Customer Reviews

Clutching at Straws (Spec)

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Marillion is one of rock's great undiscovered treasures, and it would almost be a shame for that to change at this point. Though they've been in existence for nearly 30 years and released well over a dozen studio albums, they've never approached a real commercial breakthrough in the States. Yet their shows here sell out, their appearances here are events, and their American fanbase is as tightly bound as any collection of Deadheads, a devout and diverse brethren who revel in their select citizenship on one of prog rock's little-known islands.

For the uninitiated, "Clutching At Straws" is an historically relevant and musically accessible place to dive into the pool and test the water. Released in 1987, this was Marillion's 4th album, and their last with the original singer, Fish. By '89 Steve Hogarth was manning the mike. Hogarth has gone on to lead the band far longer than his predecessor, yet there is a contingent of fans who cling to the "real" Marillion; Fish's Marillion. While I don't take it this far, I find this brand of devotion easy to understand whenever I revisit this album.

Like most of Marillion's work, "Clutching At Straws" is conceptual. Expanding the theme of growing up too fast that was at the core of 1985's "Misplaced Childhood," "Straws" examines the trappings of adulthood, responsibility, and the temptation to drown one's sorrows. The sleeve-art depictions of multiple artists who died young (including John Lennon, Dylan Thomas, and Lenny Bruce) would suggest that "Straws" is about the excesses of success, but a close listen to Fish's lyrics reveals an everyman story; the guy 'in his cups' at the end of the bar could be a millionaire, or he could be an out-of-work joe; alcoholism isn't picky.

From a musical standpoint, Marillion is definitely prog; complex and interweaving. Don't let that scare you away. This isn't musical showing off or shapeless wandering. What has always set Marillion apart in the prog universe is their adherence to song form and their ability to write beautiful music; some of it sad, some of it haunting, some of it heavy, all of it easy to love. Try this album, then try 1994's "Brave" as an introduction to the Hogarth era. That way, you will have heard (in my opinion) the best of both worlds, and you can decide for yourself if you want to take sides. Myself, I like the whole island.

Notes on the remaster: This is definitey worth the price. The bonus disc contains the seeds of material that would later end up on "Season's End" or in Fish's solo work. Plus it contains a different version of "Going Under" and also "Tux On," a very cool track originally available only as a B-side.

Clutching at Straws is simply the best album ever released. So why not buy it again, remastered and with a bonus disc featuring very rare tracks. The seven previously unreleased on the second disc could have been the fifth masterpiece, but these songs were recently found on a twelve year old tape and now released on the bonus disc of Clutching at Straws, "like a wedding ring, lost in a kitchen sink or thrown in a wishing well". Listen to songs like Sunset Hill, Shadows on the Barley and you know where the inspiration comes from on the late Marillion and Fish albums. "If I had enough money, I'd buy a round for that boy over there, a companion in my madness in the mirror, the one with the silvery hair and if some kind soul could please pick up my broken heart". So buy it now and play it loud when you are alone. "I heard Sinatra calling me through the floorboards where you pay a quarter for a partnership in rhyme".

Almost 20 years ago since this classic appeared in 1987. The first thing I heard from it was the single "Incommunicado" which I really enjoyed. The album appeared a few weeks later and at the time I really didn't understand a lot of the background about the album, I was however struck by the emotion of the lyrics and Fish's singing was as good as I had ever heard it. There were a number of very emotionally moving songs so beautifully sung by Fish and played by the band (Steve Rothery - Guitar, Mark Kelly - Keyboards, Ian Mosley - Drums and Pete Trewavas - Bass (who would also join up with Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Neal Morse (Spock's Beard) and Roine Stolt (Flower Kings) to form a superb "sideline" band called "Transatlantic" in 2001)).

The songs were written in a number of places all around the world (one presumes whilst Fish was with the band on tour) and it feels like Fish was telling a story from place to place about life on the road (eg alcohol and attempts to deal with it and the impact on life - in real time - check out "Just for the record" for starters). I think (when I'm in the "sit down and listen" mood) this is my favourite Marillion album, because it has a feel that is brutally honest, from the heart and sung with passion and 110% emotion (eg check out the opening suite of songs that merge so beautifully together - "Hotel Hobbies" / "Warm Wet Circles" / "That time of the night"), it really moves me like few other albums have (the closest might be Genesis - "Duke" in songs like "Duchess" and "Please don't ask"). Individually the songs are superb ("Sugar Mice" is just stunning), great hooks and melody and when played from start to finish they are just something else, like a book that is so good you just can't put it down.

In summary it's hard to single out any one song, they are all so good and the flow from one to another makes this a very very special album. This was to be Fish's last album with Marillion, he returned as a solo artist in 1990 with the excellent "Virgil in a Wilderness of mirrors".

I find this album to be a truly rewarding listening experience, it has so much emotion. I really enjoy it and hope you do as well.

