marillion.-Biography:...
on vocals) is best described as guitar and keyboard led progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
or "neo-prog", and would be sometimes compared with Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
-era Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
.
More recently, their sound has been compared, on successive albums, to that of Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
, Keane, Crowded House
Crowded House
Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia and led by New Zealand singer-songwriter Neil Finn. Finn is the primary songwriter and creative director of the band, having led it through several incarnations, drawing members from New Zealand , Australia and the United States...
, The Blue Nile
The Blue Nile
The Blue Nile is an adult alternative/pop band from Glasgow. The music of The Blue Nile is built heavily on synthesizers and electronic instrumentation and percussion, although later works featured acoustic guitar more prominently.-Early years:...
and Talk Talk
Talk Talk
Talk Talk were an English musical group, active from 1981 to 1991. The group had a string of international hit singles including "Today", "Talk Talk", "It's My Life", "Such a Shame", "Dum Dum Girl", "Life's What You Make It" and "Living in Another World"....
, although not consistently comparable sonically with any of these acts. The band themselves in 2007, tongue-in-cheek, described their own output merely as: "Songs about Death and Water since 1979..."
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 history of the band's use of the internet is described by Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis (author)
Michael Lewis is an American non-fiction author and financial journalist. His bestselling books include The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, Liar's Poker, The New New Thing, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, Panic and Home Game: An...
in the book Next: The Future Just Happened
Next: The Future Just Happened
In Next: The Future Just Happened author Michael Lewis argues that rapidly evolving technology will upend the power structure of society. It gives power to the youngster who doesn't have preconceptions and entrenched interests. By making information readily available, the internet erodes the...
as an example of how the internet is shifting power away from established elites, such as record producers.
The band are also renowned for having an extremely dedicated following (often self-termed 'Freaks') 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, biennial conventions and regular fanclub publications.
Formation and early years (1979–1982)
Marillion was formed in 1979 as Silmarillion, after J.R.R. TolkienJ. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's book The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R...
, by Mick Pointer, Steve Rothery, and others. They played their first gig at Berkhamsted Civic Centre on 1 March 1980.
The band name was shortened to Marillion in 1981 to avoid potential copyright conflicts at the same time as Fish and bassist Diz Minnett 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
Bicester
Bicester is a town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in England.This historic market centre is one of the fastest growing towns in Oxfordshire Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the M40 motorway linking it to London, Birmingham and...
on 14 March 1981. By the end of 1981, Kelly had replaced Jelliman, with Trewavas replacing Minnett 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
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, early Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
, Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
, Van der Graaf Generator
Van der Graaf Generator
Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester. They were the first act signed to Charisma Records. The band achieved considerable success in Italy during the 1970s...
, Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
(specifically from the late 1970s), and Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
. 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
Friday Rock Show
The Friday Rock Show was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights from 1978 to 1993. Throughout most of its run it was hosted by Tommy Vance. Ostensibly for the genre of rock in general, it was most closely associated with heavy metal...
(early versions of "The Web", "Three Boats Down from The Candy", and "Forgotten Sons") and were subsequently signed by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
. They released their first single, "Market Square Heroes
Market Square Heroes
"Market Square Heroes" is the debut single of neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in 1982 with "Three Boats Down From The Candy" as the B-side...
", in 1982, with the epic song "Grendel" on the B-side of the 12" version. Following the single, the band released their first full-length album in 1983.
Script for a Jester's Tear and Fugazi (1983–1984)
The music on their debut album, Script for a Jester's TearScript for a Jester's Tear
Script for a Jester's Tear is the first album by the neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in 1983. It reached number seven on the UK album chart and stayed on the chart for 31 weeks, the second longest chart residency of a Marillion album....
, was born out of the intensive gigging of the previous years. Although it had some progressive rock stylings, it also had a darker edge, suggested by the bedsit squalour on the album's cover. During the tour to promote Script for a Jester's Tear, Mick Pointer left the band. The second album, Fugazi
Fugazi (album)
Fugazi is the second studio album of the neo-progressive rock band Marillion. It was released in 1984 and was the first album with Ian Mosley on drums. It reached no. 5 on the UK album charts, stayed on the chart for a total of 20 weeks and contained the UK top 40 singles Punch And Judy and...
, 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.
Marillion then released their first live album, Real to Reel
Real to Reel (Marillion album)
Real to Reel is Marillion's first live album, recorded at the Spectrum, Montreal, Canada, and De Montfort Hall, Leicester, England. In addition to two songs each from the first two albums, Script for a Jester's Tear and Fugazi, the original standard version contained two tracks not previously...
, 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.
