Marillion - Clutching at Straws

Wow this album is an absolute masterpiece and I am very confused rite now. First being a rock fan since 1976 or so, I am ashamed of myself for letting this great band go under he radar. Second, my favorite album list has just been realigned and my old favorite are in the backseat to this and Misplaced Childhood and Theiving Magpie. Thirdly being a huge Queen and Genisis fan why did Marillion never get the respect and following these guys deserve. I did have this in cassette years ago and listened but did not listen and I quilty as anyone liked it but always heard well Fish is no longer with them and they sound like Genisis blah blah. You know us stupid Americans and our ridiculious stupid press the same press as in Freddie Mercury likes guys so Queen as a band forget them Rolling Stone BS. Fouthly I truly canot decide on a favorite song because they all are sooo good as with Misplaced Childhood. I did see they are doing three days in Montreal the end of March and me in Springfield Mass I'm there. In the meantime I am buying more Marilion having fun listening to my friends say who is this Genisis and goin from there and forming a few more fans. These guys are up there with any of the more commercially sucessful bands and people that have not heard of them or really listen it is truly a big loss for them.

In my opinion this is the greatest Fish era album from Marillion. While Childhood's End generally gathers the most notoriety, I think this is a much better and more powerful album from beginning to end. The personal pain that is present throughout the album may be seen as bleak but it makes the album very personal and very real. Anyone who likes the Fish or the Steve H. version of Marillion must own this album. Buy the album and follow the lyrics. The depth of the lyrics will amaze you. Five stars for a very underrated album. I guarantee that after the first listening you will immediately listen to it again because there is so much to digest. I will never understand how Marillion is not held with the same reverence as Genesis, Pink Floyd, ELP and YES here in the states because their catalog of work is at least equal and I dare claim better if viewed as a whole career. I happen to be writing the review connected to the vinyl version that I purchased recently simply to satisfy a guilty pleasure of listening to something I already own in several digital formats in analog.

I recently rediscovered Marillion after having collected their Fish era discs as they were released in the eighties. The music holds up really well, and "Clutching At Straws" is probably the strongest of the band's first four studio discs (the other contender being "Misplaced Childhood"). It is worth the investment to pick up this two disc remastered set. The first disc contains the orginal album, and the sound is vastly improved. Instruments are sharply defined, vocals and sound effects stunningly clear. The bonus disk includes a few remixed or demo versions of Clutching songs, along with some decent outtakes from this period. Of particular interest are a couple of songs that would go on to be used on Marillion's following album ("Season's End"). Hearing Fish sing songs eventually done by Steve Hogarth on "Season's End" makes you wonder what the band would have been like if they would have taken and year off and then refined this material with Fish still on board. The liner notes include fascinating reflections on this period from band memeber and others involved in the project.

This album is one of the best prog rock albums ever recorded after Misplaced Childhood. In fact, I read somewhere it is Fish's favorite Marillion album. Unlike Misplaced Childhood, not all the songs are great (there may be 1 or 2 clunkers here, depending on your tastes). However, if you disregard that, this album is truly outstanding. Highlights include: The last straw, Sugar mice, That time of the night, Just for the record, Slainte mhath, Torch song, etc. I personally like all the songs and never get tired of listening to this album. Like Misplaced Childhood, it is beautifully recorded and executed to perfection. I wished Fish had recorded more albums with Marillion. You can really see his genius in full gear on this album. The climactic moments are very strong. I also love the guitar solos; I wished I could play guitar like this. The guitar playing would make David Gilmour jealous, I swear. 5 stars (I'd award more stars if this were possible)

In the 1980s I bought a vinyl copy of Misplaced Childhood; however, I really didn't buy any other Marillion albums. I recently purchased their first four albums on CD and really loved them all. I can't comment about the remaster quality as I don't have anything to compare, but in my opinion, Marillion's first four albums are fantastic, While not exactly the same, they remind me of the early Genesis albums.

