This Strange Engine

This Strange Engine is the ninth studio album by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in April 1997 by the Castle Communications imprint Raw Power. It was the first of the three recordings that Marillion made on a contract with Castle between being dropped by EMI Records in 1995 and 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.

This Strange Engine
Studio album by
Marillion
ReleasedApril 1997
RecordedAugust–November 1996
StudioThe Racket Club, Buckinghamshire, England
Genreprogressive rock
Length56:06
LabelRaw Power
ProducerMarillion
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[1]

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 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 as 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, who was the only British survivor of the disaster when the cruise ferry Estonia sank in the Baltic Sea on 28 September 1994, killing 852 people. This is the only song of Marillion to feature a balalaika. On European editions, if the last track is carried on playing, at approximately 29:35, there is a hidden track of Hogarth having a fit of laughing.

A remix of the album, conducted by the electronic music project Positive Light, was released in January 1998 by Eagle Records as Tales from the Engine Room.

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[4]
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
  • Charlton & Newbottle School Choir – choir (on "Man of a Thousand Faces")
  • Tim Perkins – balalaika (on "Estonia")
  • Phil Todd – saxophone (on "This Strange Engine")
  • Paul Savage – trumpet (on "Hope for the Future")

Technical personnel
  • Stewart Every – engineer
  • Dave Meegan – mixing engineer
  • Andrew Gent – artwork
  • Hugh Gilmour – art direction, design

Charts
Chart (1997) Peak
position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[3] 10
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[5] 39
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[6] 48
UK Albums (OCC)[2] 27

References
  1. Franck, John. Marillion: This Strange Engine > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  2. "Marillion | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  3. "Dutchcharts.nl – Marillion – This Strange Engine" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  4. "This Strange Engine". Marillion Discography. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  5. "Marillion: This Strange Engine" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  6. "Offiziellecharts.de – Marillion – This Strange Engine" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
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