Misplaced Childhood and international success (1985)
Misplaced Childhood
Misplaced Childhood is the third studio album of the neo-progressive rock band Marillion. It was released in 1985 and has been their most commercially successful album, reaching number one in the and spending a total of 41 weeks on the chart, the longest chart residency of a Marillion album...
. With the blessing of their record company, the band was free to depart stylistically from their previous albums, in the process developing a more mainstream sound. The lead single from the album, "Kayleigh
Kayleigh
"Kayleigh" was a number two UK hit for British neo-progressive rock band Marillion in 1985. It remains the group's most successful single in terms of chart position. The single was kept from the UK Number 1 spot by charity single "You'll Never Walk Alone" by supergroup The Crowd in the summer of...
", received major promotion by EMI and gained heavy rotation on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
and Independent Local Radio
Independent Local Radio
Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. The same name is used for Independent Local Radio in Ireland.-Development of ILR:...
stations as well as television appearances, bringing the band to the attention of a much wider audience. The band were able to showcase their ability on the album to juxtapose pert pop ballads ("Kayleigh
Kayleigh
"Kayleigh" was a number two UK hit for British neo-progressive rock band Marillion in 1985. It remains the group's most successful single in terms of chart position. The single was kept from the UK Number 1 spot by charity single "You'll Never Walk Alone" by supergroup The Crowd in the summer of...
", charting at No. 2 in the United Kingdom, behind charity fundraiser "You'll Never Walk Alone
You'll Never Walk Alone (song)
"You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.In the musical, in the second act, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the female protagonist Julie Jordan, sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" to comfort and encourage Julie when her husband, Billy Bigelow, the...
" by The Crowd
The Crowd (music)
The Crowd was a charity group formed specifically to produce a charity record for the Bradford City stadium fire, in which 56 people died on 11 May 1985...
, and "Lavender
Lavender (Marillion song)
"Lavender" is neo-progressive rock band Marillion's second single from their breakthrough album Misplaced Childhood. The follow-up to the big UK number 2 hit "Kayleigh", the song was their second Top 5 UK hit, entering the chart on 7 September 1985, reaching number 5 and staying on the chart for 9...
", which charted at #5) with longer song cycles of lost youth, first love, drug abuse, drink, prostitution and, ultimately, rebirth and redemption, all inspired by Fish's life experiences. Following the exposure given to "Kayleigh" and its subsequent chart success, the album went to No. 1 in the United Kingdom, knocking Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
off the top spot and holding off a challenge from Sting, who released his first solo album in the same week. The album came sixth in Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
magazine's "Albums Of The Year" in 1985. Kayleigh also gave Marillion its sole entry on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #74.
Clutching at Straws and the departure of Fish (1986–1988)
The fourth studio album, Clutching at StrawsClutching at Straws
Clutching at Straws is the fourth studio album by neo-progressive rock band Marillion, and is a concept album. Released in 1987, it was the last album with lead singer Fish who left the band in 1988...
, 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. It did continue the group's commercial success, however; lead single "Incommunicado" charted at No. 6 in the UK charts gaining the band an appearance on 'Top of the Pops'. Fish has also stated in interviews since that he believes this was the best album he made with the band. The album came sixth in Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
magazine's "Albums Of The Year" in 1987. The loss of the larger-than-life Fish left a hole that would be difficult to fill. Fish explained his reasons for leaving in an interview in 2003:
"By 1987 we were over-playing live because the manager was on 20 per cent of the gross. He was making a fantastic amount of money while we were working our asses off. Then I found a bit of paper proposing an American tour. At the end of the day the band would have needed a £14,000 loan from EMI as tour support to do it. That was when I knew that, if I stayed with the band, I'd probably end up a raging alcoholic and be found overdosed and dying in a big house in Oxford with Irish wolfhounds at the bottom of my bed."
Giving the band a choice to continue with either him or the manager, the band sided with the manager and Fish left for a solo career. His last live performance with the band was at Craigtoun Country Park
Craigtoun Country Park
Craigtoun Country Park is a country park located just out of St Andrews in the county of Fife, Scotland. It is currently owned and run by Fife Council...
on 23 July 1988. After lengthy legal battles, informal contact between Fish and the other four band members apparently did not resume until 1999; Fish would later disclose in the liner notes to the 2-CD reiussue of Clutching at Straws that he and his former bandmates had met up and discussed the demise of the band and renewed their friendship, and had come to the consensus that an excessive touring schedule and too much pressure from the band's management led to the rift.
