(Review from progarchives.com)

After the somewhat unexpectedly big commercial success and critical acclaim obtained by the “Script for a Jester’s Tear” album, Marillion had to cope with the pressures of coming up with something, at least, as fresh and impressive for both fans and music press.

The band fired Mick Pointer, the drummer on the first few singles and their debut album ‘Script For A Jester’s Tear’, and went through a few rather unsuitable, possibly even unstable, replacements, most famously Camel’s Andy Ward. They eventually settled on Ian Mosley, something of a veteran in progressive circles having played with Pye Hastings, Steve Hackett and Darryl Way’s Wolf. The troubles didn’t end there, however, with the album’s production being something of a nightmare- rumour has it the band went through some ten (!) different studios during the album’s recording process. The band named their second album, “Fugazi”, referring to a slang term from the Vietnam War.

With new drummer Ian Mosley in the fold, Marillion’s rhythm section gained precision, swing and strength, a factor that notably allowed Trewavas move more freely in his bass playing role. Meanwhile, Rothery’s solos and riffs tend to be very aggressive in many places and Kelly’s labour complements their partners’ inputs properly with the use of absorbent multi-layers, dense orchestrations (which at times sound a bit “gothic”), and some powerful solos occasionally alternated with those by Rothery. Many of Mark Kelly’s parts are really delicate, particularly some of his flute-like solos, string layers, and piano arpeggios – his softer side is the link between the massive prog revival of “Script” and the harsher new attitude incarnated in “Fugazi”. Fish delivers his lyrical labyrinths with the usual sense of drama, but accordingly, his way of spitting out his singing has also acquired a harder edge. The highlights of this harder album include fan favorites “Assassing”, “Incubus” and the title track “Fugazi”.

The album’s opening salvo ‘Assassing’ emerged after no less a person than Peter Hammill gave Fish a tape of Arabian music that inspired the melody of the track, and it’s an astoundingly confident track with aggressive, almost heavy metal-like guitar work from Steve Rothery, swirling keyboard lines from Mark Kelly and Fish barking out the vocals with real aplomb.

‘Incubus’ is an astonishing track that is one of the best things the band ever recorded. The closest comparison here is not Genesis but arguably Van Der Graaf Generator, as seen in Fish’s barbed, acidic vocals and the aggressive lyrical content with Fish playing the part of a jilted lover with a lasting grudge on his former lover. Mark Kelly’s weaving keys and the muscular percussion of Ian Mosley are as integral to this track’s success.

The title track builds and weaves towards the marching beat finale, with echoes of Genesis “Knife” much in evidence. Fish is at his menacing best here, as he delivers the spiteful lyrics, “this world is totally Fugazi”.

The Fugazi album may not be the strongest point of Marillion, but there is a very respectable amount of classic material contained in its 46 minutes. What may be more important than Fugazi actually being a classic album is that the band challenged itself with new ideas and techniques that would certainly come into play later on their career. Though Marillion were still inexperienced in these new techniques and explorations, they would hone their skills and create some of the best music ever to be found in the neo progressive genre.

This edition of Fugazi features a bonus CD full of oddities and demos.

Line-up:
- Fish / vocals
- Mark Kelly / keyboards
- Ian Mosley / drums
- Steve Rothery / guitars
- Pete Trewavas / basses

Track List:
CD1
01. Assassing – 7:02
02. Punch & Judy – 3:21
03. Jigsaw – 6:49
04. Emerald Lies – 5:08
05. She Chameleon – 6:52
06. Incubus – 8:30
07. Fugazi – 8:12
CD2
01. Cinderella Search (12” Version) – 5:31
02. Assassing (Alternate Mix) – 7:40
03. Three Boats Down From The Candy – 4:00
04. Punch & Judy (Demo) – 3:50
05. She Chameleon (Demo) – 6:34
06. Emerald Lies (Demo) – 5:32
07. Incubus (Demo) – 8:09

Links in comments.