Review Summary: Not as great as the debut, but marks the consistency of the direction of the band.
“Fugazi” is the second studio album of Marillion and was released in 1984. The line up on the album is Derek Dick “Fish”, Steve Rothery, Mark Kelly, Pete Trewavas and Ian Mosley. The album also had the participation of Linda Pyke.
Marillion was formed in the early 80’s. They were the leading representative of the new generation of English prog rock, which had been in decline since the emergence of the Punk and New Wave Movements, as well as the abandonment of the style by bands considered its main “big names”, such as Genesis, Yes, ELP and Pink Floyd. The band’s first work, the EP “Market Square Heroes” received excellent reviews and great reception from the public in general. In the next year they released their debut “Script For A Jester’s Tears”, It was followed by their sophomore studio work “Fugazi”.
“Fugazi” is generally perceived by most fans, in what I include myself, as the least satisfying album of the four from Fish’s era. Maybe it lacks some consistency, but, undoubtedly, it includes a couple of Marillion’s finest songs. In relation to “Script For A Jester’s Tear”, “Fugazi” shows some differences. Marillion streamlined the intricacies of the band’s prog rock leanings for a more straight ahead rock identity. Still, it remains clearly a Marillion’s album. We even can say that, in a certain way, “Fugazi” remarks Marillion’s consistency on its musical direction solidifying the group.
“Fugazi” wasn’t an easy album to release. After the conclusion of “Script For A Jester’'s Tear” tour, Marillion decided to give drummer Mick Pointer his marching orders. The name to replace him was Ian Mosley. The band decided that Mosley spot-on drumming was the perfect foil for Marillion’s meticulous musicianship. With Mosley, the band set out to record its sophomore work. The recording sessions were a bit troubled. As the sessions turned into a grueling and at times exasperating multi-studio juggling act, Fugazi proved to be a somewhat disjointed follow-up in relation to their classic debut work. This is the reason why we can say that somehow, some cohesion and focus can be lacking in “Fugazi”. Still, “Fugazi” is an album superiorly arranged and which has some of the best Marillon’s classic tracks.
“Fugazi” has seven tracks. “Assassing” is a great opener, one of the highlights on the album. It became a classic of the band. It sounds quite different and yet familiar compared with the songs on their debut. It’s an energetic song with a touch of Islamic music, with a beautiful interlude, a good bass line and a dynamic drumming. “Punch And Judy” is the shortest track on the album but is very good. It’s a wonderful song although not very typical of them until then. It features everything that’s great in Marillion. It has catchy riffs and melodies with the typical sound so characteristic of Fish’s era. “Jigsaw” it’s a nice slow rock song. I like it very much despite being partially obscured by the two previous songs. It’s a very sensual song with beautiful lyrics that we want to sing as we take our morning shower and leave us well prepared to begin our day’s work. Definitely, I really love it. “Emerald Lies” is a good song but is weaker than the previous ones. It isn’t a true progression on their music. It even sounds a bit naïve compared with the other songs until then. But, it has a good bass line, great guitar melody, the vocal dynamics are very good and the lyrics are simple and clever. So, it remains a good song. “She Chameleon” is the other weak song on the album. It’s a simple song with depressing lyrics and a simple organ work, a tasteful guitar melody and some bombastic drums. But, it still is a decent song. Unfortunately, “She Chameleon” and “Emerald Lies” brought the album a bit down. “Incubus” is fortunately a return to the great songs. It’s with the title track one of the two epics on the album. It has very good lyrics. Musicaly is a song with a strong structure with a melodic composition and different tempo. Its music moves dynamically all over the song with smooth transitions from one melody to another. It’s a brilliant piece. The title track, as I mentioned before, is another brilliant epic piece. Like on “Script For A Jester’s Tear” where the last track “Forgotten Sons” is considered the best song on that album and one of the best compositions by Marillion, the same happens with this track. It’s fantastic with a great mood and a melody that changes all over the song. It’s an incredible way to close this magnificent album.
Conclusion: Perhaps “Fugazi” is the weakest album of Marillion in Fish’s era. But saying this, it seems like sacrilege. In reality, Marillion has no weak albums in that period of time, and so, “Fugazi” is still a great piece of music. As I wrote before and, in my humble opinion, the album has two songs with musical quality below the others, “Emerald Lies” and “She Chameleon”. So, for that motif, “Fugazi” can’t be considered a masterpiece, as happened with their preceding album “Script For A Jester’s Tear” and their following album “Misplaced Childhood”. But, “Fugazi” remains without any doubt a great album. “Fugazi” is an excellent album that can be recommended to all progressive rock fans. Just simply don’t compare it too much to the previous one. However, there’s music here for every progressive rock fan to love.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
