Marillion "An Hour Before It's Dark (EU, earMusic, 0217425EMU)"

An Hour Before It's Dark is the 20th studio album by British neo-prog band Marillion, released on 4 March 2022 by Intact and earMUSIC.

On 3 August 2021, Marillion announced the launch of their new pre-order campaign for the recording and release of a new studio album, their first since With Friends from the Orchestra (2019). Frontman Steve Hogarth said "the overall feeling" of the album "is surprisingly upbeat", with the Choir Noir adding "new soul" and "colour" to the music.

The album includes a behind the scenes documentary about the making of the record, and a performance of "Murder Machines" from Real World Studios.

An Hour Before It's Dark was released on 4 March 2022. To promote the record, several London black cabs were decorated with the album's artwork and free rides are given if the customer mentioned a password, which was the album's title. The promotion ran from 4–14 March.

On 7 March 2022, the band announced a 9-date UK tour for September 2022.

On the UK Albums Chart dated 11 March 2022, An Hour Before It's Dark entered at number two, their highest chart position since Clutching at Straws in 1987.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Steve Hogarth; all music is composed by Marillion.

An Hour Before It's Dark track listing:

"Be Hard on Yourself"   9:27

I. "The Tear in the Big Picture"

II. "Lust for Luxury"

III. "You Can Learn"

"Reprogram the Gene"   7:00

I. "Invincible"

II. "Trouble-Free Life"

III. "A Cure for Us?"

"Only a Kiss" (instrumental) 0:39

"Murder Machines" 4:20

"The Crow and the Nightingale" 6:35

"Sierra Leone"  10:51

I. "Chance in a Million"

II. "The White Sand"

III. "The Diamond"

IV. "The Blue Warm Air"

V. "More Than a Treasure"

"Care"   15:18

I. "Maintenance Drugs"

II. "An Hour Before It's Dark"

III. "Every Cell"

IV. "Angels on Earth"

Total length: 54:10

Note: After 4 minutes of silence following "Angels on Earth", the CD will play a 12" remix of "Murder Machines".

Recording information:

Marillion – production

Michael Hunter – production, recording, mixing

Simon Ward – artwork

Marillion "You're Gone (Single & Video)"

You're Gone is the lead single from Marillion's 13th studio album Marbles, released in 2004. The song marked a comeback for the band, reaching number 7 on the UK Singles Chart and becoming their first top ten hit since 1987's "Incommunicado". It also made number 8 on the Dutch Top 40.

In the studio, singer Steve Hogarth was inspired by a chord sequence generated on a computer by guitarist Steve Rothery, and was able to fit a pre-written lyric around it. Hogarth has said, "It's a simple song. It's about losing a great light in your life and living in the shadow of it, and yet rejoicing in the fact that it was ever there – and it still is there, somewhere." "You're Gone" has been characterised as an address of "romantic disappointment".

Although the band's mainstream popularity had dissipated in the late 1990s, they retained a strong cult following. Three versions of the single (two CD versions and a DVD version) were promoted to mailing list subscribers, and the song's commercially friendly sound – including its then-current, U2-like feel – made it more accessible to mainstream audiences than previous Marillion singles. Despite "You're Gone" becoming the second-highest new entry of the week and generating renewed media interest in the band, they were denied an appearance on the BBC's flagship chart television show Top of the Pops,[citation needed] and were, according to Steve Rothery, dismissed by then-BBC presenter Jonathan Ross as "a prog rock band that sing about goblins". Rothery criticised Ross's archaic perception of the band, saying: "We recorded Script for a Jester's Tear 22 years ago. I think that was when Ross had his own hair."

The single included a live rendition of "Faith," an all-new song that was written during the sessions for Marbles but not released on an album until its follow-up Somewhere Else.

A basic music video was created for the single, directed by The Boom Boom Boys. It largely features Hogarth delivering the song, with occasional shots of the band and minimal effect overlay.

Marillion "Marbles"

Marbles is the 13th studio album from rock band Marillion, released in 2004. Unlike their previous studio album, Anoraknophobia (2001), which was financed largely by a preorder campaign, it was the publicity campaign that fans financed for the album. Those fans who pre-ordered the album received an exclusive 2-CD "Deluxe Campaign Edition" with a booklet containing the names of everyone who pre-ordered before a certain date. The public release date of the retail single-CD version of the album was 3 May 2004 while a plain 2CD version could still be obtained from the band's website. A limited (500 copy) edition was released on white multicoloured vinyl by Racket Records on 13 November 2006.

The album did not chart in the UK, due to it being packaged with a couple of stickers, which is against chart rules, so despite selling enough for a top 30 position, the album was declared ineligible for the album chart, however its first single "You're Gone" reached #7 in the UK Singles Chart, thus becoming their first UK top ten hit since 1987's "Incommunicado". The follow-up single "Don't Hurt Yourself" peaked at #16. Classic Rock ranked Marbles #11 on their end-of-year list for 2004.

