Marillion

Marillion is a British neo-progressive rock band, originally from Aylesbury, England. A spearhead of the progressive rock revival, it was formed in 1979 under the name Silmarillion — a name borrowed from a novel by J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings. The name was soon shortened to Marillion, as the band gradually moved away from any "folkloric" references (to Tolkien's imagery, to the symphonic rock of 1970s progressive rock) to develop an identity of its own, characterised by more rhythmic, guitar-driven music, intricate lyrics, and the voice and stage presence of singer Fish, then his successor Steve Hogarth, thereby creating the style known as "neo-progressive rock" alongside other British bands such as Pallas, Pendragon, IQ, and Twelfth Night.

Sometimes hastily labelled a "Genesis clone" by the press in its early days, the band's melodic sensibility and the structural complexity of songs often exceeding 8 to 10 minutes, combined with the charisma of singer Fish and his theatrical performances, won over audiences. Marillion's success, initially confined mainly to the UK, then to Northern Europe, spread across the continent in 1985 with the album Misplaced Childhood, a concept album with autobiographical overtones. This first period culminated in 1987 with the very rock-oriented and disillusioned Clutching at Straws, which ended with Fish's departure due to personal and management-related conflicts. From 1989, with the arrival of Steve Hogarth on vocals, a second period saw the band develop a sometimes more pop-rock sound (Holidays in Eden, 1991), sometimes darker (Brave, 1994). The third period began in 1997, as the band parted ways with its manager and EMI to become self-produced and pioneer an original crowdfunding model, with fans now pre-financing the band's albums and tours. This was a commercially mixed period, but a musically rich one, despite sometimes unfinished and misunderstood work (Radiat10n, marillion.com), later eclipsed by landmark albums such as the concept album Marbles, released in 2004, Sounds That Can't Be Made in 2012, F.E.A.R in 2016, and An Hour Before It's Dark in 2022. With its recent albums, Marillion has thus enjoyed a return to favour with a wider audience, allowing it, after years in the underground, to reconnect with mainstream success and large-capacity venues.

With over 40 years of career and estimated sales today of more than 15 million albums, Marillion is a fully independent band that, through the Internet, has managed to free itself from reliance on mainstream media and record labels or distributors to write and release its music with complete creative freedom.