Editing Script for a Jester's Tear (section)

==Background and recording==
Marillion released their first single, "[[Market Square Heroes]]", on 25 October 1982. It was a minor hit, peaking at number 53 on the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref name="Marillion">{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/614/marillion/ |title=Marillion |publisher=[[Official Charts Company|Official Charts]] |access-date=16 August 2018}}</ref> It was produced by [[Dave Hitchcock|David Hitchcock]], who was also contracted to work on the group's first full-length album. He was seriously injured in a car accident when he drove home after completing work on the single. EMI took advantage of the opportunity and persuaded the group to replace him with [[Nick Tauber]], a producer known for his work with [[New wave music|new wave]] band [[Toyah (band)|Toyah]] and regarded by the record label as more modern.

Neither "Market Square Heroes", nor the B-sides of the 12" single, "Three Boats Down from the Candy" and the 17-minute-long epic "Grendel", were included on ''Script for a Jester's Tear'', although a short radio segment of the A-side can be briefly heard prior to "Forgotten Sons". As stated in the original liner notes, the music from the album was composed, arranged and performed by Marillion and the lyrics were written by [[Fish (singer)|Fish]] alone. In the 1997 remastered edition, four out of six songs are additionally credited to bass player Diz Minnit and keyboard player Brian Jelliman, who were both the initial members of the group. The recording sessions for the album started in December 1982 at [[Marquee Club|The Marquee Studios]] in London and finished in February 1983, with Tauber producing and Simon Hanhart engineering.

The cover artwork was designed by [[Mark Wilkinson]], who would be commissioned to the role on all Marillion releases through ''[[The Thieving Magpie (album)|The Thieving Magpie]]'' (1988).<ref name="Cover artwork">{{cite magazine |last=Dome |first=Malcolm |author-link1=Malcolm Dome |date=18 February 2015 |title=Cover Story: Marillion – Script for a Jester's Tear |url=http://teamrock.com/feature/2015-02-18/cover-story-marillion-script-for-a-jester-s-tear |magazine=[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]] |publisher=TeamRock |access-date=16 August 2018}}</ref>

In later years, both Fish and Steve Rothery have spoken critically of their work on the album. Fish said in 2016, "I hear somebody singing in very bad keys! Sometimes I don't even recognise the guy who's singing on that album. That high falsetto voice, it was very forced. But I was young. I didn't understand anything about music and keys, and I was singing very high."<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.loudersound.com/features/i-was-an-arsehole-fish-opens-up-about-the-past-and-where-he-s-headed-next | title= "I was an arsehole": Fish looks back on his career and reveals what's next | work=Louder | first=Paul | last=Elliott | date=17 July 2016 | access-date=6 March 2024}}</ref> Rothery was not satisfied with his guitar sound. He said in 2022, "I didn't have the experience, I didn't know the sound I wanted, so I was using maybe my old Yamaha SG-2000. I think I had an Orange amp in the early days. I can't remember when I switched to Marshalls. Anyway, it wasn't a sound that I was in love with."<ref>{{cite web | url= https://hit-channel.com/steverotherymarillion/ | title= Interview: Steve Rothery (Marillion) | work=Hit Channel | date=1 March 2022 | access-date=6 March 2024}}</ref>