madmanmoon

This is an interesting point though. Do any of us actually know what decisions are made behind the scenes at a magazine like Q? What we do know is that they do have a certain group of "approved" artists, as do most magazines. It won't come as any surprise to know that Marillion, as a band that is associated with the genre known as ... dare I even say it ... progressive rock .... is not one of those approved artists. When Afraid of Sunlight got an excellent review in Q, the journalist, Dave Henderson, stated: "It's not yet possible to be sacked for showing an affinity for Marillion, but has there ever been a band with a larger stigma attached? It's sad to say, had Afraid of Sunlight been made by a new, no baggage of the past combo it would have been greeted with open arms, hailed as virtual genius." Steve Hogarth later made the comment in an interview with Classic Rock magazine that most Marillion albums - for many years - received at least 3/5 reviews in Q and a couple, Misplaced Childhood (when reissued) and Afraid of Sunlight, got 4 stars, yet the magazine would NEVER interview the band. The only way to rationalise that is that the reviewers were allowed to write good reviews but that the magazine's editorial line was that the band didn't fit the image of the magazine or didn't sell enough albums to bother covering.

In fairness, though, you are obviously prejudiced against him, finding him guilty and calling him a scumbag in your first post. Therefore it's unlikely anything he says is going to change the opinion you have settled on.