''Real to Reel'' is the first

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

by the British

neo-prog Neo-progressive rock (commonly abbreviated neo-prog) is a subgenre of progressive rock that developed in the UK in the early 1980s. The genre's most popular band, Marillion, achieved mainstream success in the decade. Several bands from the ge ...

band

Marillion Marillion are a British neo-prog band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mo ...

, released in November 1984. It was co-produced by Simon Hanhart who had mixed the first two studio albums and co-produced the studio version of "Cinderella Search".

Recording and content

''Real to Reel'' was recorded on 5 March 1984 at

De Montfort Hall De Montfort Hall is the largest music and performance venue in Leicester, England. It is situated adjacent to Victoria Park and is named after the ''Father of Parliament'', Simon de Montfort, the 6th Earl of Leicester. History The hall was b ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, England and 19–20 June 1984 at the

Spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada. In addition to two songs each from the first two albums, ''

Script for a Jester's Tear ''Script for a Jester's Tear'' is the debut studio album by British neo-prog band Marillion, released in the United Kingdom on 14 March 1983 by EMI Records. The album reached number seven and spent 31 weeks in the UK Albums Chart, eventual ...

'' (1983) and ''

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They were noted for their style-transc ...

'' (1984), the original LP version contained two tracks previously not available on any albums, the A-side of the band's 1982 debut single "

Market Square Heroes "Market Square Heroes" is the debut single by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in October 1982 with "Three Boats Down from the Candy" as the B-side. The 12-inch single included an additional track, the 17:15-minute-long "Grendel". ...

" and "Cinderella Search", the B-side of " Assassing". The CD and cassette versions contained an extra track, "Emerald Lies" from ''Fugazi'', recorded at the Spectrum.

Release

Critical reception

Writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Eduardo Rivadavia praised ''Real to Reel'' in a three-out-of-five star retrospective review. He called the album "an excellent live document of Marillion" and "a strong case for the many fans who actually prefer the band's more refined live versions over their rather flat studio counterparts". Rivadavia also claimed 10-minute antiwar "Forgotten Sons" to be the pinnacle of the album.

Commercial performance

No singles from the album were released, but nevertheless ''Real to Reel'' managed to reach number 8 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and linger there for 22 weeks. It was certified Gold by the BPI on 9 July 1985 for sales in excess of 100,000 copies.

Formats and reissues

''Real to Reel'' was initially released on LP, 12" picture disc, cassette, and CD. In 1997, the album was re-released as a two-disc set bundled with ''

Brief Encounter ''Brief Encounter'' is a 1945 British Romance film#Romantic drama, romantic drama film directed by David Lean from a screenplay by Noël Coward, based on his 1936 one-act play ''Still Life (play), Still Life''. The film stars Celia Johnson and ...

'', an extended-play originally made by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

's American label

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

to promote the band's 1986 US tour. This edition was not part of the remastered series of Marillion's first eight studio albums that EMI released in 1997–1998. It was digitally remastered at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

by Brian Fifield. In 2005, a Japanese mini-LP replica CD edition came out. This version included two additional bonus tracks, "Margaret" and "Charting the Single", both originally from the 1983 "

Garden Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

" single.

Track listing

*Tracks 1–4 recorded at the

, Canada on 19–20 June 1984 *Tracks 5–7 recorded at

, England on 5 March 1984 *"Charting the Single" recorded at the

Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

in London, England on 18 April 1983 *"Margaret" recorded at

Edinburgh Playhouse Edinburgh Playhouse is a theatre in Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of For ...

on 7 April 1983 ;Original 1984 LP edition

Personnel

;Marillion *

Fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

; sleeve concept *

Steve Rothery Steven Rothery (born 25 November 1959) is an English musician who is the original guitarist and the longest continuous member of the progressive rock band Marillion. Outside Marillion, Rothery has recorded two albums as part of the duo The Wis ...

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

s *

Mark Kelly Mark Edward Kelly (born February 21, 1964) is an American politician, retired astronaut, and former United States Navy, naval officer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from Arizona, a seat he ha ...

– keyboards *

Pete Trewavas Peter Trewavas (born 15 January 1959) is an English musician, best known as the bassist of the progressive rock band Marillion. He joined in 1982, replacing Diz Minnitt, while acting as a backing vocalist and occasional guitarist. Biography ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, backing vocals *

Ian Mosley Ian F. Mosley (born 16 June 1953) is an English drummer. He is best known for his long-time membership of the neo-prog band Marillion, which he joined for their second album, ''Fugazi'', released in 1984. He had previously been an in-demand ses ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Mick Pointer Michael Pointer (born 22 July 1956) is an English drummer. He is known for his work in the neo-prog bands Marillion and Arena. Career Pointer was the original drummer and a founding member of Marillion. He appeared on the band's debut EP '' Ma ...

– drums on Japanese bonus tracks ;Technical personnel *Simon Hanhart –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

and mixing ( The Marquee Studios, London) *Julian Cull – photography *

Mark Wilkinson Mark Wilkinson (born 3 October 1952) is an English illustrator. He is best known for the detailed surrealistic cover art he created for a number of British bands. Wilkinson's breakthrough came through his association with the neo-prog band Mar ...

– sleeve *Julie Hazelwood – collage

Charts

Certifications

References

;Notes ;Citations

External links

The Official Marillion Website
{{Authority control 1984 live albums Albums recorded at the Spectrum (Montreal) EMI Records albums Marillion live albums