This Strange Engine

Last updated

This Strange Engine
MarillionTSE.jpg
Studio album by
Marillion
Released9 April 1997 (Japan)
21 April 1997 (UK)
RecordedAugust–November 1996
StudioThe Racket Club, Buckinghamshire, England
Genre Progressive rock
Length56:06
Label Raw Power
Producer Marillion
Marillion chronology
The Best of Both Worlds
(1997)		This Strange Engine
(1997)		 Radiation
(1998)
Singles from This Strange Engine
  1. "Man of a Thousand Faces"
    Released: 2 June 1997 (UK)
  2. "Eighty Days"
    Released: 13 October 1997 (UK)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

This Strange Engine is the ninth studio album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in April 1997 by the Castle Communications imprint Raw Power. It was the first of the three recordings that Marillion made under contract with Castle, after being dropped by EMI Records in 1995 and before eventually going independent in 2000. The album was recorded at The Racket Club in Buckinghamshire, England, between August and November 1996 and was produced by the band themselves.

Contents

Background

Without promotional efforts of a major record label, This Strange Engine continued the decline in mainstream success for Marillion, reaching only number 27 in the UK Albums Chart and staying there for three weeks. [2] It sold significantly better in the Netherlands, home of one of the band's most loyal audiences, peaking at number 10 on the charts. [3] Two singles from the album were released: "Man of a Thousand Faces" and "Eighty Days". For the first time in the band's history, no song cracked the UK Top 40; the first single reached number 98 and the second one failed to chart at all.

The fourth track, "Estonia", was written after singer Steve Hogarth met Paul Barney, the only British survivor of the sinking of the cruise ferry Estonia in the Baltic Sea on 28 September 1994, which killed 852 people. This is the only song of Marillion to feature a balalaika.

The title track is a tribute by Steve Hogarth to his father, a marine engineer and an officer. The senior Hogarth sacrificed his life at sea for a job in a coal mine so that he could be close to his family.

On European editions, following the last track, at approximately 29:35, there is a hidden track of Hogarth giggling uncontrollably, recorded on his return to the studio after a night on the town. [4]

A remix of the album, Tales from the Engine Room , conducted by the electronic music project Positive Light, was first released as a limited edition January 1998 on Racket Records, and in June 1998 it was released worldwide by Eagle Records.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Steve Hogarth and John Helmer, except where noted; all music is composed by Marillion

No.TitleLyricsLength
1."Man of a Thousand Faces" 7:33
2."One Fine Day" 5:31
3."80 Days"Hogarth5:00
4."Estonia"Hogarth7:56
5."Memory of Water" 3:01
6."An Accidental Man" 6:12
7."Hope for the Future" 5:10
8."This Strange Engine"Hogarth15:34
Total length:56:06
Japan Pony Canyon edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsLength
9."Beautiful" (unplugged version)Hogarth4:49
10."Made Again" (unplugged version)Helmer5:12
Total length:66:07
USA Velvel second pressing bonus tracks [5]
No.TitleLyricsLength
9."Estonia" (The Positive Light Mix)Hogarth11:49
10."80 Days" (Acoustic Version)Hogarth5:39
Total length:70:49

Personnel

Marillion

Additional musicians

Technical personnel

Charts

Chart (1997)Peak
position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [3] 10
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [6] 38
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [7] 48
UK Albums (OCC) [2] 27

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marillion</span> British rock band

Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the most commercially successful neo-prog band of the 1980s.

<i>Brave</i> (Marillion album) 1994 studio album by Marillion

Brave is the seventh studio album by Marillion, released in 1994. It charted at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, being the last of the band's albums to reach the Top 10 in the United Kingdom until F E A R reached number 4 in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Hogarth</span> English singer

Steve Hogarth, also known as "h", is an English musician. Since 1989 he has been the lead singer of the rock band Marillion, for which he also performs additional keyboards and guitar. Hogarth was formerly a keyboard player and co-lead vocalist with the Europeans and vocalist with How We Live. AllMusic has described Hogarth as having a "unique, expressive voice" with "flexible range and beautiful phrasing".

<i>Marbles</i> (album) 2004 studio album by Marillion

Marbles is the 13th studio album from rock band Marillion, released in 2004. Unlike their previous studio album, Anoraknophobia (2001), which was financed largely by a preorder campaign, the band funded the recording, and it was the publicity campaign that fans financed for the album. Those fans who pre-ordered the album received an exclusive 2-CD "Deluxe Campaign Edition" with a booklet containing the names of everyone who pre-ordered before a certain date. The public release date of the retail single-CD version of the album was 3 May 2004 while a plain 2-CD version was made available from the band's website. A limited edition was released on white multicoloured vinyl by Racket Records on 13 November 2006.

<i>Seasons End</i> 1989 studio album by Marillion

Seasons End is the fifth studio album by British neo-prog band Marillion, released in 1989. The album was the first to feature current lead vocalist Steve Hogarth, following the departure of former vocalist Fish in late 1988. It reached number 7 on the UK Albums Chart.

<i>Afraid of Sunlight</i> 1995 studio album by Marillion

Afraid of Sunlight is Marillion's eighth studio album, released in 1995. It was their last for EMI.

