MARKET SQUARE HEROES

It was 1982 when a friend gave me a tape about a "new" progressive group that he had just discovered during a visit to UK. This EP was my first approach with Marillion. Actually I've been stunned by this recording. They were the years of electro-pop-dance-shit and a neo-prog group playing a 17 minutes epic was a great surprise.

On the tape the EP sides were inverted, so for me Grendel was the first track. It's not a "circular" song. It's mainly a collage of different parts, but the passages between the various sections don't cause discontinuities. What is really impressive is the dual-voice singing in the middle part by Fish and Pete Trewavas. The final guitar solo has been reused later on Scripts, that means that probably they were not thinking to a reprint of this song.

Three boats down to the candy is a short song. I remember how I was hypnotized by the high "E" played by the guitar, similar to Wright's "ping" on echoes. This song has been published on another album, I think it was B'sides Themselves but it's a different version that lacks the "ping".

Market square Heroes is a Genesis like song that we all knew better from Real to Reel where it's tied to Garden Party. That version is better, I think.

In general, being this the recording that made me love Marillion, I would rate it the maximum, but to be honest, it should be a 3.5 stars. I rate it 4 because a song like Grendel on what was nothing more than a "promo" must be rewarded.