Market Square Heroes - Intro

Introduction: Market Square Heroes was the first official release by Marillion. With the monster-length¹ Grendel on its b-side, the 12" was certainly an EP rather than a normal 12" single. The single suffers from a rather murky production; Market Square Heroes sounds muddy and dated. Steve Rothery's guitar is buried in the mix rather than cutting as it would become on the remix on the Punch and Judy B-side. 3 Boats and Grendel also have sub-par productions which mar the whole effect but nonetheless, the single served as a harbinger of what was to follow.

In many respects, the single is the source of the tiresome 'Marillion = Genesis clones' argument. Even the song Script for a Jester's Tear, which is somewhat whimsical and uses imagery in the perceived classic prog style, is a million miles from the sound of the EP. The most serious folly is in Grendel. Part of the Lurker at the Threshold section sounds uncomfortably close to Apocalypse in 9/8 from Genesis' Supper's Ready and early passages are reminiscent of the same band's White Mountain, from Trespass. In retrospect, the band probably regretted this. Mark Kelly said they later deliberately kept away from some areas of their natural style for fear of reviving the old criticisms.

Lyrically, Grendel is closest to Genesis territory; a narrative tale with a modern moral, stylistically similar to something like Can-Utility and the Coastliners from Foxtrot. The song hasn't been played by Marillion since 1983 and never by the post-Pointer Fish-era line up.². Market Square Heroes might be said to be similar to Genesis' The Knife (from Trespass); a cautionary tale about the true nature of revolutionaries. However, MSH is routed firmly in the culture of asset stripping and unemployment that the Conservative government employed throughout the late nineteen seventies and eighties, The Knife less obviously rooted in its contemporary politics. Three Boats Down from the Candy, by contrast is very much a contemporary (a)morality piece and is vastly different from the style of Genesis.

Marillion always claimed their influences were wider than Genesis; something that became more apparent on later releases. The reader will have to forgive me for not discussing every ELP/ Yes/ Van de Graff Generator/ other prog band influence (which is not to mention bands like The Who, Kinks, Beatles & Hendrix etc. which the band also admired) that might be present; I am not sufficiently familiar with more dribbly end of the prog spectrum to comment. It is certainly true to say that the EP is very much a stepping stone from their influences to their own identity. Script is much more the sound of a band getting to grips with and coming to terms with their own sound, Fugazi much more so and Misplaced Childhood completed the transition.

Note: Some of the analysis of the MSH E.P. is by someone called Torch, a member of the Freaks Mailing List³ in its early days. His analysis was offered to me by Jereon Schipper of The Web Online⁴,  who felt it worthy of archiving. I have never found out his real name and he probably has no idea his words are up here, but if he does, please contact me!

Cover notes: The cover for Market Square Heroes was by Mark Wilkinson, who has since painted covers for Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and The Darkness, and also worked on the Judge Dredd Megazine. The Jester's tortured face was based on a Polaroid of Wilkinson's own face, which extended the lips into that vicious, tortured grimace⁵.

Behind a benevolent-looking mask, the jester's internal feelings are revealed; a clear metaphor for the revolutionary of the title song.

Additionally, the cover of Fairport Convention's 1976 album Gottle O'Geer album is more than a little similar. Wilkinson freely admits this cover was a major inspiration for the Marillion jesters.

1.  Ha ha! I am funny! ↩
2.  Fish did resurrect the epic for some shows in 2012, and Steve Rothery's solo band also performed the piece in 2015. ↩
3.  The original email mailing list for Marillion fans, long since defunct. ↩
4.  The Web Online was the first online source of Marillion information, and originally held the www.marillion.com URL. ↩
5.  A copy of the Polaroid appears in the collage in the booklet/liner for the remastered Real to Reel/ Brief Encounter. ↩

Songs with a link have explanations.

• Introduction 
• Market Square Heroes
• Three Boats Down From The Candy
• Grendel

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