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
Steve Hogarth
Steve Hogarth also known as "h", is the lead vocalist and occasional keyboardist/guitarist with the British rock band Marillion. Hogarth was formerly a keyboard player and co-lead vocalist with The Europeans and vocalist with How We Live...
does a great job with the band. We forged different paths over the 19 years."
Seasons End and Holidays in Eden (1989–1991)
After the split, the band found Steve Hogarth, the former keyboardist and sometime vocalist of The EuropeansThe Europeans (band)
The Europeans were a British group formed in 1981. They released three albums, none of which achieved much in terms of chart position. The band are perhaps best known for their lead vocalist and keyboard player, Steve Hogarth, who went on to greater things as vocalist with Marillion...
. 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
Seasons End (album)
Seasons End was the first album recorded by Marillion after the split with Fish in late 1988. The band started to audition singers while writing the new album, and they eventually chose Steve Hogarth...
.
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
Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors
Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors was the first solo album that rock singer Fish released after he departed Marillion in 1988. Although the recordings for this album finished as early as June 1989, EMI Records decided to delay the release until early 1990, to avoid collision with Marillion's album...
, some snippets on his second, Internal Exile
Internal Exile
Internal Exile was Fish's second solo album after leaving Marillion in 1988. The album, released 28 October 1991, was inspired by the singer's past, his own personal problems and his troubled experiences with his previous record label EMI.The album's music reflects Fish's indulgence in the vast...
and even a line or two found its way to his third album, Suits
Suits (album)
Suits is the fourth solo album by former Marillion singer Fish, and his third studio album with original material...
.
Hogarth's second album with the band, Holidays In Eden
Holidays in Eden (album)
Holidays in Eden is the sixth studio album by the British band Marillion, released in 1991. It is their second with vocalist Steve Hogarth and has been regarded by many fans as a setback from their previous albums due to its mainstream-oriented sound and songwriting. It was recorded after the...
, 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
How We Live
How We Live was a project between Steve Hogarth and Colin Woore, respectively the keyboard player and guitarist previously of the New Wave band The Europeans. They released one album, Dry Land, in 1987 with Hogarth on vocals, before Hogarth replaced Fish as Marillion's vocalist in 1989...
. 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". Despite its pop stylings, the album failed to crossover beyond the band's existing fanbase and produced no major hit singles.
Brave, Afraid of Sunlight and split with EMI (1992–1995)
Holidays in Eden was followed by Brave, a dark and richly complex concept albumConcept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
that took the band 18 months to release. The album also marked the start of the band's longtime relationship with producer Dave Meegan
Dave Meegan
Dave Meegan is a record producer. He trained under Trevor Horn and is best known for his work with the band Marillion. He is also heavily associated with the band U2 and worked with the band as an engineer during the sessions for The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum.With Marillion he notably produced...
. While critically acclaimed, the album received little promotion from EMI and did poorly commercially. An independent film based on the album, which featured the band, was also released.
The next album, Afraid Of Sunlight
Afraid of Sunlight (album)
Afraid of Sunlight is Marillion's eighth studio album, released in 1995. It was their last for EMI ....
, would be the band's last album with record label EMI. Once again, it received little promotion and no mainstream radio airplay, and its sales were disappointing for the band. Despite this, it was one of their most critically acclaimed albums and was included in Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
's 50 Best Albums of 1995. One track of note on the album is Out Of This World, a song about Donald Campbell
Donald Campbell
Donald Malcolm Campbell, CBE was a British speed record breaker who broke eight world speed records in the 1950s and 1960s...
, 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. In 1998, Steve Hogarth claimed this was the best album he had made with the band.
This Strange Engine, Radiation and marillion.com (1996–1999)
What followed was a string of albums and events that saw Marillion struggling to find their place in the music business. This Strange EngineThis Strange Engine (album)
This Strange Engine is an 1997 album by British progressive rock band Marillion. It is the first out of three discs the band released on Castle Records, having been dismissed by EMI after Afraid of Sunlight ....
was released in 1997 with little promotion from their new label Castle Records, 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
Radiation (album)
Radiation is a 1998 album by Marillion. The only single from this album is "These Chains".As Marillion's tenth studio album, the number 10 can be seen in the "io" in both "Marillion" and "Radiation" on the cover.-Track listing:...
saw the band taking a different approach and was received by fans with mixed reactions.
marillion.com
Marillion.com
marillion.com is Marillion's 11th studio album. Released in late 1999, it was self-produced with additional production from Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson on five out of nine tracks. The album contains a variety of different styles, ranging from epic prog rock through lighthearted pop to...
was released the following year and showed some progression in the new direction. The band were still unhappy with their record label situation. As Steve Hogarth explained:
"We'd come to the end of our record deal and there were various indie labels interested in us. But we didn't feel comfortable with any of them. We're a band with a big fanbase, but the problem is that, as a result, no-one has an incentive to market us. Record labels know they could spend a fiver on promoting our album and our fans would still go and buy it if they had to find it under a stone. And we knew what would happen if we signed to an indie label. They'd do nothing, sell the album to the fanbase and put the money in the bank."
