Search - Marillion :: Recital of the Script

A snapshot of the prog rockers early years

Paul Lawrence | Australia | 07/08/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The most pedestrian prog rockers to gain any real commercial stature (in the UK and pockets of Europe) the appeal of Marillion has for many years been lost on me. Having picked up Script for a Jesters Tear and found a wealth of prog/math music of undeniable talent but very little connectivity or bollocks it was solely due to my desire to continue to try to figure out what people saw in this band that I bought this at all. For about the price of a hamburger.



And while this DVD is quite clearly a re-release of some earlier VHS product due to it's limited camera numbers/angles and overall feel it has to be said that this live gig at the Hammersmith Odeon has a certain charm and a feeling of celebration of a band hitting their stride and really building some commercial impetus. And the crowd itself adds to this feeling as they seem quite educated about the bands music and happy to sing along to the labyrinthine lyrical constructs.



The problems with the live Marillion experience at this point are many fold however. Firstly musically there really only seem to be two people in the group. Frontman Fish and the keyboardist. Because they about the only two making any impact. I'm all for keyboards, finding them a worthwhile addition to many of the albums I have loved over the years. But I'm not really interested in hearing them ride over the top of proceedings utterly. And perusing the songwriting credits it seems everyone had a hand in these tunes. So evidently his voice was drowned out or the guitarist was happy to noodle away and totally give up any pretence of trying to drive the odd tune with some guitar heft. Oh well.



Further to this is the fact that there is no sense of show coming from the stage apart from the enigmatic Fish who swoons, roars, prances and looks at times totally fragile and plaintive all the while maintaining a strange masculinity (not easy in that stage clobber). Unless you count the keyboardists bright red leather pants. Barely any movement at all though in all fairness perhaps this was the first time they'd been recorded live or were informed that that the cameras ability to follow movement was limited. But Fish is followed relentlessly.



For Marillion fans out there (i.e. people who write for Classic Rock) this is a pretty good release to pick up as it showcases Fish in fine form and it allows you to scoop up not only the 1983 original video release but also the 1984 video ep release which makes up some of the bonus features of this disc. And the - very brief - liner notes from both releases are included on the booklet as are full credits for production etc."

Just class

R. A. Hislop | scotland | 06/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"i still have the original vhs copy and have followed the band since market square heroes in 1982 till fish left the dvd was a great addition to my collection and the interview is just the tip of the iceberg"