Forgotten Sons/Genesis-The Knife

People compared Marillion to Genesis a lot and I never really understood why (apart from the obvious superficial basics), but when I heard The Knife for the first time back in the 80's I remember being almost embarrassed by the similarities - after all Marillion was my favourite band and above and beyond anything. Nowadays I find the two songs less strikingly similar, but still I would like to know what you guys here think about this comparison? Btw The impact of Forgotten Sons has never been diminished and it is still one of my favourites...

Not sure about The Knife, but I have only ever noticed the similarities on parts of Supper's Ready. Thinking about Grendel here. - Don't know why this similarity was levelled at Marillion by the press as a form of criticism though. - I guess Prog has never been popular in NME circles.

Probably because Genesis became a band to diss in the music press as well.

But ultimately, besides the obvious Grendel / Supper's Ready comparison and they they were both Prog bands, there isn't a huge amount in common.

Probably because Genesis became a band to diss in the music press as well.

But ultimately, besides the obvious Grendel / Supper's Ready comparison and they they were both Prog bands, there isn't a huge amount in common.

Totaly agree john, i have listened to a lot of early genesis and compared them to Marillion(fish-era) and i just can't find any connection between the two.

When I first saw Silmarillion I didnt really see the Genesis similarities other than the long musical passages.

However when Fish joined the band just about everyone compared him to Peter Gabriel because of his face paint and especially his way of telling stories inbetween the songs.
I have to admit that I initially made that comparison as at that time I was getting into early Genesis and I was given the first Genesis Live album at about the same time that Fish joined Marillion.

I used to get tired of the music press constantly comparing them to Genesis.

There were occasional musical similarities but the band never hid the fact that they were influenced by Genesis.
I always thought they were closer to Pink Floyd
Pendragon were more obviously musically influenced by Genesis

When I first saw Silmarillion I didnt really see the Genesis similarities other than the long musical passages.

However when Fish joined the band just about everyone compared him to Peter Gabriel because of his face paint and especially his way of telling stories inbetween the songs.
I have to admit that I initially made that comparison as at that time I was getting into early Genesis and I was given the first Genesis Live album at about the same time that Fish joined Marillion.

I used to get tired of the music press constantly comparing them to Genesis.

There were occasional musical similarities but the band never hid the fact that they were influenced by Genesis.
I always thought they were closer to Pink Floyd
Pendragon were more obviously musically influenced by Genesis

Pendragon's guitar solos are very Rotheryesque.

They say that Fish has a similar way of singing to Gabriel, but I can't see that one either.

Apart from the obvious similarities between parts of Grendel and Supper's Ready, I never viewed Marillion as being a copycat of Genesis. Same genre definitely, but that was it. Lyrically, the bands were worlds apart and much as I love Genesis *musically*, the lyrics have never had the same resonance as those of early (i.e. 80's) Marillion. At least for me. Ironically, it's arguable that CAS contains more Genesis-esque references than any other Marillion album but, to my ears, no more or less than could be argued about Gazpacho, one or two pieces of early Porcupine Tree, elements of Riverside and even Airbag (who are more likely to attract the "Floyd" tag in any case).

Until this thread popped up, I had never made a connection between The Knife and Forgotten Sons. Thinking about it now, I can hear elements in terms of the structure of the songs. Both songs open strongly, both change pace to quieter passages, both reignite then go quiet again and so on. But, I personally don't hear Forgotten Sons as being any more than simply influenced.

Sure there's similarities in the music. But if anything, it seemed like Fish/Marillion, like most other bands were just tipping their hat to the stuff they like. No band writes from nothing. Everyone has influences.

The song Dodo/Lurker by Genesis off Abacab I thought was the most obvious.

The almost identical guitar to He Knows You know with the lyrics "Fishy got a hook in his throat, Fishy got problems."

I read how he got his nickname reading in the bath or whatever but I don't believe it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG53nM03iac (about 2.25 in)