Anoraknophobia and Marbles (2000–2006)
The band decided that they would try 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 result was over 12,000 pre-orders which raised enough money to record and release AnoraknophobiaAnoraknophobia
Anoraknophobia is Marillion's 12th studio album, released in 2001. Following the success of their previous North American tour, underwritten by the band's fans themselves, Marillion turned to their fans to finance the making of Anoraknophobia, asking them to pre-order the album before it was even...
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. By this time the band had also parted company with their long-time manager, saving 20 per cent of the band's income.
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. This time fans responded by pre-ordering 18,000 copies.
Marbles
Marbles (album)
Marbles is the 13th studio album from rock band Marillion, released in 2004. Unlike their previous studio album, Anoraknophobia , which was financed largely by a preorder campaign, it was the publicity campaign that fans financed for the album...
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 18,000+ 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).
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
, including Matthew Wright, Bob Harris
Bob Harris (radio)
Robert Brinley Joseph "Bob" Harris, OBE , known as "Whispering" Bob Harris, is British radio host who currently works for BBC Radio 2, presenting music two nights a week...
, Stuart Maconie
Stuart Maconie
Stuart Maconie is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC 6 Music, where he hosts an afternoon show five times a week , alongside Mark Radcliffe, called the Radcliffe...
, Simon Mayo
Simon Mayo
Simon Mayo is an English radio presenter who has worked for BBC Radio since 1981. As of January 2010, Mayo is presenter of Simon Mayo Drivetime on BBC Radio 2 and, with Mark Kermode, presenter of Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews on BBC Radio 5 Live.In 2008, Mayo was recognised as the "radio...
and Mark Lawson
Mark Lawson
Mark Gerard Lawson is an English journalist, broadcaster and author.-Life and career:Born in Hendon, London, Lawson was raised in Yorkshire and is a Leeds United fan. He was educated at St Columba's College in St Albans and took a degree in English at University College London, where his lecturers...
. Marbles also became the band’s most critically acclaimed album since Afraid of Sunlight, prompting many positive reviews in the press. The band released "You're Gone" as the lead single from the album. Aware that the song was unlikely to gain much mainstream radio airplay, they released it in three separate formats and encouraged fans to buy a copy of each format to get it into the UK top ten. The single reached No. 7, the first time a Marillion song had reached the UK top ten since "Incommunicado
Incommunicado (song)
Incommunicado is the lead single of Marillion's fourth studio album, Clutching at Straws. Released 11 May 1987, it reached number six in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's third top-ten hit, the last until 2004. It became a minor hit on the Dutch Top 40 reaching number 31...
" in 1987 and the band‘s first chart hit since "Beautiful" in 1995. The second single from the album, "Don‘t Hurt Yourself", reached #16. 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 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 album Marbles.
Somewhere Else and Happiness is the Road (2007–2008)
April 2007 saw Marillion release their fourteenth studio album Somewhere ElseSomewhere Else (Marillion album)
Somewhere Else is Marillion's 14th studio album, released on 9 April 2007.Unlike the previous two albums by the band, they decided not to ask fans to pre-order it before it was recorded because they didn't need the money. This left some fans disappointed as there was no deluxe edition released...
, 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 No. 45 (March 2007) and the traditional CD release of Thankyou Whoever You Are / Most Toys, which made UK#15 and No. 6 in Holland during June 2007.
In July 2008 the band posted a contest for fans to create a music video for the soon-to-be released single "Whatever is Wrong with You", and post it on YouTube. The winner would win £5,000.
Happiness Is the Road
Happiness Is the Road
Happiness Is the Road is Marillion's 15th studio album, released as two separate album-length volumes respectively entitled Essence and The Hard Shoulder. The overall playing time is 110 minutes , taking it to double album length...
, released in October 2008, again featured a pre-order "deluxe edition" with a list of the fans who bought in advance, and a more straightforward regular release. It is another double album, with the first disc (based on a concept) slated for a wider general release in 2009, and the second (consisting of the other songs that aren't part of the theme) only available from their website. Before the album's release, on 9 September 2008, Marillion achieved a world first by pre-releasing their own album via P2P networks themselves. Upon attempting to play the downloaded files, users were shown a video from the band explaining why they had taken this route. Downloaders were then able to opt to purchase the album at a user-defined price or select to receive DRM-free files for free, in exchange for an email address. The band explained that although they did not support piracy, they realised their music would inevitably be shared in this manner anyway, and wanted to attempt to engage with p2p users and make the best of a bad situation.