This is a review of the 2018 5-disc (4 CD + 1 Blu-Ray) Deluxe Edition of Clutching at Straws. A short review is followed by a (much) lengthier review. I'll get this out of the way right now...I love this album. The Short: This release takes off where the 1999 2-Disc Remaster left off. It contains the same material as the 1999 Remaster, but adds an album remix, more unreleased demos, a (mostly) unreleased 1987 concert, a newly filmed documentary/interview, original music videos and other extras. Disc 1 is a remix of the original CD album release - it sounds good and is faithful to the original. Discs 2 & 3 contain the 1987 concert, which is an energetic and strong performance, and sounds phenomenal. The 4th disc consists of demos from before and after the album. The Blu-Ray contains an interview (May 2018) with all five band members about the transition from Misplaced Childhood (MC) to Clutching at Straws (CAS). The Blu-ray also contains three music videos, a few album B-sides, the original album mix and several 5.1 remixes. The packaging is similar to the MC Deluxe - a 60 page booklet with original and new artwork, lyrics, and a new essay by Mick Wall. I’d like to give this edition five stars, but there are a few too many missing items for me: the critical B-side ‘Tux On,’ the now-lost ‘Warm Wet Circles’ demo, some non-critical B-sides, and liner notes. It could be better organized (wish all B-Sides were included on Disc 1, chronological demos) Ultimately, I struggle with the “marketing” associated with these Deluxe Editions – they are expensive and my expectations are high and I feel they should be more comprehensive and have more annotation. The Long: Disc 1 - CAS Remix: Sound is clear and not overdriven (not excessively loud/saturated), however, the posted analysis on loudness-war indicates that it runs a bit hot. To my ear, the most noticeable differences are that the quiet intro/outro instrumental passages and some vocal/spoken word passages are more present (louder?) in the mix. I think the guitar is also more present. 'Tux On' is excluded from all of the audio CDs – it is only available on the Blu-Ray…a disappointment. Discs 2 & 3 – December 19, 1987 concert: This is the last of three nights in Edinburgh, and those dates are listed as the source material for the CAS tracks included on the 1988 release "The Thieving Magpie" (TM). Upon cursory listen, I believe the only performances on TM from this show are ‘White Russian’ and ‘Incommunicado.’ Fish's banter and song introductions are included. This show clocks in at 1h 54m, and is technically incomplete because the final seconds of the last track are cut off. I think this performance stands out from other live releases…maybe because Fish is at home in Scotland? The show is mixed well, the instruments (especially the guitar and drums) are in your face, and Fish gives a strong vocal performance. Disc 4 - CAS Demos: It includes the same 1999 Remaster demos (and in same order), as well as four unreleased CAS demos. Tracks 1 & 8-13 are 1987 pre-CAS demos and tracks 2-7 are 1988 post-CAS sessions at Dalnaglar, therefore, the title of this disc is misleading. There are no liner notes, therefore, we must refer to the 1999 Remaster liner notes (Fish and Mark Kelly) for some history on these demos. The four unreleased demos provide new insight into the development of CAS. The demo of ‘Warm Wet Circles (Rock N Roll Instrumental Version)’ is not included. This was available on the 1999 Remaster but could only be accessed over the internet via the multi-media portion of Disc 2 - that functionality is dead, so that version is effectively lost…unfortunate. Blu-Ray disc: Mick Wall interviews all five band members. They focus primarily on the stress of exhaustive touring and pressure from their record company. They describe the music/lyric writing