Here at Real Gone, we’ve been big fans of Marillion for longer than we’d care to remember. Unlike some fans, though, we accept that not everything the band has recorded resembles pure gold. Last year, we shared our “ten best” with you – an article that generated a lot of discussion. In the interest of balance and in the wake of the 2019 UK fan weekend, here are ten Marillion songs we think should have been consigned to the dustbin of history…
Following Fall founder Mark E. Smith’s death in 2018, Cherry Red Records expanded and reissued the ‘50,000 Fall Fans…’ compilation, adding nineteen bonus tracks to bring it up to date, making it the most comprehensive Fall compilation ever. It was an ideal starting point for new listeners. News that there would be other Fall reissues in the future was met with keenness. The first of that reissue campaign – now dubbed “The Fall Sound” – goes right back to the beginning with expanded editions of 1978’s ‘Live At The Witch Trials’ and 1979’s ‘Dragnet’.
Combining the talents of singer-songwriter Stephen Smith and Bellyachers guitarist Brian Mello, The Morning Line are a jangling power pop/melodic alt-rock band heavily indebted to 90s sounds. They claim to appeal to fans of Ted Leo, Teenage Fanclub and a whole bunch of stuff in between and just one listen to their 2019 album ‘North’ is all it takes to realise that not only do they recycle a lot of influences with love, but every so often, they’re more than capable of hitting the listener with a very catchy chorus.
Kurokuma’s second release, 2018’s ‘Dope Rider’ EP presented the perfect mix of heavy riffs and branded artwork in a small but intensive package that was pretty much guaranteed to thrill fans of extreme metal and comic books. A release that really cemented the band’s wondrously sludgy sound, it would be a certainly hard act to follow.
2019’s ‘Sheffield’s Best Metal Bands, Vol. 1’ (a title referring to its being the first in a series from Off Me Nut Records as opposed to any psychosis within Kurokuma itself) brings fans another full compliment of obtrusive and sludgy riffs stretched across three lengthy tracks…and it’s a release that dishes out more extreme heaviness per inch than most listeners will handle.
Formed in the mid 90s as a punk outfit, The Peawees quickly established themselves as a band to look out for on the European scene. Over the next few years, they became musically stronger and eventually injected their sound with some good old rock ‘n’ roll attitude. A firm fan favourite, their third album ‘Dead End City’ was issued on Stardumb Records in 2001. The first pressing sold out in record time; a second pressing sold out very quickly and a vinyl reissue on Stardumb featuring bonus tracks was snapped up by eager fans, always keen for a Peawees fix. Although considered one of the band’s very best albums and a European punk classic, it took until 2019 for the album to gain a CD reissue and a US release…