Marillion - Garden Party (EMI)

I am tempted to say, 'Who needs another Genesis circa '75?' but its obvious that plenty of people do from the chart position this has already reached. I'm not one of them. (George Michael, Smash Hits, June 23, 1983)

I can't understand why a band should want to write songs and sound like the bands they admire. This is Genesis round about their Selling England By The Pound LP to a tee. Worthless. (Andrew Ridgeley, Smash Hits, June 23, 1983)

Yes folks, the healthy alternative to all those videos of macho men in leather trousers making a nuisance of themselves on street corners. Grab a ride on the new cosmic roundabout and listen to Fish's enigmatic vocals and that luscious quirky rhythm. For goodness sake, this should be their first real chart hit at last. Don't let it slip away. (Robin Smith, Record Mirror, June 11, 1983)

Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, Genesis, Fish. These are the great English poets. Here Fish the younger offers an able demonstration that mid-'70s art-rock is undead. A disc to take a leisurely and thinking bath by. Just make sure the water doesn't overflow before it's finished. Serious means long. (Mark Cooper, No 1, June 11, 1983)