Less is More and seventeenth studio album (2009 onwards)
The band's most recent studio album (2 October 2009) is an acoustic album featuring new arrangements of previously released tracks (except one, the new track: 'It's Not Your Fault') entitled Less Is MoreLess Is More (album)
Less Is More is an acoustic music studio album by Marillion, released on the band's own label on 2 October 2009. A retail version is distributed by Edel Music...
.
An as yet untitled seventeenth studio album has been worked on for much of 2011, and is reportedly scheduled for release at some point in the first half of 2012.
Marillion in the media
By their own admission, the band have never been fashionable in the eyes of the media. On the subject of joining the band, Steve Hogarth once said: “At about the same time, Matt JohnsonMatt Johnson (singer)
Matt Johnson is a musician best known as the founder and only constant member of the group The The. Johnson is known for his often deeply introspective lyrics. Musically he ranges from slow acoustic hooks to techno-pop....
of The The
The The
The The are an English musical and multimedia group that have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer/songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member.-Early years :...
asked me to play piano on his tour. I always say I had to make a choice between the most hip band in the world, and the least.” In the same interview, he claimed: “We’re just tired of the opinions of people who haven’t heard anything we’ve done in ten years. A lot of what’s spread about this band is laughable.”
Much of the band’s enduring and unfashionable reputation stems from their emergence in the early 1980s as the most commercially successful band of the neo-progressive rock
Neo-progressive rock
Neo-progressive rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock, developed in the UK and popular in the 1980s, although it lives on today....
movement, an unexpected revival of the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
musical style that had fallen out of critical favour in the mid-1970s. Some early critics were quick to dismiss the band as clones of Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
-era Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
due to musical similarities, such as their extended songs, a prominent and Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
-influenced keyboard sound, vivid and fantastical lyrics and the equally vivid and fantastical artwork by Mark Wilkinson
Mark Wilkinson
Mark Wilkinson is best known for his detailed cover art that he created for a number of British bands, most prominently the progressive rock band, Marillion...
used for the sleeves of their albums and singles. Lead singer Fish was also often compared with Gabriel due to his early vocal style and theatrical stage performances, which in the early years often included wearing face paint. In fact, Marillion’s influences were more diverse than that. Fish was heavily influenced by Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill is an English singer-songwriter, and a founding member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Most noted for his vocal abilities, his main instruments are guitar and piano...
, two of guitarist Steve Rothery’s biggest influences were David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
and Andrew Latimer
Andrew Latimer
Andrew Latimer is an English musician and one of the original members of the progressive rock band Camel. He is mainly a guitarist and singer, but also a flautist and keyboardist....
, keyboard player Mark Kelly’s biggest inspiration was Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
, Pete Trewavas especially loved Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
´s bass lines and Mick Pointer was fond of Neil Peart
Neil Peart
Neil Ellwood Peart , OC, is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer for the rock band Rush.Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario . During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer...
's drumming.
As Jonh Wilde summarised in Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
in 1989: "At the end of a strange year for pop music, Marillion appeared in November 1982 with "Market Square Heroes
Market Square Heroes
"Market Square Heroes" is the debut single of neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in 1982 with "Three Boats Down From The Candy" as the B-side...
". There were many strange things about 1982, but Marillion were the strangest of them all. For six years, they stood out of time. Marillion were the unhippest group going. As punk was becoming a distant echo, they appeared with a sound and an attitude that gazed back longingly to the age of Seventies pomp. When compared to Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
, Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
and ELP
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
, they would take it as a compliment. The Eighties have seen some odd phenomena. But none quite as odd as Marillion. Along the way, as if by glorious fluke, they turned out some singles that everybody quietly liked – "Garden Party", "Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy (song)
"Punch and Judy" is the first single from Marillion's second studio album Fugazi. The lyrics of the song are about a marriage gone bad.The single reached no. 29 on the UK singles charts in February 1984...
" and "Incommunicado
Incommunicado (song)
Incommunicado is the lead single of Marillion's fourth studio album, Clutching at Straws. Released 11 May 1987, it reached number six in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's third top-ten hit, the last until 2004. It became a minor hit on the Dutch Top 40 reaching number 31...
". By this time, Marillion did not need the support of the hip-conscious. They were massive. Perhaps the oddest thing about Marillion was that they became one of the biggest groups of the decade. They might have been an anomaly but they were monstrously effective."
