Introduction: Fugazi was the second Marillion studio album. It features the first appearance of Ian Mosley on drums after a round of Spinal-Tap-esque drummer incidents (partly documented in the song Assassing).
The recording of the album was characterised by considerable difficulties, not least of which was producer Nick Tauber having a nervous breakdown and obsessing over minor details to the detriment of the whole.
Among fans it is considered by many to be the least satisfying of the Fish-era albums and much of the blame for this must lie at the feet of the rather flat production. Fish has also commented that he sounds like he's swallowed a thesaurus on Fugazi. Despite this, it contains his favourite Marillion song, Incubus.
Cover Notes: The cover for Fugazi was again painted by Mark Wilkinson. Wilkinson says that the cover took him longer than any of the others and that he feels it is overworked and unsatisfactory. It features many of the elements from the Script album and some others that would appear on later releases. The pictures on the wall, and the ruined building out of the window - Byland Abbey, near York (thanks to Andy McIntosh for that bit of info) - were done by Julie Hazelwood, Wilkinson's wife.
The records on the floor are Pink Floyd's The Wall, Peter Hammill's Over and Fool's Mate and the band's pre-album single Punch and Judy. The papers on the bed are Billboard and Music Week; corporate publications more concerned with chart positions and the machinations of the music industry rather than the sweat and passion (which is not to ignore their myriad faults) of magazines such as Kerrang! and Sounds.
There is the chameleon from Script on the skull hidden under the throw of the sofa with a new friend, the lone magpie ('one for sorrow...') with a stolen wedding ring clutched in its jet beak. Punch is on top of the television, masquerading as a Jack-in-the-Box. His splintered heart spills blood down his tunic. On the floor, a jigsaw of the Script jester is missing a piece; its heart. A skimpy dress lies discarded over the side of a plush armchair. It looks for all the world like the discarded skin of a chameleon. A single stiletto is caught in the bedclothes at the foot of the bed. From the television, bathed in an acid nightmare crawls the claw of the incubus. The video beneath has the number 1984, the release date of the album on its display.
On the bed, sheathed within the halo of distortion lies the jester. His clothes are discarded at his side; one half leg of hose tells us how jaded and empty the jester is. His eyes are half-lidded and we are not sure if he sees us or if he is so out of it that he sees nothing. In one hand, he holds a poppy, the opium flower. From his other limp hand the red wine spills onto the floor. Next to it is a picture of a clown. Possibly it is Joey Grimaldi, who once went to his doctor to complain about depression. The doctor advised he go to see Grimaldi the Clown...
Finally, if you thought the perspective was strange on Script, open out Fugazi!
Songs with a link have explanations.
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