Track listing

All songs written by Steve Hogarth, Steve Rothery, Mark Kelly, Pete Trewavas, Ian Mosley.

Double-CD version

Disc one

1. "The Invisible Man" – 13:37
2. "Marbles I" – 1:42
3. "Genie" – 4:54
4. "Fantastic Place" – 6:12
5. "The Only Unforgivable Thing" – 7:13
6. "Marbles II" – 2:02
7. "Ocean Cloud" – 17:58

Disc two

1. "Marbles III" – 1:51
2. "The Damage" – 4:35
3. "Don't Hurt Yourself" – 5:48
4. "You're Gone" – 6:25
5. "Angelina" – 7:42
6. "Drilling Holes" – 5:11
7. "Marbles IV" – 1:26
8. "Neverland" – 12:10

Single-CD version

1. "The Invisible Man" – 13:37
2. "Marbles I" – 1:42
3. "You're Gone" – 6:25
4. "Angelina" – 7:42
5. "Marbles II" – 2:02
6. "Don't Hurt Yourself" – 5:48
7. "Fantastic Place" – 6:12
8. "Marbles III" – 1:51
9. "Drilling Holes" – 5:11
10. "Marbles IV" – 1:26
11. "Neverland" – 12:10

Bonus track (in Europe): "You're Gone" (single mix) – 4:05

Bonus track (in North America): "Don't Hurt Yourself" (music video)

Limited edition vinyl reissue

Side one

1. "The Invisible Man" – 13:37
2. "Marbles I" – 1:42

Side two

1. "You're Gone" – 6:25
2. "Angelina" – 7:42
3. "Marbles II" – 2:02

Side three

1. "Don't Hurt Yourself" – 5:48
2. "Fantastic Place" – 6:12
3. "Marbles III" – 1:51

Side four

1. "Drilling Holes" – 5:11
2. "Marbles IV" – 1:26
3. "Neverland" – 12:10

Marillion "B'Sides Themselves"

B'Sides Themselves is a compilation of single B-sides by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, which was released on CD only in January 1988. This was the first time that those B-sides were made available in the then still relatively new Compact Disc format (with the exception of "Tux On", which had featured on a limited edition CD single of "Sugar Mice" that was only sold at concerts). However, vinyl LP and cassette versions were issued in June 1988.

The compilation includes "Market Square Heroes", originally the A-side track for Marillion's 1982 debut single release, but here is included because it was re-recorded for the B-side of "Punch and Judy" (1984). "Three Boats Down From The Candy" was originally the B-side of "Market Square Heroes", but the version on this album is the re-recorded B-side of "Punch and Judy".

Also included is the 17-minute epic "Grendel", originally a B-side on the 12" version of the 1982 A-side "Market Square Heroes" single.

B'Sides Themselves would turn out to be the last Marillion record to be released while singer Fish, who left in October 1988, was still in the band.

The cover artwork was created by permanent contributor Mark Wilkinson. It is a collage combining fragments of front and back-cover artwork from previous singles:

The spades-shaped head of the central is taken from the back cover of "Assassing", a reference to that single's b-side "Cinderella Search",

The blue-lipped mouth is from the front cover of the single "He Knows You Know" (which had no back cover illustration), in reference to its b-side "Charting the Single",

The suit and tie refer to "Tux On", the b-side of the single "Sugar Mice", which had a similar back cover illustration,


The fragments on the left of the face are from the front cover of the singles "Market Square Heroes" (both the a-side and the 7" b-side "Three Boats Down From the Candy" are included on this compilation), the back covers of "Kayleigh" and "Incommunicado"; the fragments on the right side are from "Incommunicado", "Kayleigh" and The Video EP (featuring "Grendel" – the fragment shows the "Grendel" mask Fish wore on stage).

Marillion "Live From Loreley"

Live from Loreley is a live album by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, recorded at a concert at the Freilichtbühne Loreley (Open-Air Stage) Loreley, St. Goarshausen, Germany on 18 July 1987. The recording, made during the first leg of the 1987 Clutching at Straws tour, documents the band at the peak of their commercial success in the 1980s when they had original frontman Fish on vocals. The show was attended by an audience of 20,000; support acts were Magnum, The Cult (cancelled), and It Bites. It comprises songs from the four studio albums they released up to that point, i.e. Script for a Jester's Tear (1983), Fugazi (1984), Misplaced Childhood (1985), and Clutching at Straws (1987). The non-album debut single "Market Square Heroes" is also included.

The cover uses the original 1987 concert poster designed by Fish-era Marillion (and later Fish solo) graphic artist Mark Wilkinson. It shows the central character from the cover of the then-current single "Incommunicado" above a drawing of the characteristic marquee above the venue's stage.

