Editing Marillion (section)

==In the media==
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| quote = "We have got a bit of a reputation. I had a conversation with [[Noel Gallagher]] at a party once and said to him, 'I'm in a band but it's the most uncool band in the world - Marillion'. He went, 'Yeah, you're right.' Deadpan! Not even smiling."
| source = —Keyboardist Mark Kelly<ref name="Dalt2007"/>
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The chief music critic of ''[[The Guardian]]'', [[Alexis Petridis]], has described Marillion as "perennially unfashionable prog-rockers".<ref name="petridis"/> On the subject of joining the band in 1989, Steve Hogarth said in a 2001 interview: "At about the same time, [[Matt Johnson (singer)|Matt Johnson]] of [[The The]] asked me to play piano on his tour. I always say I had to make a choice between the most [[Hip (slang)|hip]] band in the world, and the least." In the same conversation, he said: "We're just tired of the opinions of people who haven't heard anything we've done in ten years. A lot of what's spread about this band is laughable."<ref name="Ling2001">Dave Ling (May 2001) [https://web.archive.org/web/20050212062103/http://www.daveling.co.uk/docmarillion.htm] ''Classic Rock Magazine''</ref>

Much of the band's enduring and unfashionable reputation stems from their emergence in the early 1980s as the most commercially successful band of the [[neo-prog]] movement, an unexpected revival of the [[progressive rock]] musical style that had fallen out of critical favour in the mid-1970s. Some early critics were quick to dismiss the band as clones of [[Peter Gabriel]]-era [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] due to musical similarities, such as their extended songs, a prominent and [[Mellotron]]-influenced keyboard sound, vivid and fantastical lyrics and the equally vivid and fantastical artwork by [[Mark Wilkinson]] used for the sleeves of their albums and singles.  Lead singer Fish was also often compared with Gabriel due to his early vocal style and theatrical stage performances, which in the early years included wearing face paint.

As Jon Wilde summarised in ''[[Melody Maker]]'' in 1989: <blockquote>At the end of a strange year for pop music, Marillion appeared in November 1982 with "[[Market Square Heroes]]". There were many strange things about 1982, but Marillion were the strangest of them all. For six years, they stood out of time. Marillion were the unhippest group going.  As [[punk rock|punk]] was becoming a distant echo, they appeared with a sound and an attitude that gazed back longingly to the age of Seventies pomp.  When compared to [[Yes (band)|Yes]], [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] and [[Emerson, Lake & Palmer|ELP]], they would take it as a compliment. The Eighties have seen some odd phenomena. But none quite as odd as Marillion. Along the way, as if by glorious fluke, they turned out some singles that everybody quietly liked – "[[Garden Party (Marillion song)|Garden Party]]", "[[Punch and Judy (song)|Punch and Judy]]" and "[[Incommunicado (song)|Incommunicado]]". By this time, Marillion did not need the support of the hip-conscious. They were massive. Perhaps the oddest thing about Marillion was that they became one of the biggest groups of the decade. They might have been an anomaly but they were monstrously effective.<ref>Jonh Wilde. "Fish - A Chip Off the Shoulder". p 42-43. ''Melody Maker''. 28 October 1989</ref></blockquote>

The band's unfashionable reputation and image has often been mentioned in the media, even in otherwise positive reviews. In ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' in 1987, [[David Hepworth]] wrote: "Marillion may represent the inelegant, unglamorous, public bar end of the current Rock Renaissance but they are no less part of it for that. ''[[Clutching at Straws]]'' suggests that they may be finally coming in from the cold."<ref>David Hepworth (July 1987) [http://fish-thecompany.com/disco/dacas.htm Review of ''Clutching at Straws''], ''Q Magazine'' (archived at [http://the-company.com Official Fish Site])</ref> In the same magazine in 1995, Dave Henderson wrote: "It's not yet possible to be sacked for showing an affinity for Marillion, but has there ever been a band with a larger stigma attached?" He also argued that if the album ''[[Afraid of Sunlight]]'' "had been made by a new, no baggage-of-the-past combo, it would be greeted with open arms, hailed as virtual genius."<ref>Dave Henderson ''Q'', August 1995.</ref> In ''[[Record Collector]]'' in 2002, Tim Jones argued they were "one of the most unfairly berated bands in Britain" and "one of its best live rock acts."<ref>Tim Jones ''Record Collector'', May 2002.</ref> In 2004, ''[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]'''s [[Jon Hotten]] wrote: "That genre thing has been a bugbear of Marillion's, but it no longer seems relevant. What are [[Radiohead]] if not a progressive band?" and said Marillion were "making strong, singular music with the courage of their convictions, and we should treasure them more than we do."<ref name="Jon Hotten 2004"/> In the ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' & ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'' Classic Special Edition ''[[Pink Floyd]] & The Story of Prog Rock'', an article on Marillion written by [[Mick Wall]] described them as "probably the most misunderstood band in the world".<ref>Mick Wall ''Q Classic: Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock'', 2005.</ref>