process, and the development of the album. They discuss a few individual songs but not in much detail. Each members opens up on their personal experiences and the context surrounding the album, and also shed light on their relationships as a band. Wall also conducts one-on-one interviews with each of them. I was interested to hear how each band member had a different view on their struggles during the period of 1986-1988. It is clear how both internal and external forces contributed to the split. This interview is structured differently than the MC Deluxe interview with producer Chris Kimsey, and they do not analyze the album track-by-track. There are several mixes provided, but unfortunately, I don’t have a 5.1 setup, so I can’t comment on the 5.1 mixes available…sorry. Packaging: Same format as the MC Deluxe, 7-5/8 x 5-5/8" (19.4 x 14.2 cm), with a hardbound matte textured cover and 60 page booklet. Mark Wilkinson generated new artwork for this release, including expanded/updated versions of the album and singles cover art (martini glass and Torch/angel). The new artwork is interspersed with original artwork throughout the booklet. There are collages of hand-written lyrics, early artwork, photos and clippings from the time of the album. For completists, some of the artwork from the original single releases is not included. I’d like to see the vinyl edition of this release just to see the larger format…the artwork suffers due to the smaller CD package size. There is a new essay by Mick Wall. There are no other liner notes or essays…which is disappointing because I’d like to read about the development of the new artwork, the history of the demos, and notes about the live show. Additional observations/commentary: Disc 1 – CAS Remix: Completists will notice other missing B-sides (‘Sugar Mice’ and ‘Warm Wet Circles’ single remix/edits/extended) which are only available on “The Singles 82-88” Collection (see Image of 12" Singles for track listing) There are minor mistakes regarding which version of 'Going Under' is included and listed in this release. The ‘Alternate’ version is included in EVERY instance on this release except for the “Original 1987 Album Mix” on the Blu-Ray. Disc 4 – Demos: The demo 'Hotel Hobbies / Warm Wet Circles (The Mosaic Demos)' is 15m30s long and has the basic structure for the CAS opening suite. The demos for ‘Torch Song' (02:00) & 'Slainte Mhath' (4:24) are basically shorter versions of the final. This disc could have been better organized by ignoring the 1999 Remaster track order, and reorder the tracks to reflect the CAS album development (10, 11, 8, 12, 13, 9). Again, there are no liner notes to clarify the singular reference to "Mosaic Demos" and we don’t know how any history of any of the CAS demos. 'Hotel/Warm (Mosaic)' is an interesting demo and has connections to ‘Beaujolais Day’ - eventually those two demos morph into the final version of ‘Hotel>Warm>That Time.’ The ‘Beaujolais’ guitar solo ends up in ‘Warm Wet Circles.’ This demo is much longer than the final, it has more music and additional verses. ‘Hotel/Warm (Mosaic)’ contains a passage at 11:15 in 5/4 time containing the lyric ‘racing the clouds home.’ During the ‘Beaujolais’ outro Fish says to the producer (?), "I've been trying that slow five, you know, ‘racing the clouds home’ " During the Blu-Ray interview Fish also mentions material in “slow five.” This could be a reference to that aforementioned lyrical passage at 11:15 which is indeed played in a (“slow five”) 5/4 time. This lyric eventually appears in 'White Russian'...and the music changes drastically to become ‘That Time of the Night’ (although it stays in 5/4 time). Other lyrics in ‘Hotel/Warm’ will be abandoned, others will morph into ‘That Time of the Night.’ At 12:15 there is a passage in 7/8 time signature which will be abandoned.

