ALBUM BY ALBUM THREAD CONTINUED... I’m not sure why the original Marillion album-by-album thread was locked down, but I figured this would be a good opportunity for perhaps some of us to re-evaluate our own opinions of past albums. Maybe our opinion has changed? Perhaps not? Anyway....kicking off this thread with this one: Script For A Jester’s Tear (1983) Tracklisting: 1. Script For A Jester's Tear (8:39) 2. He Knows You Know (5:22) 3. The Web (8:48) 4. Garden Party (7:15) 5. Chelsea Monday (8:16) 6. Forgotten Sons (8:21) Fish - vocals Steve Rothery - acoustic & electric guitars Mark Kelly - piano, keyboards Pete Trewavas - Rickenbacker bass & Fender fretless bass Mick Pointer - drums, percussion Additional information: How Marillion made Script For A Jester's Tear | Louder For reference, the older thread: Marillion Album By Album Thread
Thanks for starting the thread. Fish era Marillion & Fish's Vigil is probably my favorite prog; though I enjoy much of the genre. I love everything Fish era other than the long live single, "Margaret". An employee in a record store I was managing turned me on to Marillion in the Fugazi period. Every song on this is a classic imo. My only negative is on all the Fish era albums, each successive pressing got louder brighter & screechier. Musically, it's all good, including the concert on the new version. On this album specifically, probably my favs are Chelsea Monday,Garden Party, He Knows You Know & Script; but I like 'em all. Also enjoy the Market Square EP.
You’re welcome. I wouldn’t mind trying to see if I can find an original master CD of Script For A Jester’s Tear and Fugazi. I already own Misplaced Childhood and Clutching at Straws in their original incarnation and no remastering, which I’m rather pleased with the way both of these recordings sound. Fugazi is such a harsh sounding production. I hope the new remix (whenever this happens --- probably next year) adds some warmth to the recording.
After buying the boxes & the 2 cd remasters, I just re-bought the original USA Clutching today at Discogs. $8.80 shipped & tax in "VG+". I probably sold mine for less years ago! Someone i tend to rtust said the original UK sounds better than the USA, but it seems to be priced accordingly........... Re Fugazi: based on Marillion's track record, I wouldn't count on it sounding better, other than maybe the 5.1 (which I don't do). I honestly think the band prefers the brickwwalled Loudness war sound. Some people do. I'm even kicking myself for buying the expanded Fish Vigil & selling my original before I knew better.
Very nice. That’s actually the same issue I have of Clutching (the Capitol Records issue - SN: 0 7777-46866-2 4). I have no idea if the UK issue sounds better than the US one. Honestly, I don’t see how unless there’s better quality materials used in the UK one. I was really just after the original master (no remaster) so I didn’t really think whether the Japan, Holland, UK, etc. sounded the best.
Moment of confession: I actually think the 2020 remix of Script For A Jester’s Tear sounds pretty damn good. I’ll have to go back and listen to the original and the late 90s remaster, but I was quite surprised, especially after many people here complained about its’ audio quality. I really don’t know Script or Fugazi as well as the later albums, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Script today, which is something I personally didn’t anticipate happening.
That's good to know. Most of here on SHF panned it (not a surprise), I'll be giving this another listen on Tidal.
I bet Script was like a jolt to the musical establishment when it appeared in 1983. To me, it’s like Marillion had taken the punk movement’s energy and combined it with progressive rock. There weren’t any 20 minute epics or anything like that, although Grendel is really the notable exception, but it didn’t make it on the album. I’d like to knock Mick Pointer off his stool and substitute Mosley, but he does ‘okay’ --- he’s better than Genesis’ original drummers: Jonathan Silver and John Mayhew (not that this is saying all that much). Anyway, I like this album more now than I did say 20 years ago which is when I probably first heard it.
Yeah, I seem to recall they weren’t too impressed with it, but that’s okay. I like a lot of the mixes that many people dislike (like the Nick Davis Genesis remixes for example).
I am a huge Marillion fan. I am still waiting for my Script box that I ordered from the band and shipped on March 19th. It might be lost but I hope it shows up. I have never seen the Recital of The Script that is on this new box set. I think Script is a very good album. I enjoy it more than Fugazi. The B-sides for both Script and Fugazi are excellent. Since it was already mentioned I do like the Clutching remix. That is a dark sounding album (the remaster from a number of years ago I think sounds terrible) and I like the little things they did in the new remix. I do think all these remaster box sets are on the loud side and wish they would have included the B-sides that are on all the 2 CD sets and/or the Singles Box Sets.
