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From: marantz@null.DEC (Josh HL01-1/S07 DTN 225-4835)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Re: More great unknown bands
Message-ID: <3543@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 7-Sep-84 13:59:32 EDT
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Posted: Fri Sep  7 13:59:32 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 14-Sep-84 04:49:13 EDT
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	       While this is still a hot topic, here are more good bands
    nobody seems to have heard of...
    
    Marillion      Plugged often as " the Genesis of the 80's ", they
		   combine complex song structures and raw energy and
		   instrumental virtuosity in their first two albums
		   'Script for a Jester's Tear' and 'Fugazi'. They have
		   brought early 70's style Art Rock up-to-date with
		   contemporary concerns and a much wider palette of
		   sounds. Fans of the old Art Rock will enjoy the Steve
		   Hackett-type guitars and the layered keyboards.

Anyone have any more information on Marillion?  This is just the kind of band
I like to investigate.  Your description sounds a lot like descriptions I've
read about Gentle Giant, which is my entry in the great unknown bands parade.
They're not really unknown, they definitely have (had) a substantial cult
following.  I think their musical virtuosity and their unique style place them
in a class with the likes of King Crimson.  They never seemed to enjoy the
popularity of other art/progressive rock bands of that era, for a variety
of reasons.  The main reason is that much of their material was SO bizzare
and eclectic that even a Crimson fan couldn't listen to it.  A good example
of this is the aptly named "Knots" on Octopus.  Nevertheless, they produced
a lot of music which I think is comparable to the best art rock of that
period, particularly Free Hand and most of Octopus.  You have to listen to
it with an open mind, though, and even then, one listen may not be enough
to begin to appreciate it.

My other explanation for their relative obscurity was that their band
members were mostly unknowns.  I know I only learned about King Crimson
because of John Wetton and Bill Bruford.

Back to Marmillion, are their albums in print?  What label and what year
are they?  Anyone know?

					-Joshua D. Marantz

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