EARLY STAGES: THE OFFICIAL BOOTLEGS 1982-1987

"Early Stages: The Official Bootlegs 1982-1987" is a box set containing six separated live albums of Marillion and was released in 2008. It contains five different live concerts from the band with their former vocalist Fish and it was recorded at several venues in the UK between 1982 and 1987. The packaging was designed, as usual, by Mark Wilkinson, who designed all Marillion's covers in the 80's. He went to work with Fish as a solo artist after his departure from the band.

The set contains the following concerts and the following tracks: CD 1: Live at the Mayfair, Glasgow, 13th September 1982. Tracks: "Garden Party", "The Web", "He Knows You Know", "She Chameleon", "Three Boats Down From The Candy", "Market Square Heroes" and "Forgotten Sons". CD 2: Live at the Marquee Club, London, Part 1, 30th December 1982. Tracks: "Garden Party", "Three Boats Down From The Candy", "Grendel" and "Chelsea Monday". CD 3: Live at the Marquee Club, London, Part 2, 30th December 1982. Tracks: "He Knows You Know", "The Web", "Script For A Jester's Tear", "Forgotten Sons", "Market Square Heroes" and "Margaret". CD 4: Live at the Reading Festival, 27th August 1983. Tracks: "Grendel", "Garden Party", "Script For A Jester's Tear", "Assassing", "Charting The Single", "Forgotten Sons", "He Knows You Know" and "Market Square Heroes". CD 5: Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, 14th December 1984. Tracks: "Assassing", "Garden Party", "Cinderella Search", "Punch And Judy", "Jigsaw", "Chelsea Monday", "The Pseudo-Silk Kimono", "Kayleigh", "Bitter Suite", "Heart Of Lothian", "Incubus" and "Fugazi". CD 6: Live at Wembley Arena, London, 5th November 1987. Tracks: "Slainte Mhath", "White Russian", "Incubus", "Sugar Mice", "Fugazi", "Hotel Hobbies", "Warm Wet Circles", "That Time Of The Night", "The Last Straw", "Kayleigh", "Lavender", "Bitter Suite" and "Heart Of Lothian".

The original studio tracks were originally released in different forms: "Grendel", "Three Boats Down From The Candy" and "Market Square Heroes" were originally recorded on their debut EP "Market Square Heroes", in 1982. "Margaret" was originally recorded as the B side of their single "Garden Party", in 1983. "Charting The Single" was originally recorded as the B side of their single "He Knows You Know", in 1983. "Cinderella Search" was originally recorded as the B side of their single "Assassing", in 1984. "Garden Party", "The Web", "He Knows You Know", "Forgotten Sons", "Chelsea Monday" and "Script For A Jester's Tear" were originally recorded on their debut studio album "Script For A Jester's Tear", in 1983. "She Chameleon", "Assassing", "Punch And Judy", "Jigsaw", "Incubus" and "Fugazi" were originally recorded on their second studio album "Fugazi", in 1984. "Pseudo-Silk Kimono", "Kayleigh", "Bitter Suite", "Heart Of Lothian" and "Lavender" were originally recorded on their third studio album "Misplaced Childhood", in 1985. "Slainte Mhath", "White Russian", "Sugar Mice", "Hotel Hobbies", "Warm Wet Circles", "That Time Of The Night" and "The Last Straw" were originally recorded on their fourth studio album "Clutching At Straws", in 1987.

While Fish was in the band he had recorded four extraordinary albums and each of them is presented in some fashion across these vintage concerts that were done for the BBC. It's a very healthy release with a lot to absorb even for the most hard core of Marillion's fans. There's a sixteen page booklet included and there are no real photos to speak of but instead all small type commentary that addresses each of the CD's or shows individually. It's packaged in a deluxe box with art by long time Marillion artist Mark Williamson and each CD comes in a sleeve that presents different artwork and lists the tracks on the back. This is a rather pricey item, really. But believe me, this well worth the investment indeed.

Conclusion: "Early Stages: The Official Bootlegs 1982-1987" is an excellent box-set with great live performances from Marillion. It's an indispensable set of live shows from the band for all Marillion's fans, especially for Marillion's fans that particularly love the band in Fish's era, like me. However, it represents slightly differences between all the live concerts. CD 1 represents an historical document. It's probably the earliest live document from the band with such quality. The sound is good but the performance isn't absolutely perfect, probably because the band was nervous and shy. On CD 2 and CD 3 the sound is also good and shows a band more confident and energetic. However, I think Fish interrupts too often and for too long between the songs when he explains the context in which every song was written. I think it cuts a bit the rhythm that a live show must have. Relatively to CD's 4, 5 and 6, they're simply amazing. The sound is perfect and all the three live shows are astonishing. They're at the same quality level of some other great live performances from the band like "Recital Of The Script" and "Live From Loreley". So, the rating I can give to this-box set is 5 stars.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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