My journey thus far through Marillion's 80's discography is not going as expected. While I was hoping to find a hidden gem of prog rock delicacies, what I'm instead getting is bloated mediocrity. Admittedly, it's a bit disappointing.
I pick up today with 1987's Clutching At Straws. Released as the follow up to their massively successful Misplaced Childhood (1985), the band had an opportunity to capitalize, and soar into mainstream popularity. This, however, wouldn't occur.
While the album would become their second most successful of all time, in terms of the charts, this didn't translate to sales. Gone were the previous certifications of platinum in the UK and Germany, replaced with gold. Regardless, it has received quite a bit of critical praise, being noted among the greatest prog rock albums of all time.
If I didn't know any better, the voice of Fish could easily be mistaken for that of Phil Collins. This works in his favor because it keeps me a bit more invested in the music than I otherwise would have been.
What I've said before, and I suppose am going to continue to say, is that the instrumentation on the album is great. It's layered deep with texture, tempo changes, and slick riffs which keep your ears perked up. However, it once again fails to deliver anything hit worthy.
Once again, one track stood out, also a trend with their albums. This time it was the song, Warm Wet Circles. I would have actually picked a second this time, White Russian, but just as the song would take off, the tempo would drop considerably, derailing any momentum it had going for it. This same thing happened with the songs, Slainte Mhath, and The Last Straw: Happy Ending. It was with these that I realized that when I did hear songs that I liked from them, it was really only parts of it, versus the entire tune.
With eleven tracks, and a fifty-three-minute run time, it's also the longest Marillion album from their albums to date. Being their first album to be released on CD, I can't help but feel that this is simply a product of the CD era bloat. It's a trap a lot of bands fell into, wherein they felt they had to meet a runtime, versus focusing on solid structured tracks.
during this period, the band toured heavily. Not out of need or desire to promote the album, but rather because their management was taking 20% of all gross. As Fish would say, "He was making a fantastic amount of money while we were working our ***** off." To make matters worse, the singer would find a note proposing a US tour, which would leave them needing to borrow £14,000 from EMI just to support it.
Having enough, Fish would give the band an ultimatum. Either they would drop management and continue with him, or keep management, and go on without him. Surprisingly, the band voted to keep management. Fish was out. His last show occurred at Craigtoun Country Park on July 23, 1988.
Steve Hogarth, formerly of the Europeans, would be hired to replace Fish in 1989. In contrast, this was a massive change. Not only did Hogarth bring a new wave background to the band, but a completely different vocal style, and stage presence. At the time, he noted he didn't even own any previous Marillion albums. Together, they released the album, Seasons End, Marillion's last for the era, but far from their last to date.
Tomorrow wraps up my journey through the band, and candidly, I'm kind of glad.
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