Script For A Jester's Tear
Marillion
Sanctuary Records, 1983
REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 02/28/2000
The first time I started listening to Marillion's past work -namely, albums recorded with original vocalist Fish, I couldn'thelp but think that I was listening to Peter Gabriel-era Genesis.(The album I was trying to get through was Misplaced Childhood - and I kept giving up because I keptlosing track of what I thought the storyline was about. We'll soonget to that album on these pages.)
If you listen to the recently re-released and remastered 1983debut of Marillion, Script For A Jester's Tear, you'll undoubtedly think thesame thing. What you'll also hear is a band who wasn't quite surewhich direction they wanted to take musically, a fact whichoccasionally distracts from the music.
Make no mistake, Marillion had their feet planted soundly in theworld of progressive rock. But there are times when the surfacestarts to show cracks, especially when a more rock-oriented themecomes into play as on "He Knows You Know" and their debut single"Market Square Heroes". Not that such an introduction is bad; infact, these two tracks are some of the most enjoyable material onthis two-disc repackaging.
Oh great, I can hear the skeptics say, he's going to show howanti prog-rock he is by slamming the band for writing longer songs.Guess again; Fish and crew prove they were a cut above many bandsof the same ilk. Namely, the songwriting is so interesting and theperformances are solid enough to keep the listener's interestthroughout - and before you know it, eight minutes have passed, andthe song is over. (Then again, this is something that Marillion hasdone well throughout their career.)
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