<i>Tales from the Engine Room</i> 1998 remix album by Marillion and The Positive Light

Tales From The Engine Room is a remix album of six the eight songs from Marillions This Strange Engine. It was conducted by Marc Mitchell and Mark Daghorn of The Positive Light.

<i>Radiation</i> (album) 1998 studio album by Marillion

Radiation is the tenth studio album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in 1998. Recorded at The Racket Club between November 1997 and June 1998, it was co-produced and mixed by Stewart Every. The album was remixed by Michael Hunter in September to November 2012 and a reissued remastered version was released in 2013.

<i>Anoraknophobia</i> 2001 studio album by Marillion

Anoraknophobia is the 12th studio album by the British rock band Marillion, released in 2001. It is regarded as the first instance of a music recording completely financed by fans in a then-unique fundraising campaign, as 12,674 copies were pre-ordered before the album was even recorded.

The Europeans were a British new wave group formed in 1981 and disbanded in 1985. They released three albums, none of which achieved much in terms of chart position. In 1989, their former keyboard player and co-lead vocalist Steve Hogarth joined Marillion as lead vocalist. The Europeans should not be confused with the similarly named Europeans, a Bristol band that were active 1977-1979.

<i>Somewhere Else</i> (Marillion album) 2007 studio album by Marillion

Somewhere Else is the fourteenth studio album by British neo-prog band Marillion. It was released by the band's own label, Intact Records, in the United Kingdom on 9 April 2007. Produced by Michael Hunter, the album was recorded during 2006 at The Racket Club in Buckinghamshire, except the track "Faith", written during the Marbles sessions and recorded the previous year.

<i>Suits</i> (album) 1994 studio album by Fish

Suits (1994) is the fourth solo album by former Marillion singer Fish, and his third studio album with original material. It is the first album to be released on Fish's new own label, the Dick Bros Record Company, which he set up after being dropped by Polydor. The album continues the cooperation with producer James Cassidy who had already produced Songs from the Mirror. Cassidy also contributed keyboards recordings and co-wrote five out of ten songs on the original version of this album. Together with keyboardist Foster Paterson, who had been part of the tour line-up since 1992 and co-wrote three tracks, Cassidy takes the role previously held by Mickey Simmonds. Further songwriting credits go to guitarist Robin Boult and bassist David Paton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Wishing Tree (band)</span> UK folk rock project

The Wishing Tree is a music project by Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery and vocalist Hannah Stobart. Their debut album, Carnival of Souls, was released in 1996 and a second album, Ostara, was released 23 March 2009.

<i>Carnival of Souls</i> (The Wishing Tree album) 1996 studio album by The Wishing Tree

Carnival of Souls is the title of the first album by The Wishing Tree, a project by Marillion's guitarist Steve Rothery and singer Hannah Stobart. It was originally released in 1996 on Steve Rothery's short-lived label Dorian Music and was re-released in 2001 on Marillion's label Racket Records. The new version includes some bonus material, two live videos and two demos of previously unreleased songs.

<i>Sounds That Cant Be Made</i> 2012 studio album by Marillion

Sounds That Can't Be Made is Marillion's 17th studio album, released on 17 September 2012. Besides the standard edition there is also a "deluxe campaign edition" containing a bonus DVD with a feature-length documentary called Making Sounds.

<i>Fuck Everyone and Run (F E A R)</i> 2016 studio album by Marillion

Fuck Everyone and Run (F E A R) is the eighteenth studio album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Man of a Thousand Faces (song)</span> 1997 single by Marillion

"Man of a Thousand Faces" is the lead single from British neo-prog band Marillion's ninth studio album This Strange Engine, released on 2 June 1997 by Castle Communications imprint Raw Power. It was the band's first single since they departed from EMI Records in 1995. Reflecting the decline in popularity for Marillion, the song reached only the number 98 on the UK Singles Chart. A music video was created for "Man of a Thousand Faces".

<i>With Friends from the Orchestra</i> 2019 studio album by Marillion

With Friends from the Orchestra is an album by the English progressive rock band Marillion. It was released on 29 November 2019 through earMUSIC and Intact Records. The album consists of orchestral re-recordings of songs from the band's catalogue, spanning Seasons End (1989) to Sounds That Can't Be Made (2012). Recording took place at the Racket Club and Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios. Strings were provided by the In Praise of Folly String Quartet, and string arrangements were written by Michael Hunter, who also co-produced the album with the band. The release is the band's second album of re-recordings, after Less Is More (2009).

Ice Cream Genius is the title of the first solo album by Steve Hogarth, singer of Marillion. It was originally released in 1997 on When! Recordings. It was released in North America in August 1998 with a different artwork and with the extra track "The Last Thing".

<i>An Hour Before Its Dark</i> 2022 studio album by Marillion

An Hour Before It's Dark is the 20th studio album by British neo-prog band Marillion, released on 4 March 2022 by Intact and earMUSIC.

References

  1. ↑ Franck, John. Marillion: This Strange Engine > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Marillion | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Dutchcharts.nl – Marillion – This Strange Engine" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  4. ↑ Collins, Jon (2003). Separated Out Marillion History 1979-2002. Helter Skelter. p. 145.
  5. ↑ "This Strange Engine". Marillion Discography. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  6. ↑ "Marillion: This Strange Engine" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  7. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Marillion – This Strange Engine" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.