[VAXman(Admin)]

I was introduced to Marillion in the early '80s when I was visiting a record shop in Red Bank proNJ -- Jack's Records. I wearing a Genesis shirt and the proprietor said I should check out Marillion if I liked Genesis.

Early Marillion didn't sound too much like Genesis to me. It was pretty crude and the early Fish lyrics reminded me of a critique I got from my creative writing professor -- LOSE THE THESAURUS.

Fish honed his lyrical talents as Misplaced Childhood and Clutching at Straws made their appearance. Still a few too many alliterations and thesaurus gilded verses but not as blatant as before. However, by this time, Fish's habits had caused too much friction in the band and they parted ways.

Along came Steve Hogarth. The band themselves asked him to join. I don't know why he's treated like the Yoko Ono of Marillion. Fish left; H didn't toss him out. At least he's not like Phil Collins,who sold out and he was "promoted" from within.

The early albums should not be any indication of later efforts. H was trying to find his way in a band that had been fronted by a rather well received former frontman. However, if you have some of the old demoes (I do), songs like "Berlin" are much better with H and his lyrics than the original lyrics penned by Fish. There's still plenty of great stuff on the first 2 albums... Brave was the real defining moment though.

H is a much more emotional man. He can sing joy, sadness, pain and sorrow in a lyric that Fish could never do; hell, Fish was lucky to hit a note on any good try. He also has taken inspiration from many facets of life -- his and others, unlike Fish. He draws from personal experiences like his autobiographical "This Strange Engine" -- an ode to his Father, as well as from the lives and life stories of others, perhaps not well know, but interesting people -- Jake LaMotta(Gaspacho), Donald Campbell(Out of This World) and -- a favorite of many from Marbles(Ocean CLoud) -- Don Allum.

If you're a heavy metal head, you won't like H's singing and lyrics but the band has progressed and tried many things that would have never happened with Fish at the helm. H's lyrics are much more personal and emotional -- for example, "House" about his home life -- and somber than Fish. There's a lyric in "This is the 21st Century" that sums him up.

FWIW, I have a very good rapport with Marillion (there are a few here that know this). I can tell you all are much happier with H at the helm than with Fish. There are a few other things I'm not at liberty to disclose in a public forum but if you ask me privately...well...

Also, and the purists will dis them for this, they are a working band. Unlike a great many of the artists here who have day jobs outside of the band, Marillion are musicians and make their living only from the music. The UK music scene is different and strange. Marillion put a poppier number or two on their releases to get the radio airplay needed to try to get sales. Remember, it is not 1972 when free-format radio introduced us all to the great music we are all here to hear. Marillion are paying their way to their retirement years on their musical output.

BTW, if you haven't seen Marillion live, you really ought to. There aren't many bands that can perform and reach out to the audience like they do.

Respectfully, VAX -- who has seen Marillion so many times there aren't enough fingers and toes and other body appendages on which to count them all.