A video recording of this concert had first been released on VHS tape in November 1987, and re-released in 1995, then packaged together with an audio CD (one disc) including the soundtrack of the VHS tape except "Incubus". This 'Sound & Vision' video recording, since out of print, was re-issued on DVD in August 2004. On 22 June 2009, EMI released the recording a fourth time, this time as a digitally remastered double audio CD including four tracks that had been omitted from the previous video and audio versions ("White Russian", "Fugazi", "Garden Party" and "Market Square Heroes"). The version of "White Russian" found on the 2009 issue had previously been released on the B-side "Warm Wet Circles" (1987).


On the same day, EMI released Recital of the Script, another first-time audio version of a 1980s live video. Although neither Marillion nor ex-singer Fish were involved in the decision to re-release this material, they officially approved it and Fish has written liner notes for both. Fish commented that "as contractually we have no control over the material [we] decided it would be more advisable to help out rather than relinquish total responsibility. (...) I understand there will be accusations of "scraping the barrel" directed at EMI, and perhaps there is some justification, but (...) our choice was to walk away and let Amazon and the like benefit or get involved and at least try and get some return above the pennies we get as royalties as a band under our old contract."

Marillion "Incomunicado (Video)"

Incommunicado is a song by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion. It was the lead single from their fourth studio album Clutching at Straws. Released on 11 May 1987, it reached number six in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's third top-ten hit and their last until 2004's "You're Gone". It also became a Top 40 hit in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, as well as on the US Mainstream Rock chart.

The cover was designed by the band's regular artist at the time, Mark Wilkinson; however, instead of the usual airbrush style, it was a collage based on a colourised photograph of fans waiting outside the Marquee Club, then still in Wardour Street (there are some posters advertising a Then Jerico gig on the door). Only the eccentrically dressed, pivotal "angel" character standing at the door apart from the crowd, was painted in Wilkinson's traditional style. The scene alludes to the song's main topic, success alienating artists from their fans and reality in general. On the back cover there is a quotation supposedly from Seneca the Younger's Moral Epistles ("This mime of mortal life, in which we are apportioned roles we misinterpret.")

Marillion "Clutching At Straws"

Clutching at Straws is the fourth studio album by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in 1987. It was the last album with original lead singer Fish, who left the band in 1988, and is a concept album.

Although Clutching at Straws did not achieve the sales of its predecessor, the number one album Misplaced Childhood, spending 15 weeks on the UK album chart (the shortest chart residency of any of Marillion's first four studio albums), it was still an immediate commercial success, becoming the second highest charting Marillion album by entering the chart at number two. It produced three UK Top 40 singles: "Incommunicado", "Sugar Mice" and "Warm Wet Circles".

The album has received critical acclaim. It was listed in Q magazine's "50 Best Recordings of the Year", it has been described by AllMusic as a "masterpiece", and Rolling Stone placed it at number 37 in its countdown of the "50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time". In 1999, a 2-CD 'Remastered Version' with additional B-sides and demos was released, including detailed liner notes from all of the original members including Fish.

The character of Torch (supposedly a descendant of the Jester from earlier album sleeves) is a 29-year-old out-of-work man whose life is a mess. He seeks comfort mostly in alcohol to numb himself. He is trying, but failing, to forget what lies at his feet—a failed marriage, being a deadbeat father, and his lack of commercial success as a singer in a band. As he gets drunk, he also writes about his surroundings and his laments. Since Torch has no other real outlet at his disposal, he ends up in bars, hotel rooms, and on the road, screaming and drunk, thus, he is described as beyond redemption or hope.


Marillion took a break after their tour in support of the album (with Fish eventually quitting) after it was released. The song "Incommunicado" describes the pitfalls of the business, and how pressures in real life exerted by the band's US label Capitol Records were crushing in from outside for them to either succeed or get dropped by the company, which would happen to Marillion anyway a few years later.

The front and back covers of the album describe Fish's inspiration for the album's lyrics as well as some of his heroes. There are allusions to them throughout the album. The setting is in a British pub (the Bakers Arms in Colchester), and the people represented are the following:

On the front from left to right: Robert Burns, Dylan Thomas, Truman Capote and Lenny Bruce
On the back from left to right: John Lennon, James Dean and Jack Kerouac
Sleeve artist Mark Wilkinson has expressed his disappointment with the sleeve, which he intended to be more detailed and feature more characters but was rushed due to the release date of the album being brought forward:


"It was torture to do. Especially as I got a call almost by the day from EMI or John (manager John Arnison) that if I missed this deadline, the time slot would go, and the tour / album symbiosis put in jeopardy. Somehow I did it, clutching at sleep! EMI were relieved. Fish seemed OK. The rest of the band were a bit unmoved, it was so different to the previous sleeves. I was bloody disappointed! I loved this album, still do. It was some kind of pinnacle as far as I am concerned. Probably my favourite of theirs. And I felt cheated! It was not the sleeve I had imagined. You don't win them all, believe me!"