Marillion: Fugazi (deluxe edition) [PARLOPHONE]

Why you'll love it

This deluxe edition presents the 2021 remix of the album in a gatefold jacket, pressed in Germany. Fugazi reached No. 5 in the UK and went gold, with "Assassing" and "Punch and Judy" both top 30 singles.

This edition

• 2021 remix
• Remastered
• Gatefold jacket
• Pressed in Germany
• Stereo mix

About the album

The title is old military slang, and the sessions came close to living up to it. With EMI pressing for a follow-up to Script for a Jester's Tear and the drum stool changing hands several times, producer Nick Tauber moved Marillion between studios from November 1983 to February 1984, and the band started touring with new drummer Ian Mosley before the album was even finished.

Mosley's arrival steadied the ship, and AllMusic notes how the record streamlines their prog leanings into a more straight-ahead hard rock identity. Fish's vivid, oblique wordplay rides over Steve Rothery's chiming guitar, Mark Kelly's keyboards and Pete Trewavas's bass. "Assassing" opens with exotic percussion and real menace, "Punch and Judy" is a sharp, biting little pop song, and "Incubus" and the closing title track are long, dramatic epics built on slow-burning tension and big bursts of energy; Ultimate Classic Rock notes that "Assassing," "Jigsaw," "Incubus" and "Fugazi" became concert staples for years.

Mark Wilkinson's detailed cover painting later placed 29th in Gigwise's countdown of the greatest album artwork. All told they used ten different studios to make it, which is roughly how many places we've tried filing our prog section.

Also at Kops: more Marillion on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Parlophone, a reissue of the 1984 album.