THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

The rating of this compilation depends on where you are within your Marillion collection. I am going to rate this a 4 star because I believe that it is an excellent addition to any prog music collection.

If you have from a few to none of the Marillion albums, then this is an excellent introductory album to both of the eras of Marillion's career, with disc 1 covering most of the best songs from the Fish era, and disc two covering the first three albums from the Steve Hogarth era. I haven't tracked down Afraid of Sunlight yet so this was the first that I had heard these songs from them. Since this covers both the Fish and H eras of the band this will give a listener new to the Marillion experience a good feel for how they sound with each singer, and after such a listen they can branch out to the albums of the era that they like best. Marillion is a band that has much in common with the band Genesis. The first disc with Fish singing vocals has a similar sound to Peter Gabriel era Genesis. Fish's voice has an uncanny Gabriel-esque sound. After Fish left the band, Steve Hogarth took over the vocals, and the "which era is better" debate began. Marillion has many fans that like both eras, but there are also the fans that are firmly entrenched in the "Fish is better" or "Hogarth is better" corners. I like both eras.

If you have most or all of the Marillion albums, then this truly is a 2 star for collectors/fans only. I believe that all of these songs have been released on other albums. There are some re-mixes and single or B-side edits on here, but nothing worth buying this album if you already have most or all of their albums.