Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Several years ago a close Friend of mine loaned me the “Misplaced Childhood” CD from Marillion. It soon became one of my very favorite pieces of music. The richly textured songs combined with the poetic lyrical arrangements made this the case. I would find myself looking for one particular song to enjoy and end up listening to the entire CD again and again. Marillion was one of those groups that you either liked immediately or did not even care about. It is a shame that some fine acts always fall into this mode with people. When I first heard them, I was totally into them. Over the past two decades of its existence Marillion has gone through lead singer changes (Fish left to be replaced by Steve Hogarth) and somewhat of a musical direction change. Albums had more “single” type songs than previous albums had. This DVD showcases the talents of the first lead Singer Derek Dick a.k.a. “Fish”.

The DVD is from a show performed at The Hammersmith Odeon in 1983 so the material included comes from the groups 1st two albums (Script For A Jesters Tear and Fugazi). As a matter of fact the DVD features the entire “Script” CD. The latter two tracks were released as B-Sides. It is another strictly a performance DVD and not videos that the band has released to support albums. One can see Marillion had sparse stage decor with the exception of the band name banner above them. An interesting aspect of early Marillion is the fact that Fish often appeared in face paint. He had a very Peter Gabriel type of voice and similar stage persona. It would not be far off the mark to compare this stage of Marillion as a band to that of the Peter Gabriel-era for Genesis. During the course of this DVD Fish, does appear in a painted face.

With the exception of Ian Mosely (the drummer who came on board around Misplaced Childhood), every member of Marillion has remained the same. Pete Trewavas, Mark Kelly, and Steve Rothery still comprise the guitar, bass and keyboard duties of the band to this time of writing.

The Extras on the DVD are on the limited side, but in one sense are a nice touch. One feature is a short interview with Fish backstage after a Marquee Gig in 1982 and also has some excerpt footage from this same show. Also additional backstage footage and the song “He Knows You Know” from the Marquee. Folks that own the VHS version of this DVD that came out some years ago will find this footage an added bonus as it was not included on that release.

Marillion with Steve Hogarth on vocals have released more albums than they did than with Fish and it is entirely possible that there are fans who have never gotten the proper exposure to the Fish material. I recommend that they give this a try as it is worth having both sides of the story on this truly excellent progressive band.