News: MARILLION enter The GRTR! Grotto of Greatness in July 2023
10 July 2023 News
The latest inductees to “The GRTR! Grotto of Greatness” are prog rockers Marillion.
A major retrospective tracing Marillion’s progress in the millennium will be published on 1 July by rock website Get Ready to ROCK! and throughout the month Get Ready to ROCK! Radio will feature more of their music.
Says Managing Editor David Randall: “When we published the review team’s favourite selections over a 20 year period back in April, Marillion loomed large in both the album and live act categories.”
“Like all the nominees for The Grotto the band have produced consistently good albums and backed up with superb live shows. What is significant in our special feature – collecting our coverage since 2003 – is a large-scale contribution from our reviewers and a unanimity of opinion.”
Marillion were formed in 1979 and spearheaded the neo-prog movement of the early eighties. Until 1988 Fish was their vocalist. Steve Hogarth joined the band for the album ‘Season’s End’. From the late-1990s the band were early adopters of crowd-funding for their subsequent album releases. They also established a thriving supply of downloads and DVDs via their website store.
Randall continues: “Some of our reviewers followed the band in the eighties but whilst the 1990s band brought with them many of the old fanbase they also lost some. However they attracted new admirers as they essentially changed their approach with the arrival of their new vocalist. They made a tentative start with the first two albums of the new era, both of which were very accessible, but their concept album ‘Brave’ was the real turning point and it is hardly surprising that EMI dropped them. It is fair to say that since that time they have never looked back.”
EDITOR NOTE
The equivalent of the “Hall of Fame” the Grotto honours selected artists who have been covered consistently at rock website Get Ready to ROCK! over a period of 20 years. The promotion is part of the website’s 20th anniversary celebrations and will feature a different artist or band each month in 2023.
The GRTR!@20 promotion celebrates 20 years of the popular rock website Get Ready to ROCK! The website’s archive of reviews and interviews will be highlighted as well as new features celebrating 20 years of activity.
So far this year “The Grotto” has welcomed The Darkness (January), Chantel McGregor (February) , Eleanor McEvoy (March), Joe Bonamassa (April), Walter Trout (May) and FM (June 2023).
GRTR!@20: The Best of 2003-2023
DRandall feature, Grotto of Greatness, Ian Mosley, Marillion, Mark Kelly, Pete Trewavas, prog, progressive rock, retrospective, Steve Hogarth, Steve Rothery