ASSASSING

"Assassing" is a single release by UK progressive rock act Marillion. The single was released through EMI Records in April 1984. It's the second single released to promote the band's second full-length studio album "Fugazi" (March 1984). "Assassing" was released in both a 7" and a 12" version. The A-side of the former features an edited version of "Assassing", which is almost 4 minutes shorter than the 7:01 minutes long version which appears on "Fugazi" (1984). The B-side to the 7" version is non-album track "Cinderella Search". The 12" version of the single features the album version of "Assassing" on the A-side, while the B-side features a version of "Cinderella Search", which is about 1 minutes longer than the version on the 7" version of the single. The 12" B-side also features the 7" edited version of "Assassing".

With it's driving beat, dark mood, and slightly funk influenced guitar riff, "Assassing" is one of the most unique songs in Marillion's 80s discography. The edited single version is of course a bit of an abomination, but thankfully the 12" maxi-single version features the 7:01 minutes long album version, which is a brilliant track. "Cinderella Search" is a great B-side too. The latter is of available on the 1988 "B'Sides Themselves" compilation album, which makes this single a little redundant today, and since the 7" single version of this release features the edited version of "Assassing" (which is not a positive feature), I'm a bit torn in terms of rating this release. A 3.5 star (70%) rating isn't all wrong.