THE THIEVING MAGPIE - LA GAZZA LADRA

Marillion might have been considered highly influenced by the early Genesis records but this album actually takes its inspiration directly from Camel's 1978 A Live Record where the band performed their concept piece The Snow Goose right after a set of greatest hits material.

The Thieving Magpie - La Gazza Ladra is easily the best live retrospective that could fit on a 2-CD release. The album skips most of the tracks I don't care so much for like Assassing, Garden Party and Incubus. Instead we get some top-notch performances of compositions like Freaks, Sugar Mice and Fugazi that easily sound as good as, if not better then, their studio counterparts. It's true that most of these performances sound almost identical to the studio versions but that could probably be said about most of Marillion's performances. Luckily Fish adds a few new touches here and there that spice up the mood. Still, it's a pity that all audience-interaction has been cut from the album but that could probably be explained by the limitations of the vinyl and although the CD version added quite a few new tracks they never bothered to adjust anything else.

The only major change on this release is the switch of Bitter Suite's ending (ending of Misplaced Rendezvous-section) and addition of it to Heart Of Lothian. While Lords Of The Backstage added the first part of Blind Curve making the compositions slightly less coherent but it's a welcomed mix-up that in result doesn't do any damage.

Most of these performance are well documented although some tracks have Fish's audio levels a bit low but it doesn't distract from the overall experience too much. I really like how the album picked most of the essential tracks from all the four albums and although it would have been awesome to hear Miss the Hotel Hobbies/Warm Wet Circles/That Time Of The Night as the concert opener, but Slàinte Mhath works surprisingly well in that position and aside from those tracks most of Clutching At Straws-essentials are here.

The Thieving Magpie - La Gazza Ladra is a great live compilation that documents the band at the peak of their career doing what they do best. What else could we possibly ask for? I realize that my review mostly highlighted this albums flaws but I did it entirely out of the great admiration I have for this release and you can just assume that everything I didn't mention is completely flawless.

***** star songs: Slàinte Mhath (4:50) Freaks (4:06) Sugar Mice (6:03) Fugazi (8:39) Script For A Jester's Tears (8:46) White Russian (6:14) Pseudo Silk Kimono (2:19) Lavender (2:27) Heart Of Lothian (5:13) Blind Curve (5:35) Childhood's End? (2:48)

**** star songs: He Knows You Know (5:13) Chelsea Monday (8:01) Jigsaw (6:24) Punch And Judy (3:23) Incommunicado (5:23) Kayleigh (3:52) Bitter Suite (7:38) Waterhole (Expresso Bongo) (2:17) Lords Of The Backstage (6:08) White Feather (4:23)

*** star songs: Intro-La Gazza Ladra (2:46)