Fugazi
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 weakest 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 cityscape 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 is 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.
The city out of the window is apparently England's Lincoln.
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!
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