Album of the Day

B'Sides Themselves, by Marllion (1988): With the Fish era drawn to a close, EMI decided to collect all the band's non-album cuts and release them in one place. The result is a disc that shows, in brief, the band developing from a too-heavily Genesis influenced outfit to a much more interesting, original, and polished band. That being said, there is a great amount of fun listening to the opener, "Grendel," the band's first attempt at a proggy epic. It's so very derivative of "Supper's Ready," but made for a fantastic live set piece, as Fish took on the persona of the title beast, plucked an unlucky schmuck from the audience, and proceeds to "slaughter" him during the instrumental finale. After "Grendel," the band wouldn't try their hand at another epic for nearly 15 years, but they've certainly grown into it at this point.

Oh, and - Best. Compilation. Title. Ever.