Marillion, being a UK band, is not as well known here in the states. They've charted many hits and while "Misplaced Childhood" is one of their most notable and popular albums, "Clutching at Straws" is a true musical classic that should be included with any 80's music collection. If I were to compare, or explain to someone not familiar with Marillion, I'd "If you like Genesis, you'll love Marillion. While all of the songs on this album are amazing, the best has to be "Sugar Mice" - both lyrically and musically.

This version of the last two albums the band's studio work with Fish is simply wonderful. The original disc is very good and the bonus disc features unreleased tracks and interesting. The quality of the artwork completes this good editing. This disc is among the top two of the band throughout its history with or without Fish. The CD shows that Fish left the band at its peak. It's a record that can not miss for those who like the band and progressive rock. Very good, excellent!

Im Juni 1987 veröffentlichte die Band um ihren charismatischen Frontman "Fish" ihr viertes Studio-Album inform eines Konzept-Albums, in dem anhand des fiktiven Charakters "Torch" Probleme und Selbstzweifel mit und ohne Alkohol thematisiert werden. Die Entstehung des Albums wurde von seinem furiosen Vorgänger "Misplaced childhood" und den damit verbundenen Touren geprägt. Keine leichte Ausgangsbasis für Fish & Co wenn mann den massiven kommerziellen Erfolg des Vorgänger-Albums und seiner veröffentlichten Singeln bedenkt. Die neuen Single-Tracks wie "Incommunicado", "Sugar mice" und "Warm wet circles" weisen alle künstlerisch typischen Markenzeichen der Prog-Band auf. Ausufernde Songstrukturen mit komplex dichten Kompositionen gepaart mit genial lyrisch exentrischen Texten, wo Fish der kreative Kopf der Band abermals ein Panoptikum aus Skurrilitäten und Absonderlichkeiten schafft, daß nur so von Magie und Kreativität sprüht. Visionär, kraftvoll und schöpferisch erbaut die Band Klangwelten mit wunderschönen Melodien, Harmonien und Traumlandschaften, die dich nie wieder loslassen. Alle Album-Tracks haben absoluten Suchtfaktor, wo sich die großartigen Fish-Vocals mit ausufernden Wahnsinns-Melodien ein Duell liefern. Nie waren Marillion und Fish besser wie auf dieser Veröffentlichung, die einer künstlerischen Offenbarung gleichkommt, und somit locker seinen kommerziell so erfolgreichen Vorgänger in den Schatten stellt. Das 1999 veröffentlichte digital remasterte 2 CD-Set des Albums enthält neben der Original-Studio-Veröffentlichung von 1987 eine 12 Track-Bonus-CD mit bis heute unveröffentlichten Song-Material, Alternativ-Versionen der Tracks "Incommunicado", "Going under", "White russians", "Sugar mice", die Single-B-Seite "Tux on" und ein exklusives Booklet. Interessant ist das unveröffentlichte Material, sieben neue Tracks der Band im unbearbeitenden Rohzustand, die nie fertiggestellt wurden. Unter Fankreisen werden diese "Lost Demos" als "Missing link" gehandelt, sprich das nie fertiggestellte fünfte Studio-Album der Prog-Band. Lange Zeit waren diese geheimnisumwitterten Aufnahmen vom "Tone Deaf-Studio" von 1988 verschollen, bis Mark Kell sie 1999, zwölf Jahre später in Form der letzten vorhandenen Demo-Kassette ausgrub. Die nie fertiggestellten rohen Demo-Tracks "Beaujolais day", "Story from a thin wall", "Shadows on the barley", Sunset hill" und "Tic-tac-toe" und die später im schottischen Hochland von Dalnaglar geschriebenen "Voice in the crowd" und "Exile on princes street" hinterlassen beim Anhören einen sehr zwiespältigen Eindruck. Alle magischen Markenzeichen der Band, die sie über den letzten 7 Jahren mit 4 genialen Studio-Alben auszeichnete, sind hier nicht erkennbar, das vorgelegte rohe Song-Material banaler Durchschnitt. Nicht verwunderlich, dass anno 1988 die Luft draussen war, und mit "Fish" der kreative Kopf die Band verliess, die 1989 unter Einfluss ihres neuen Sängers Steve Hogarth konsequenterweise ihren Musikstil änderte, und die alte Magie aus Fish-Zeiten nie mehr erreichen sollte. 2018 veröffentlichte Warner eine digital remasterte Deluxe-Edition in Form einer 4 CD+1 Blu-Ray-Box, die neben dem neu remasterten Original-Album (CD1) drei 5.1. Surround+Stereo-Remixe (Blu-Ray) enthalten, die jedoch akustisch gegenüber der Vorgänger-Box Misplaced childhood merklich abfallen. Das Paket wird weiters durch ein bisher unveröffentlichtes Konzert vom 19.12.1987 in Edinburgh, Schottland (CD2+3) ergänzt. CD4 enthält die bereits angesprochenen remasterten Lost-Demos der Band exklusiv für diese Edition ergänzt durch die bis dato unveröffentlichten "Hotel hobbies/Warm wet circles", "Just for the record", "Torch song" und "Slainte mhath"-Demos. Die Blu-Ray-Disk ermöglicht ein Wiedersehen mit den Original-Band-Mitglieder in der 60 minütigen Album-Dokumentation The final straw leider ohne deutsche Untertitel. Die 3 Promo-Videos "Incommunicado"+"Sugar mice"+"Warm wet circles" mit den remasterten Bonus-Tracks "Incommunicado"(Alternative version)+"Tux on"+"Going under" vervollständigen das Zusatzmaterial der Disk. Das gesamte Set wird in Form eines gebundenen Buches ausgegeben, dass einen 60-seitigen, bebilderten Text mit Liner-Notes und vielen Bandfotos enthält um Marillions zeitloses Prog-Rock-Meisterwerk so mit dieser genialen Veröffentlichung nocheinmal zu würdigen, das einen Ehrenplatz in jeder gepflegten Rocksammlung einnehmen sollte.

Comprehensive overall package of a great album, however, was a bit dissapointed about the "high devinition" sound only slightly above cd quality...48/24bit is not quite what I expected for a substantial price asked for. Would certainly have liked to see at least 96/24bit resolution for this outstanding record.

one of the best period with Fish singner

Pour moi, il n'y a qu'un seul Marillion : Celui avec Fish. Avec un son de super qualité, on peut apprécier avec une oreille nouvelle l'album d'origine, qui était d'un excellent niveau, même si à postériori, il est possible d'entrevoir les futurs changements à venir. On a droit à un single intéressant, des démos, et bien sûr un superbe document live. Magnifique document sonore, et beau produit d'un point de vue présentation.

Recibí lo que pedí, antes de la fecha estipulada, bien para empaquetado y en excelente estado. Muchas gracias al vendedor