Marillion
„Real To Reel“
Melodic Prog-Rock. 1984/87. Remastered 1997

How can we still make money from Marillion from the "Fish" phase? EMI simply took the 1984 Real To Reel CD and put five songs on a second CD. "Lady Ninja" and "Freaks" in the studio version and "Kayleigh", "Fugazi" and "Script for a Jesters Tear". Not that these five songs aren't already on other releases. Well, collectors and fans buy everything anyway and they deserve it. After my old Real To Reel CD disappeared, I got this version. And there's no doubt about Marillion's fantastic music.

CD A contains remastered live recordings from 1984 in Montreal ("Assassing, Incubus, Cinderella Search and Emerald Lies") and from 1984 in Edinburgh ("Forgoten Sons, Garden Party and Marketsquare Heros"). There is no need to single out one song because every song is excellent. Here are more reviews from me from the Fish phase:

Script For A Jesters Tear
Fugazi 4-LP Set
Misplaced Childhood

CD B, Brief Encounter, contains two studio tracks, "Lady Nina" and "Freaks". Both were recorded in Berlin in 1985. "Kayleigh, Fugazi and Script for A Jesters Tear" are live recordings in London in 1986.

Conclusion: Every Real To Reel owner has to decide for themselves whether the purchase is worth it. In my opinion, it's not worth it just because of the additional 5 songs on the supplementary CD Brief Encounter, which every Fish-head has in their collection anyway. Musically, there's nothing to shake up. Twisted lyrics, melodic prog, Fish with a voice and a live atmosphere.

The photos are all from my CD. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.