Marillion...Clutching At Straws turns 30

Great band, but Misplaced Childhood is my favorite, as well.

 

Wow, I can't believe it has been almost a decade since I had a beer with Fish. I saw him in Washington DC in 2008. He did a meet-and-greet before the show, which seemed more like an autograph-and-ebay sort of affair that I really couldn't get into. I don't think Fish much cared for it either. When he was done with the line, he came out from of the pub with a pint for a smoke and the first thing I said to him was something along line lines of "are they giving you a break?" to which he said "not anytime soon." He played about half of CAS that night, and I was so thrilled, with CAS being my favorite Marillion album and having never seen the band live. This album is one of rock's finest, and it's is on my short list of favorite albums ever made. So, I guess that makes me a fan, yes. Misplaced is up there with it, but I have always thought the last couple of candy-coated songs wrap things up a bit too tidily, and I usually stop the record short.

Fish Setlist at 9:30 Club, Washington

 

Love the dark nature of this album. Love the emotion Kelly’s keys convey. Rothery brings his A game;an utterly amazing guitarist

 

Rothery plays with an emotion that you don't hear very often. He's definitely underrated. Well, I guess you have Fish ripping of Gabriel, so Rothery must be ripping of Gilmore. Uh, not.

 

Some of Rothery’s best work is on CAS. Brilliant moving stuff.

 

Rothery is a complete and seasoned guitarist. Listen to Jester and then FEAR. You can see how much his style improved over the years.

Yes, he can pull out these very emotional solos. But overall, he is a great colorist in the likes of Rypdal and Abercrombie.

 

Great thread. I got into Marillion post Misplaced... in 1986ish, though the first album I bought was Real to Reel. Clutching... was the first new album released after I started listening to them and I saw them twice on the associated tour (December 1987 Birmingham NEC, February 1988 Nottingham Royal Concert Hall). I have seen them with Hogarth maybe 10 times since and remain an avid fan, along with a group of friends from school who got into them at the same time. Clutching... is probably my favourite Fish era album and I never get bored of spinning it. I agree that Tux On was wasted as a B side. My one Marillion possible rarity is the CD MARIL 1 CD single of Sugar Mice, which I think was meant to be a promo and was my first ever CD, acquired some time before I actually got a CD player.

 

I also hear Lifeson in his playing at times (properly in his verbrato)

 

Okay ... playing Clutching At Straws again for the first time in many moons.

Generally, there's quite few changes lyrically and sonically that signal that something underhand is afoot: every song is about alcohol and self-destruction; greater reliance on atmospheric keyboards, and Steve Rothery whipping out the delay pedal for nearly every song. The cover art also suggests discarding everything that came before. It all points to dramatic change to come.

The opening three song suite is basically Misplaced Childhood Part Deux in form, and still my favourite songs on this album. I just love that atmospheric intro in 5/4 for That Time Of The Night, with the lead guitar lines buried in the mix (which I'm sure was influenced by the same kind of effect on David Sylvian's Gone To Earth album from the previous year). And Going Under is a great little brooding piece to follow. After that the album kinda goes downhill for me: White Russian is (as mentioned previously) plodding; Incommunicado has a great intro/outro but has "ham-handed attempt at hit single" written all over it; and Sugar Mice is just cloying.

So only half a great album and still the weakest of the Fish era albums, IMHO.

--Geoff

 

Saw Fish play the whole of CAS last night in Cambridge. Great show and pretty emotional

 

Simply a superb album. Brilliant from start to finish.

 

I liked Mark Wilkinson's reworked cover for the album. A large poster of it came with the June 2017 issue of Prog. You can read his take on it here - PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News

 

I took up the challenge to relistened to CAS today.

I mentionned challenge because I never liked the album so since so many here are praising it, I undusted an old CD version and gave it a few spins.

It’s a very good rock album. With the jester’s concept gone and the less proggy aspect of the songs, I am still ranking this one as my least favorite Fish era Marillion album.

 

That side of him is vastly overlooked.

 

Mine is MARIL 7. (MARIL 6 is Incommunicado) My largely obsessive Marillion collecting days ended at Brave, but I still dabble here and there.

Possible MARIL 1 is a rare is promo.

 

Yeeeeeh!

 

Imagine a thread about any prog band that doesn't contain the words "Steven Wilson".

Anybody would think no other mixers/masterers exist.

CAS is just fine how it is. It doesn't need anyone turning it into a cold, clinical modern remix.

 

I really like Fish era Marillion. The music from the early singles onwards was sublime & Fish had an extraordinary voice but I always struggled with the comedy sixth-form poetry of the lyrics. Then along comes CAS with some of the most heart-rendingly bleak & beautiful words I'd ever heard from a rock band. I was truly bowled over.

 

I would be genuinely interested in a 5.1 mix though. It would give me a different way to immerse myself in this masterpiece of an album

 

Personally I like Steven Wilson's remix work, however I can understand why some may not be so keen. Anyway, I'd be surprised if he does remix Clutching At Straws as he has previously said he only has time to work on Misplaced Childhood and Brave. I wonder whether Nick Davis would be in the frame to complete the remainder of the catalogue? A controversial choice I know, however he did do a fair bit of work with the band during this period.

 

Agreed. It's a masterpiece.
I've nothing against a different mix as a nice alternative.

 

I would prefer a remix and box set of Afraid of Sunlight and Seasons End, only because I rate them much higher than the meandering Clutching at Straws!

 

I find a lot of 80's mixes to be cold and clinical. Although that may be due to the drum and keyboard sounds more than the mix. But a 5.1 mix would be really great.

 

Hey, at least nobody mentioned The Beatles yet!
er...
...oops

 

Meandering? I'm not sure if that is a criticism or not. I suspect so, but how exactly? CAS is one of the most cohesive concept albums ever made. I'll have to take your word for it when comparing to the post-Fishy albums you mention, because I honestly am not very well acquainted with it (Fish won me in the divorce).