Hot Wax: Marillion / Genesis
It’s time to take a look at some of the new vinyl reissues coming out tomorrow, and boy howdy, do we have a stellar pair for you this week…
Marillion, CLUTCHING AT STRAWS: Originally released in June 1987, this concept album – yes, we know: what a shock that Marillion released a concept album, you’re hilarious, now shut your mouth and move it along – isn’t exactly the most upbeat tale, given that it’s about an unemployed alcoholic who’s failed at marriage, failed at fatherhood, and failed to find success as a singer. (Have we sold you on it yet?) Depressing though it may have been, critics raved about the LP, and it’s still considered by Rolling Stone to be one of the 50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time, so the fact that it now sounds better than ever is a good reason to pick up a copy, wouldn’t you say?
Side one:
1. Hotel Hobbies
2. Warm Wet Circles
3. That Time of the Night (The Short Straw)
Side two:
1. Going Under (Alternate Version)
2. Just for the Record
3. White Russian
Side three:
1. Incommunicado
2. Torch Song
3. Slàinte Mhath
Side four:
1. Sugar Mice
2. The Last Straw/ Happy Ending
Genesis, SECONDS OUT: Originally released in 1977, this was Genesis’s second live album, one which features recordings from four shows performed by the band at the Palais des Sports in Paris on the WIND & WUTHERING tour, plus a handful of songs from a 1976 show at the Pavillon de Paris on the A TRICK OF THE TAIL tour. If Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters has declared it to be “one of my drum bibles” and “one of my favorite-sounding drum records, too,” then it ought to be good enough for you, too.
Side A
1. Squonk
2. The Carpet Crawl
3. Robbery, Assault and Battery
4. Afterglow
Side B
1. Firth of Fifth
2. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
3. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
4. The Musical Box (Closing Section)
Side C
1. Supper's Ready
Side D
1. The Cinema Show (Pavillon de Paris – 23 June 1976)
2. Dance on a Volcano
3. Los Endos
4. Packshot
