Band : Marillion

Album Title : Early Stages

Label : EMI

Distributor : EMI

Release Date : 01/12/2008

Release : CD

The once famous British progressive rock band Marillion has released a set of six live CD’s from the BBC’s series “In Concert” and EMI’s own recordings in a period from 1982 to 1987. In that period Marillion was lead by the charismatic front man and vocalist Fish. The first of these recordings from Glasgow’s Mayfair in September 1982 you can hear a young band on a nervous performance. The recordings suffer from a poor sound balance but Fish’s commanding stage presence is already legend. In 1982 Marillion played the Marquee in London’s Wardour Street. These concerts are represented the second and third disc of this set. Their playing is tighter and more assured, the sound balance is considerably better and the crowd is hugely enthusiastic. It’s the first time they played that beautiful song “Script For A Jesters Tear”. “Script For A Jesters Tear” is followed by the first of the new songs then, an almost complete “Assassing” in 1983 and a year later on disc five, recorded by the BBC for their “In Concert” series, the second album “Fugazi” had been released. The Hammersmith Odeon disc sees Marillion in confident rock band mode with a more focussed and cleaner sound. The sixth and final disc of the series from November 1987 is recorded at London’s cavernous Wembley Arena. The band is playing a gig in aid of muscular dystrophy. This gig was recorded just a few months prior to Fish’s departure from the band. This six CD retrospective of Marillion live during the Fish years is a fine document from a struggling band playing the clubs to multi million album selling international success story. If you’re an established fan of the band this is without a doubt a wonderful release. It proves how good Marillion was in those early years.

80/100

Guido Claes.