The band’s unfashionable reputation and image problem has often been mentioned in the media, even in otherwise positive reviews. In Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
in 1987, David Hepworth
David Hepworth
David Hepworth is a journalist and music writer responsible for the launch of many British magazines.Born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, Hepworth attended the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield and Trent Park College of Education, Barnet...
claimed: “Marillion may represent the inelegant, unglamorous, public bar end of the current Rock Renaissance but they are no less part of it for that. Clutching at Straws
Clutching at Straws
Clutching at Straws is the fourth studio album by neo-progressive rock band Marillion, and is a concept album. Released in 1987, it was the last album with lead singer Fish who left the band in 1988...
suggests that they may be finally coming in from the cold.” In the same magazine in 1995, Dave Henderson wrote: “It’s not yet possible to be sacked for showing an affinity for Marillion, but has there ever been a band with a larger stigma attached?” He also claimed that if the album Afraid of Sunlight “had been made by a new, no baggage-of-the-past combo, it would be greeted with open arms, hailed as virtual genius.” In Record Collector
Record Collector
Record Collector is the United Kingdom's longest-running monthly music magazine. It distributes both within the UK and worldwide. It started in 1979.-The early years:...
in 2002, Tim Jones claimed they were "one of the most unfairly berated bands in Britain" and "one of its best live rock acts." In 2004, Classic Rock
Classic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
s Jon Hotten wrote: “That genre thing has been a bugbear of Marillion's, but it no longer seems relevant. What are Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
if not a progressive band?” and claimed Marillion were “making strong, singular music with the courage of their convictions, and we should treasure them more than we do.” In the Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
& Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
& The Story of Prog Rock, an article on Marillion written by Mick Wall
Mick Wall
Mick Wall is a British music journalist, radio and TV presenter, and author.Wall began his career contributing to the music weekly Sounds in 1977, where he wrote on punk and the new wave, before graduating to rockabilly, funk, New Romantic pop and, eventually, hard rock and heavy metal...
described them as “probably the most misunderstood band in the world”. In 2007, Stephen Dalton of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
stated: “The band have just released their 14th album, Somewhere Else
Somewhere Else (Marillion album)
Somewhere Else is Marillion's 14th studio album, released on 9 April 2007.Unlike the previous two albums by the band, they decided not to ask fans to pre-order it before it was recorded because they didn't need the money. This left some fans disappointed as there was no deluxe edition released...
, which is really rather good. Containing tracks that shimmer like Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
, ache like Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
and thunder like Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
, it is better than 80 per cent of this month’s releases. But you are unlikely to hear Marillion on British radio, read about them in the music press or see them play a major festival. This is largely because Marillion have – how can we put this kindly? – an image problem. Their music is still perceived as bloated, bombastic mullet-haired prog-rock, even by people who have never heard it. In fairness, they did once release an album called Script for a Jester's Tear
Script for a Jester's Tear
Script for a Jester's Tear is the first album by the neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in 1983. It reached number seven on the UK album chart and stayed on the chart for 31 weeks, the second longest chart residency of a Marillion album....
. But, come on, we all had bad hair days in the 1980s.”
Despite publishing a very good review for their 1995 album Afraid Of Sunlight
Afraid of Sunlight (album)
Afraid of Sunlight is Marillion's eighth studio album, released in 1995. It was their last for EMI ....
and including it in their 50 Best Albums of 1995, Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
refused to interview the band or write a feature on them. Steve Hogarth later said: “How can they say, this is an amazing record… no, we don’t want to talk to you? It’s hard to take when they say, here’s a very average record… we’ll put you on the front cover.”
In 1999, DJ Simon Mayo
Simon Mayo
Simon Mayo is an English radio presenter who has worked for BBC Radio since 1981. As of January 2010, Mayo is presenter of Simon Mayo Drivetime on BBC Radio 2 and, with Mark Kermode, presenter of Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews on BBC Radio 5 Live.In 2008, Mayo was recognised as the "radio...
commented on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
: "Marillion ... where are they now? And who cares anyway?" Fans objecting to the comment brought the station’s computer system to a standstill with thousands of emails of complaint. Mayo subsequently apologised for his comment to keyboard player Mark Kelly when he phoned the show to take part in a quiz.
To accompany the release of Anoraknophobia
Anoraknophobia
Anoraknophobia is Marillion's 12th studio album, released in 2001. Following the success of their previous North American tour, underwritten by the band's fans themselves, Marillion turned to their fans to finance the making of Anoraknophobia, asking them to pre-order the album before it was even...
in 2001, the band issued a press release asking critics to review the album in “a manner that is both accurate and fair. So, our challenge to you is to firstly listen to the album. Then write a review without using any of the following words: "Progressive rock", "Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
", "Fish", "heavy metal", "dinosaurs", "predictable", "concept album". Because if you do, we'll know that you haven't listened to it.”