I find some of the newer ‘enhancements’ in the Clutching remix to be rather distracting (I’m thinking of the backing vocal tracks in The Last Straw) and I also thought that Rothery’s guitar was mixed too low. I’ll have to revisit it to see if my opinion has changed at all. Anyway, back to Script...
The Web I can never seem to really get into, rather, I don't remember it after just playing the damn song. Everything else though, wow. This one is really strong, while I don't think certain members really got to show off here - specifically Pete and Mark would get better later on, but Fish and Steve from the out are in their best form. Lyrics and solos here match anything that showed up 4 years later Mick Pointer - well, I don't have a lot to say about that
Yeah, Pointer is definitely the weakest link. It’s true that Kelly and Trewavas haven’t really ‘settled in’ yet. I think Fish’s voice got better as well. It matured greatly by the time they got to Misplaced. His performance isn’t bad of course, but his voice became a bit more mellower. He does have a quite a bit in common with Hammill from an aesthetic viewpoint. I always thought he was more Hammill than Gabriel. Rothery’s guitar work is superb on Jester. Even early on, his guitar solos tug at my heart.
This is off topic from Script; but imo the most PERFECT for the song guitar solo in rock history is Rothary from the album version of Kayleigh. There's nothong technically difficult about it, but the melody of the solo couldn't possibly ft the song better than it does.
Well, it’s more difficult to play melodically and play for the music than to sit and play Yngwie Malmsteen licks all day long. Quite frankly, I believe Rothery is one of the finest guitarists for the simple fact that everything he plays is an extension of his heart and the sheer emotion he puts behind every note means much more to me than someone who can run scales up and down the fretboard at blinding speeds.
I've always found this album to have really good material, but executed in an underwhelming way. Part of my issue with the execution may be related to the fact that I'd initially heard my favorite tracks from it on the live Thieving Magpie set. I've often had the experience of finding studio versions inferior if I initially heard the material live, and this is no exception. I feel like the studio versions strip away most of the atmosphere and passion, as well as the richer guitar tone (and the drumming by Mosely), and replace it with a head-scratchingly clinical sound. "Forgotten Sons" works pretty well with this production, and there are a few interesting special effects scattered throughout the tracks, but I can rarely listen to the album without wondering how much better it could have been if it had been re-recorded in the Kimsey era. My favorite track is "Chelsea Monday," but that is largely based on the live version, which I found absolutely intoxicating from my first listen.
Agreed on both points. As a retired pro (full time Top 40 bar band) guitarist, coming up with awesome melodies was always a bigger challenge than just playing fast. Though there are some instances of fast light metal playing I do enjoy (Rhodes, Blackmore, etc; I'm also a HUGE Mick Ronson fan, & while he was quite melodic in the studio, he was not so much that way live); I remember I almost quit one day after listening to an Allman Brothers live album with Duane on lead & feeling like I'd never be able to even come close to his awesome sense of melody.
So, when I was 16 and getting into Marillion, I sort of kind of understood where the comparison came from. Then after like a year I thought everyone else was kind of stupid. For one, the man is Scottish, for two, his vocal styling (and lyricism, which is 100% his own thing) basically makes the comparison Oh, so it's a symphonic prog band (this goes out the door like two albums into their career) and his voice is deep, therefore he's Gabriel. Chelsea Monday, oh my god... that solo is PERFECT for that mood.
Great first album. 2 problems with it imo. Steve Rothery havent found is guitar sound yet (but he delivers amazing solos throuout) and Mike Pointer was some steps below Mosley. But there are no week songs here. My favourite is probably SFAJT. In the case of Marllion normally my favourite songs are the ones with my favourite Rothery solos or guitar work and SFAJT (song) is a must in that matter.
My interest in Marillion is mainly the Hogarth ear, however I do also enjoy the Fish albums, particularly Clutching At Straws which I think is a masterpiece. Fugazi also has some good moments. I will perhaps have to revisit Script For A Jester's Tear for the purpose of this thread. Its been a while since I have listened to it, and I was saving revisiting the album for when my copy of the Deluxe Edition (eventually) arrives...
I had a friend who owned Misplaced and this was around the time I was just getting familiar with them, so we talked about this album and he said “They’re like Genesis” and I gave him a dirty look. I never understood this comparison and never will. They think just because Fish paints his face, he’s a Gabriel clone. Is Peter Nicholls of IQ a Gabriel clone too because he painted his face or wore a mask? Also, Steve Rothery’s guitar style was closer to Gilmour and Latimer, IMHO than Steve Hackett.