CD Singles Vol.1 1982-1988, The (Singles Set) - Marillion

Advantages: Great music
Disadvantages: More commercial than the first 2 albums

...This album contains the one song that everyone knows of Marillions - the famous Kayleigh. This is of course a perfectly good song, but the album is packed with great music. It is a concept album and has 2 songs - side 1 and side 2 (it was recorded in the days of vinyl!). My favourate song is Mylo although really the whole album is great. The music is intricate and melodic and the lyrics are, as is the way with Fish, a fascinating read. Kayleigh & Lavender, being the two hits are very good, but the albums third single, Heart of Lothian comes at the end of (the old) side 1 which is musically and lyrically the most superior part of the album. Fishes voice on this album is arguably at his best!! The subsequent album and his solo career never reached these standards again. In my opinion, the Script era and Fugazi produced better... Read review

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Advantages: 'Kayleigh', 'Lavender' and some others you won't know
Disadvantages: Not as good as the first two

...and a memorable showing on TOTP as Fish, having lost his voice and poking fun at the miming of songs during the show, had his lyrics displayed on a flip-chart which he turned to the music, pointing at his words. These two tracks were obvious singles on the album but the third, 'Heart of Lothian', singing of Friday drinking in Scotland was less favourably received and only reached number 29. In all honesty I prefer this single to its preceding two as it harks back to the older Marillion. The rest of the album flicks between moods from detailing the breakdown of a relationship to the belief that a childhood ends as you grow older. In fact during 'Childhoods End?' Fish sings of his discovery that the inner-child still exists within us all it is just that we have all lost sight of him/her. The second CD provides all the B-sides that accompanied... Read review

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Advantages: Marillion at their finest - original album with bonus CD full of extra content
Disadvantages: Not something you can put on in the background

...Marillion (named after Tolkiens book 'The Silmarillion') formed in 1979 in Aylesbury, England. They have recorded 14 albums and are classed as having two different era's - the Fish years and those following his departure with vocalist Steve Hogarth. Their initial sound was very akin to that of Genesis i.e. progressive but later became more commercial whilst still retaining a lot of its roots. 'Script for a Jester's tear' is their first studio album and came out at the end of some very intensive gigging in 1983 and features Fish on vocals (real name: Derek Dick - you can see why he chose to go by Fish). The remastered edition features all six tracks from the original vinyl version and comes with a bonus CD featuring B-sides and unreleased demos. CD1 - 'Script for a Jester's Tear' is the opening track and begins with just the sound... Read review

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