THE SINGLES '82 - 88'

"The Singles '82 - 88'" is a compilation of Marillion and was released in 2000. This is a three CD box set containing all the first twelve singles of Marillion. All those singles belong to their first musical period in Fish's era. It contains twelve individually packaged CD singles in replica mini slip covers, each one with the original cover art by Mark Wilkinson. All the B sides that appeared on various formats of the original singles have been included too, on this compilation.

They were released in two different versions with some slight differences. My version, that will be the version that I will review was released in 2009. The musical content is identical to the 2000 box set with the same title. The 2009 version is a replica of the original version and has three CD's with the twelve CD singles. The original version of 2000 contained twelve individual packages CD singles with mini-slip covers, each one with the original cover art by Mark Wilkinson.

As many of we know, Mark Wilkinson is an English illustrator very well known for the cover art for a number of British bands and artists. Wilkinson's breakthrough came through his association with Marillion in Fish's era making all the cover art of their albums and compilations, then. He went on to design the cover art to the subsequent solo career of Fish, soon he left Marillion. He also made some of the cover art for other bands such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.

"The Singles '82 - 88'" compilation has forty-five tracks which is divided into three discs containing twelve CD singles. So, Disc 1 has twelve tracks: "Market Square Heroes", "Three Boats Down From The Candy" and "Grendel" were all released on "Market Square Heroes". "He Knows You Know" and "Charting The Single" both were released on the single "He Knows You Know". "He Knows You Know" is an edited 12" version song. "Garden Party" is an edited version. "Margaret" is an edited live version. "Garden Party", "Charting The Single", which is a live version of the original song and "Margaret" which is also a live version of the original song, were originally released on the single "Garden Party". "Punch And Judy" is the 7" version of the song that was released on the single with the same name.

Disc 2 has seventeen tracks: "Market Square Heroes" is an edited re-recorded version song. "Three Boats Down From The Candy" and "Market Square Heroes" are two re-recorded versions of the original songs. "Assassing" and "Cinderella Search" are 7" versions of the original songs. "Assassing" and "Cinderella Search" were both released on the single "Assassing". "Kayleigh" and "Lady Nina" were released on the single "Kayleigh". "Kayleigh" is an alternative mix version of the original song. "Kayleigh" and "Lady Nina" are extended versions of the original songs. "Lavender", "Freaks" and "Lavender Blue" were three tracks released on the single "Lavender". "Heart Of Lothian" and "Chelsea Monday", which is a live version of the original song, were both released on the single "Heart Of Lothian".

Disc 3 has sixteen tracks: "Heart Of Lothian" is a different version of the original song. "Incommunicado", "Going Under", "Incommunicado", which is the album's version, and "Incommunicado" which is an alternate version, were all released on the single "Incommunicado" and on the album "Clutching At Straws". "Sugar Mice", "Tux On", "Sugar Mice", which is a radio edit version of the original song, and "Sugar Mice", which is an extended version of the original song, were all released on the single "Sugar Mice" and on their fourth studio album "Clutching At Straws". "Warm Wet Circles", which is 7" remixed version, "White Russians", which is a live version, and "Incommunicado", which is also a live version, were all released on the single "Warm Wet Circles". "Freaks", "Kayleigh", "Childhoods End" and "White Feather", are all live versions of the original songs and were all released on the single "Freaks".

Conclusion: As I wrote above, "The Singles '82 - 88'" is a box set containing all Marillion's singles in Fish's era, individually packed in their own artwork. So, for many years this must have been the ultimate discovery for any Marillion's fan. In reality, the whole package of the original version looks excellent. The twelve singles come back in a black cartoon box, which opens cigarette box style. All the singles are sleeved in their original art work and they feature all the possible songs that appeared in the original format. So, we have the 7" edits, 12" mixes, live and whatever else. However, no linear notes, no information about the singles itself, misspelled names and titles, track times that are sometimes mentioned and sometimes not, inconsistent information as to whether tracks are edits, full versions or remixes, and the last but not the least, airbrush artist Mark Wilkinson only gets credited for five of the twelve sleeves. In short, we are in presence, in general, of the typical and usual inconsistency of the record labels. But, surely, they should have more respect for the artists and fans. So, you may wonder why this box set has been released. The possible answer can be money. The band had already released two compilations "B Sides Themselves" and "A Singles Collection" that contain many of these versions. It's also a bit painful to hear so many tracks repeated when most of them sound very similar. So, this is a beautiful package but, definitely, it doesn't worth all the money spent on it, really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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