This Strange Engine

"This Strange Engine" is the ninth studio album by British rock band Marillion, released on 23 April 1997 by the Castle Communications imprint Raw Power. Contrasting the band's previous album, Afraid of Sunlight, the new album showcases a various mix of styles, revealing a more positive and experimental phase for the band’s music, emphasizing acoustic and orchestral sections.

The album was inspired by band's lead singer Steve Hogarth's life. The title track, in fact, recounts Hogarth's life through a semi-biographical lens, sharing reflections on his Northern upbringing, his mother's influence, and the frenzied years of pop stardom with his previous band, "The Europeans."

This Strange Engine wasn’t as commercially successful as its predecessors, however, it marked a direction of the band increasingly distancing itself from mainstream rock/pop, towards a more personal sound. The album is characterized by deeply emotional tracks and a range of styles, from the folksy choral tune in "Estonia", the upbeat pop element of "Man of a Thousand Faces", to the bluesy, low-tempo number in "Made Again."

A bonus disc with live songs from the album was included in a 1998 re-release, and a remastered edition with an expanded booklet and an extra disc containing demos of songs from these sessions was released in February 2008.

The band conducted a world tour to promote the album, drawing a warm response from their fans.