From my perspective,
Marillion have always been sort of both a blessing and a curse to modern progressive rock. Don't get me wrong, I love quite a bit from both the Fish and Hogarth eras...but I really think there are wayyyy too many "neo-prog" bands out there who seem to spend their careers trying to ape
Script For A Jester's Tear (and to a lesser degree the 70's Genesis sound).
Now, Marillion have always had problems marketing themselves outside their core audience, but that's not what I'm really talking about here. Rather, it's like all of these knockoff groups are all under the impression of "Hey, if we stick an overly dramatic guy on stage and throw in a few guitar solos, we can appeal to the market111", and I think its done more harm to the genre's image than help.
That being said, really enjoying these reviews. I'm guessing
Misplaced Childhood is next up to bat eh?