Rando Ken's Album Reviews
A Singles Collection covers the material that Marillion had released from Script for a Jester's Tear(from 1983) to their recent - at the time - pop fest Holidays in Eden. The compilation features six tracks from each side of the band, yet the math shows that the selections aren't quite equal. The Marillion with Fish had released four albums while Marillion with Hogarth only released two and were quite early into their present career. H's generation also gets a little longer with the addition of two tracks, I Will Walk on Water and Sympathy, which were both released exclusively with this compilation.
The songs from the Fish era are of notice as some are single versions(Kayleigh and Warm Wet Circles without segues from Pseudo Silk Kimono and Hotel Hobbies respectively) and others, like Assassing, Incommunicado, and Garden Party, are actually as long as they are on their albums. So the versions of the songs aren't the single versions but they sample those albums. Even more collect worthy, the version of Assassing is an alternate mix with a slight difference from the version from Fugazi.
Given the recent release of Holidays of Eden, the new Marillion focuses on that album and Seasons End for how young it is. While the former album's additions Cover My Eyes and No One Can aren't quite listenable, they're offset by the emotive Easter and the rocking Uninvited Guest and Hooks in You.
Overall, this is probably the way to go when it comes to introducing Marillion. The compilation is not quite as complete of the band now that H's band has gone on for over two decades from here and plenty more compilations have been released. But this one pleases with the full length tracks from Fish albums that give the listener an acquisition to those albums before picking them up. It's a special way to acquaint the listener to the era of Marillion that was quite popular and stormed Europe, if not the band in general.
The songs from the Fish era are of notice as some are single versions(Kayleigh and Warm Wet Circles without segues from Pseudo Silk Kimono and Hotel Hobbies respectively) and others, like Assassing, Incommunicado, and Garden Party, are actually as long as they are on their albums. So the versions of the songs aren't the single versions but they sample those albums. Even more collect worthy, the version of Assassing is an alternate mix with a slight difference from the version from Fugazi.
Given the recent release of Holidays of Eden, the new Marillion focuses on that album and Seasons End for how young it is. While the former album's additions Cover My Eyes and No One Can aren't quite listenable, they're offset by the emotive Easter and the rocking Uninvited Guest and Hooks in You.
Overall, this is probably the way to go when it comes to introducing Marillion. The compilation is not quite as complete of the band now that H's band has gone on for over two decades from here and plenty more compilations have been released. But this one pleases with the full length tracks from Fish albums that give the listener an acquisition to those albums before picking them up. It's a special way to acquaint the listener to the era of Marillion that was quite popular and stormed Europe, if not the band in general.
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