This is the best of Marillion i've ever heard!!! This bonus CD is just like Fish said during a concert in Holland. It's Brilliant... I can't tell you what this record means to me. It's a sort of homecoming. PLAY IT LOUD!

Clutching at Straws remaster & bonus Listen to it and you know what i'm meaning.

Marillion have always been unique in the field of the good ol' Music Everyone Loves To Hate, i.e. progressive rock. While initially derivative of the genre's 1970s canons -- and this was arguably part of their appeal (*Gimme that old sound again!*) -- they gradually evolved and mutated to tighter song forms, propelled more and more by Steve Rotheray's guitar rather than Mark Kelly's keyboards, Fish's lyrics always firmly grounded in reality, avoiding the genre's (usually) characteristic gobbledygook and psychobabble while remaining literate and complex. "Clutching At Straws" is where this process reaches its climax, with outstanding musicianship and song lyrics by all parties involved. This is possibly one of the darkest albums ever written and played, dealing with the usual trappings of stardom: life on the road, excesses, ultimate loneliness and alienation in the middle of a crowd. Fish's take on the subject, though, is original and full of real-life scenes one can actually visualize and feel a connection with. (The warm wet circles, the woman staring at a brochure. Or try finding an image like "Uzis on a street corner" in a Yes record.) "Clutching At Straws" is probably the best Fish-era Marillion record because of its down-to-earthness. Also, not a single guitar solo or drum roll is gratuitous; Rotheray and the band never play to show off, every note is essential to the songs.
The second record, with the "missing tapes" from the last months of Fish's tenure in the band, is very interesting even though the songs it contains are basically "sketches", not even demos, just reminders for the basic structure of ideas for a new album. There's an exception and it's "Story From A Thin Wall", which is the music from "Berlin" pretty much all mapped out with the lyrics from "Family Business" pretty much all mapped out. The rest of these sketches, in various parts and pieces, were recycled for Marillion's first album with Steve Hogarth and Fish's first solo. They're brilliant historical documents as they shed light on the different combination of talents: Rotheray, Kelly, Trewavas and Mosley, then Fish, and then -- in retrospect -- Steve Hogarth, who has since proven to be an intelligent and worthy replacement by virtue of bringing his own take on the music while never trying to ape his predecessor. It doesn't happen often in music. Makes me curious what might have happened if Marillion, as Mark Kelly says in the liner notes, had taken some time off to recharge the creative batteries thus avoiding the inevitable split. It's one of those pointless exercises that make listening to music more fun.

I cannot say enough about how much I love Marillion's Clutching at Straws. If i was ever stranded on a desert island, i would be perfectly happy if this was the only record I'd be stuck with for the rest of my life.

The songs are crafted brilliantly, Fish's lyrics about alchoholism are backed by the bands tightly polished musicianship. This album is 100% class and was the catalyst to Marillion finally shedding that dreaded "Progressive" stigma.

You can read other's reviews for in depth analysis of the songs themselves - but for me - as a whole - this CD is probably one of my favorite pieces of music.

A fabulous tapestry of poetry and music. "Clutching At Straws" is the only album where, from hearing only the first 10 seconds of the first track, I knew it would be a masterpiece. And it was, and is. My recommendation for best effect: pair it with "Misplaced Childhood".

In my opinion, this is the best Fish era album, even better than "Misplaced Childhood" -which is also very good-. The music is excellent, and the lyrics are pure poetry. This are one of the most personal, direct, honest, beautiful and intelligent words the music industry ever seen. The song Sugar Mice is a piece of art. If you are tired of all that silly music that fills the shops, give this an oportunity.

This is the greatest re-release ever by any band. Listen to the lost tapes on the bonus disc and you know why! Seven previously unreleased tracks. Highlights are Beaujolais Day, Voice In The Crowd and one of Marillion greatest tracks ever, Exile on Princess Street. The original album is worth buying it again and the demo of White Russians is very good too. There is an alternative version of Incommunicado and a demo of Sugar Mice, but I can't stop playing these seven lost tracks on disc two!!! These songs with titles like Shadows On The Barley, Sunset Hill and Story From A Thin Wall were found on a 12 year old cassette in a biscuit tin, but they still sound great today! Thank you Marillion for releasing this. Thank you!!! Go out and buy this great album!!!

This album is the closing chapter of Fish with Marillion. The Jester has said all that was need to be said. He will always be ath "the end of the bar" waiting for us, humans, to visit him and tell him "with our made up faces and our PR smiles" that the world has changes a bit, to something better with no more "frozen faces in nameless ranks". The Jester will nodd, raise his glass say "Slante mhath, we're still drowning, cluthing at straws..." Although the lyrics are some of the most pessimistic ever written, eventually the listener comes out after the end of the album, rather releived that all these things he wanted to let out, finally, through Fish's lyrics and the bands great performance, are expressed! I believe that this album is all about life, as the quote by Erasmus says on the back of the front cover. And it is said loud and clear.