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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Only review I have ever written......, March 30, 1999
By A Customer
This is how strongly I feel that this disc is an essential piece of not just a marillion collection, bu a music collection. I do not like the last song on this disc (Margaret-Live), but Grendel is such a masterpiece, that it is irrelevant. For you Genesis fans out there, this song rivals the In the Cage medley from three sides live. If you like old Genesis (and new for that matter), ELP, Yes, Asia..... You know where I'm going with this..... You will love most of this disc. Grendel ***** Cinderella Search ***** Three boats down by the Candy ***** Lady Nina ***** Market Square Heroes & Tux On **** I don't listen to the rest of the disc, to be honest.
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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Do NOT buy this utterly horrendous disc!, January 29, 2005
Whoever compiled this disc should be imprisoned for crimes against music! When it was released I was elated that I could finally have my favorite Marillion track, "Cinderella Search," on CD. Imagine my horror when I discovered that it was some chopped-down version that FADES OUT just as the crescendo begins. Yeah, THAT'S brilliant! Who wants a passage of climbing intensity that leads into a satisfying slam-bang of an ending when you can just fade out? I actually jumped up out of my chair and headed for the stereo, thinking there was something wrong with it! (No kidding!) Then the horrors continued: I listened to the rest of the disc (I had skipped right to "Cinderella Search," as I wanted to hear it right off the bat), and discovered that "Lady Nina" was also missing its slam-bang finish, as well as "Market Square Heroes," which had the extra indignity of missing its final verse. It's the most frustrating thing to have to sit through. If I wanted these songs to fade out I could turn down the volume knob myself! And it's amazing with some of them: if they had just let the songs play for another 10 seconds, the ending would have come. The fade-outs don't exactly save us any time. If you want the good versions get the double-disc reissues of the albums, or, better yet, the box of singles.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good, Representative Taste of D Dick!, November 9, 2008
It speaks volumes that a compilation of early Fish-era Marillion b-sides, can be deemed a definitive, original work, well beyond it's tawdry intentions as a cash-in.
Here they are folks, the bits and bobs ya might have missed! Just keep that filthy lucre rolling in kids!
You get the idea.
To be interested in (the hour long!) 'B-Sides Themselves' (guffaw!) you need to realise just how good this group were in their first bloom of creativity.
The first four albums are superb wherever you bite your rock; and there is stuff on here at least as good, and in many instances, better.
Of course in the plastic, un-romantic world of disc and digital, a collection like this is redundant and essential at the same time. The b-side, to all extents and purposes, is a concept that doesn't really exist anymore; and isn't it Marillion-typical, that stuff that's meant as throwaway, keeps on being nigh-on indispensable 20-odd years on?
It's mind-boggling that sterling songs like 'Lady Nina' and 'Three Boats Down From The Candy' were cobbled together and pushed out into the pop world as filler.
Magnificent, lyrical masterpieces like 'Charting the Single' and
'Cinderella Search' just hidden away in the shadows. That the 17 minute prog symphony of evil: 'Grendel' originally appeared as a 'bonus' song is quite ridiculous.
The Fish ego must be gigantic.
If wasn't for 'B-Sides Themselves' I wouldn't mind betting there'd be fervent Marillion supporters who would scarcely be aware of their existence.
It doesn't need me to say it (so OF COURSE I'm going to!), the quality of Marillion's b-sides wipe the floor with most groups serious and genuine output.
The live/ jam thingy 'Margaret' is the only let-down. Although man-god Fish is on fiery form as drunken audience/choir ringleader, the whole thing reeks of condescension. One 'extra' that should've stayed buried in the studio vaults.
That aside, 'B-Sides Themselves' should be treated as a major work in all quarters. Certainly on a par with 'Script for a Jesters Tear' or 'Fugazi', and only slightly below Marillion's signature classic 'Misplaced Childhood' in the grand order of Fish pla(i)cings (sorry).
If only the record company had the class and grace to give this away free...
4½ stars
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