Reviewing the band’s appearance on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
’s The Future Just Happened in 2001, Gareth McLean
Gareth McLean
Gareth McLean is a Scottish journalist who writes for The Guardian newspaper and on Soap operas for the Radio Times magazine.McLean graduated with an MA in English from the University of Aberdeen, working at The Scotsman newspaper as a Feature Writer from 1997 until he began writing as a TV Critic...
of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
described the band as "once dodgy and now completely rubbish" and their fans as "slightly simple folks". He also dismissed the band’s efforts to continue their career without a label by dealing directly with their fans on the Internet, claiming: "One suspects that their decision occurred round about the time that the record industry decided to shun Marillion."
In an interview in 2000, Hogarth expressed regret about the band retaining their name after he joined: "If we had known when I joined Marillion what we know now, we'd have changed the name and been a new band. It was a mistake to keep the name, because what it represented in the mid-Eighties is a millstone we now carry. If we'd changed it, I think we would have been better off. We would have been judged for our music. It's such a grave injustice that the media constantly calls us a 'dinosaur prog band'. They only say that out of ignorance because they haven't listened to anything we've done for the last 15 bloody years. If you hear anything we've done in the last five or six years, that description is totally irrelevant ... It's a massive frustration that no-one will play our stuff. If we send our single to Radio 1 they say: 'Sorry, we don't play music by bands who are over so-many years old...and here's the new U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
single.' I suppose it's something everyone has to cope with – every band are remembered for their big hit single, irrespective of how much they change over the years. But you can only transcend that by continuing to have hits. It's Catch 22." However, Hogarth was still able to be optimistic: "You know, at some stage, someone has to notice that we're doing interesting things. Someday someone will take a retrospective look at us and be surprised."
The band have been prepared to send up their unfashionable status, naming their 2001 album “Anoraknophobia” and printing T-shirts with the logo “Marillion: Uncool as F*ck.”
In 2004, the band were denied an appearance on the BBC's flagship chart television show Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
, despite the band's single, "You're Gone", becoming a No. 7 hit and the second highest new entry of the week. Following the renewed media interest in the band generated by the song, BBC presenter Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross may refer to:* Jonathan Ross , English television and radio personality* Jonathan Ross , United States Senator, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court* Jonathon Ross , former Australian rules footballer...
described the band as “a prog-rock band that sing about goblins”, to which Marillion’s manager Lucy Jordache responded: “Do you think I'd be going round with someone in a pointy hat?” Guitarist Steve Rothery commented: “We recorded Script for a Jester's Tear
Script for a Jester's Tear
Script for a Jester's Tear is the first album by the neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in 1983. It reached number seven on the UK album chart and stayed on the chart for 31 weeks, the second longest chart residency of a Marillion album....
22 years ago. I think that was when Ross had his own hair.”
Several bandmembers are currently active in UK music industry bodies – amongst them the FAC
Featured Artists' Coalition
The Featured Artists Coalition is a not-for-profit organisation set up to protect the rights of featured musical artists, particularly in the new digital age...
, whilst Mark Kelly was elected in November 2009 to both the Performer and Main Boards of the UK's PPL
Phonographic Performance Limited
PPL is the London-based United Kingdom music licensing company which undertakes collective rights management of recorded music and music videos for public performance, broadcast and new media use...
.
Lineup
Current line-up:- Steve HogarthSteve HogarthSteve Hogarth also known as "h", is the lead vocalist and occasional keyboardist/guitarist with the British rock band Marillion. Hogarth was formerly a keyboard player and co-lead vocalist with The Europeans and vocalist with How We Live...
(aka "h") – vocals and lyrics, additional keyboards, guitars, percussion (1989–present) - Steve RotherySteve RotherySteve Rothery is the guitarist of the English rock band Marillion. He was born in Brampton, South Yorkshire, England. From the age of six he lived in Whitby, North Yorkshire.-Biography:...
– electric and acoustic guitars (1979–present) - Pete TrewavasPete TrewavasPete Trewavas is an English musician. He joined Marillion in 1982, taking over the role of bassist, from Diz Minnett, while acting occasionally as a backing vocalist and acoustic guitarist.Although he was born in Middlesbrough, Trewavas spent much of his childhood in the Buckinghamshire town of...