In 2007, Stephen Dalton of ''[[The Times]]'' stated: <blockquote>The band have just released their 14th album, ''[[Somewhere Else (Marillion album)|Somewhere Else]]'', which is really rather good. Containing tracks that shimmer like [[Coldplay]], ache like [[Radiohead]] and thunder like [[Muse (band)|Muse]], it is better than 80 per cent of this month's releases. But you are unlikely to hear Marillion on British radio, read about them in the music press or see them play a major festival. This is largely because Marillion have – how can we put this kindly? – an image problem. Their music is still perceived as bloated, bombastic mullet-haired prog-rock, even by people who have never heard it. In fairness, they did once release an album called ''[[Script for a Jester's Tear]]''. But, come on, we all had bad hair days in the 1980s.<ref name=Dalt2007>{{cite web | url= https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/marillion-how-to-thrive-on-a-fish-free-diet | title= How to thrive on a Fish-free diet|date=21 April 2007|author=Stephen Dalton|work=rock's back pages library |location=UK}}</ref></blockquote>

Despite publishing a very good review for their 1995 album ''[[Afraid of Sunlight]]'' and including it in their 50 Best Albums of 1995, ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' refused to interview the band or write a feature on them. Steve Hogarth later said: "How can they say, this is an amazing record... no, we don't want to talk to you? It's hard to take when they say, here's a very average record... we'll put you on the front cover."<ref name=Ling2001/>

In 2001, the television critic of ''The Guardian'', [[Gareth McLean]], used his review of the [[Michael Lewis]] [[BBC Two]] documentary, ''[[Next: The Future Just Happened]]'', to concentrate on launching a scathing attack on the band, whose appearance only constituted one segment of the programme. He described them as "once dodgy and now completely rubbish" and he characterised their fans as "slightly simple folks". He also dismissed the band's efforts to continue their career without a label by dealing directly with their fans on the Internet, writing: "One suspects that their decision occurred round about the time that the record industry decided to shun Marillion."<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/aug/13/tvandradio.television1 | title= In the realm of pretences| author=Gareth McLean| date=13 August 2001|work=The Guardian |location=UK}}</ref>

[[Rachel Cooke]], a writer for ''[[The Observer]]'' and ''[[New Statesman]]'', has repeatedly referred negatively to the band and insulted their fans in her articles.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/nov/26/bestbooksoftheyear.bestbooks1 | title= Reader, I loved it|date=26 November 2006|work=The Observer |location=UK}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jul/15/comics | title= I get the picture: comics can be cool|date=15 July 2007|work=The Observer |location=UK}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.newstatesman.com/television/2008/06/gear-bbc2-clarkson-keep-cars | title= I just can't get you out of my head|date=26 June 2008|work=New Statesman |location=UK}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2012/03/anti-social-network-bbc3 | title= The Anti-Social Network (BBC3)|date=26 March 2012|work=New Statesman |location=UK}}</ref>

In an interview in 2000, Hogarth expressed regret about the band retaining their name after he joined: <blockquote>If we had known when I joined Marillion what we know now, we'd have changed the name and been a new band. It was a mistake to keep the name, because what it represented in the mid-Eighties is a millstone we now carry. If we'd changed it, I think we would have been better off. We would have been judged for our music. It's such a grave injustice that the media constantly calls us a 'dinosaur prog band'. They only say that out of ignorance because they haven't listened to anything we've done for the last 15 bloody years. If you hear anything we've done in the last five or six years, that description is totally irrelevant... It's a massive frustration that no-one will play our stuff. If we send our single to [[BBC Radio 1|Radio 1]] they say: 'Sorry, we don't play music by bands who are over so-many years old... and here's the new [[U2]] single.' I suppose it's something everyone has to cope with – every band are remembered for their big hit single, irrespective of how much they change over the years. But you can only transcend that by continuing to have hits. It's [[Catch-22 (logic)|Catch 22]]. You know, at some stage, someone has to notice that we're doing interesting things. Someday someone will take a retrospective look at us and be surprised.<ref>Chris Leadbeater. "The band that broke the mould". ''[[London Evening Standard]]''. 28 November 2000</ref></blockquote>

The 2013 film ''[[Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa]]'' includes a joke reference to a former drummer of the band. The band were quoted: "We know Marillion are seen as 'uncool' but we were delighted to be a part of it."<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/aha-alan-partridge-movie-alpha-papa-gives-airtime-to-forgotten-pop-classics-8728526.html | title= A-ha! Alan Partridge movie Alpha Papa gives airtime to forgotten pop classics | author=Adam Sherwin| date=23 July 2013|work=The Independent |location=UK}}</ref>