– bass guitars, backing vocals, additional guitars, samples and effects (1982–present) - Mark Kelly – keyboards, samples and effects, backing vocals, programming (1981–present)
- Ian MosleyIan MosleyIan F. Mosley is a drummer in the progressive rock band, Marillion.Mosley joined the band in 1984 after a long search for a replacement of Mick Pointer, who had been left the band in 1983. Mosley had previously, among others, played with former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, both on two of his...
– drums, percussion (1984–present)
Former members:
- FishFish (singer)Derek William Dick, better known as Fish, is a Scottish progressive rock singer, lyricist and occasional actor, best known as the former lead singer of Marillion.-Biography:...
(Derek W. Dick) – vocals, lyrics and percussion (1981–1988) - Mick PointerMick PointerMick Pointer , originally from Brill in Buckinghamshire, England, was the original drummer and founding member of the progressive rock band, Marillion...
– drums (1979–1983) - Diz Minnitt – bass guitars (1981–1982)
- Brian Jelliman – keyboards (1979–1981)
- Doug 'Rastus' Irvine – bass guitars, lead vocals (1979–1980)
- Andy Ward – drums, percussion (1983)
- John Marter (aka Martyr) – drums (1983)
- Jonathan MoverJonathan MoverJonathan Mover is an American drummer who has worked with a number of artists including Aretha Franklin, Fuel, Alice Cooper, Shakira, Julian Lennon, GTR, Everlast, The Tubes, Mick Jagger, Steve Howe, Peter Frampton, Oleander, Celine Dion, Elton John, Stuart Hamm, They Might Be Giants, Frank...
– drums (1983)
Timeline
Studio albums
- Script for a Jester's TearScript for a Jester's TearScript for a Jester's Tear is the first album by the neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in 1983. It reached number seven on the UK album chart and stayed on the chart for 31 weeks, the second longest chart residency of a Marillion album....
(1983) - FugaziFugazi (album)Fugazi is the second studio album of the neo-progressive rock band Marillion. It was released in 1984 and was the first album with Ian Mosley on drums. It reached no. 5 on the UK album charts, stayed on the chart for a total of 20 weeks and contained the UK top 40 singles Punch And Judy and...
(1984) - Misplaced ChildhoodMisplaced ChildhoodMisplaced Childhood is the third studio album of the neo-progressive rock band Marillion. It was released in 1985 and has been their most commercially successful album, reaching number one in the and spending a total of 41 weeks on the chart, the longest chart residency of a Marillion album...
(1985) - Clutching at StrawsClutching at StrawsClutching at Straws is the fourth studio album by neo-progressive rock band Marillion, and is a concept album. Released in 1987, it was the last album with lead singer Fish who left the band in 1988...
(1987) - Seasons End (1989)
- Holidays in Eden (1991)
- Brave (1994)
- Afraid of Sunlight (1995)
- This Strange Engine (1997)
- RadiationRadiation (album)Radiation is a 1998 album by Marillion. The only single from this album is "These Chains".As Marillion's tenth studio album, the number 10 can be seen in the "io" in both "Marillion" and "Radiation" on the cover.-Track listing:...
(1998) - Marillion.comMarillion.commarillion.com is Marillion's 11th studio album. Released in late 1999, it was self-produced with additional production from Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson on five out of nine tracks. The album contains a variety of different styles, ranging from epic prog rock through lighthearted pop to...
(1999) - AnoraknophobiaAnoraknophobiaAnoraknophobia is Marillion's 12th studio album, released in 2001. Following the success of their previous North American tour, underwritten by the band's fans themselves, Marillion turned to their fans to finance the making of Anoraknophobia, asking them to pre-order the album before it was even...
(2001) - MarblesMarbles (album)Marbles is the 13th studio album from rock band Marillion, released in 2004. Unlike their previous studio album, Anoraknophobia , which was financed largely by a preorder campaign, it was the publicity campaign that fans financed for the album...
(2004) - Somewhere ElseSomewhere Else (Marillion album)Somewhere Else is Marillion's 14th studio album, released on 9 April 2007.Unlike the previous two albums by the band, they decided not to ask fans to pre-order it before it was recorded because they didn't need the money. This left some fans disappointed as there was no deluxe edition released...
(2007) - Happiness Is the RoadHappiness Is the RoadHappiness Is the Road is Marillion's 15th studio album, released as two separate album-length volumes respectively entitled Essence and The Hard Shoulder. The overall playing time is 110 minutes , taking it to double album length...
(2008) - Less Is MoreLess Is More (album)Less Is More is an acoustic music studio album by Marillion, released on the band's own label on 2 October 2009. A retail version is distributed by Edel Music...
(2009)