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.

In an attempt to depart from their neo-prog past for a contemporary sound, Marillion introduced elements of rap, groove, funk, trip hop, blues, jazz and dub. Although the album received several favourable reviews, it was not a significant commercial success, and its sole single, "Between You and Me", did not chart. The group supported Anoraknophobia with a six-month European tour.

Background

In February 1997, when Marillion prepared for a European tour in support of their ninth studio album, This Strange Engine, Mark Kelly announced on the Internet that the group would not visit North America due to insufficient support from their American record label, Red Ant. Then, devoted fans launched a fundraising drive and raised $50,000 to help their favourite band cross the Atlantic. Alliance Entertainment, Red Ant's parent company, filed for bankruptcy in July and tried to sell the label. As a result, an additional $15,000 (money that would have come from Red Ant) was raised for a 21-date North American tour, the band's largest since 1991. The whole idea, known as crowdfunding, was conceived and realised by fans without any involvement from the band, and although music lovers had always backed their favourite performers in various ways, such a successful Internet campaign was unprecedented.

After releasing marillion.com in October 1999, Marillion had completed a three-album contract with Castle Communications. Although a number of independent labels were interested in signing the band, its members wanted to have total control of their music and still be able to use distribution facilities of a major record company. This could only be achieved if the money to create an album was obtained from a different source, and Marillion found an unusual solution, crowdfunding.

[[File:Steve Hogarth (8255340678).jpg | thumb|right | 240px | Appealing for money to record the album, Steve Hogarth wrote an e-mail which stated "...how would you guys feel about buying a record we haven't made yet – because if you did we'd be really grateful...".

This innovative pre-order venture was unexpectedly successful. Anoraknophobia is claimed by Marillion to have been the first crowdfunded album in the music industry.

Recording

thumb|right | 200px | Marillion's fans are known among themselves as "anoraks" (a common British term for a raincoat)

Anoraknophobia was written, recorded and mixed at Marillion's own Racket Club studio in Buckinghamshire, England, for the whole of 2000 and early 2001. To work on the album, the band chose Dave Meegan who had previously been an assistant engineer on Fugazi (1984) and had produced their last two recordings with EMI, Brave (1994) and Afraid of Sunlight (1995). Stewart Every assisted at mixing of the album.

Bassist Pete Trewavas, said the band had not had any tracks left over from previous sessions which could have been used, so the entire album was written "from scratch". Since they had been unfashionable in the eyes of the media and had been largely ignored by the music press, Marillion deliberately attempted to create a modern sound and distance themselves further from their neo-prog past. In an interview with the BBC, Hogarth spoke about the band's new musical direction and the album's diverse influences: "With this album there's been a massive invasion of black influence–there's rap, there's groove, there's funk, there's trip hop, blues, jazz, dub."

All the samples in "Separated Out" were taken from Tod Browning's horror film Freaks (1932). The line "Freaks!... Freaks!... Freaks!" at the ending of the track was used as a reference to Marillion's fans who sometimes refer to themselves as "freaks" after a Fish-era B-side. The phrase "She was only dreaming" in the song "If My Heart Were a Ball It Would Roll Uphill" is a sample from "Chelsea Monday".

According to Hogarth, the title, nominally a play on the word "arachnophobia", or fear of spiders, means no fear of anoraks ("anorak no phobia"), referring to the long-running in-joke that Marillion fans are also sometimes called anoraks. The artwork for Anoraknophobia as well as some other related music releases and press materials feature cartoon graphics of a boy named Barry who wears a rain parka. Inside the liner notes for the pre-order edition of the album, there is a photograph of each of the band members posed in a similar manner and standing near a telephone box.

Release

All who pre-ordered Anoraknophobia received a special 48-page digibook edition with a bonus enhanced disc. Those who pre-ordered before a set date also got their names printed in the booklet. First copies of the album were sent out on 23 April 2001, and since the end of the pre-order campaign the special edition has not been in print. The bonus disc contains the song "Number One" which has not been released. At one point considered for the album, it was put aside because it did not match the rest of the recording sonically. The standard edition of Anoraknophobia was released on 7 May 2001 through Liberty Records. and 2) double heavyweight (180gm) vinyl in a gatefold sleeve.

The album was ineligible to chart in the UK for two reasons. First, its pre-order sales were direct through the band's website and as such could not be counted independently; second, the retail version contained a sticker of Barry within the jewel case. This was considered a gift that might serve as an inducement to buy the album, even though purchasers would not be aware of its inclusion until they opened the album. In mainland Europe, Anoraknophobia was not a chart success and has stayed among the lowest selling albums in the Marillion catalogue.

Prior to the album 23 February 2001, an edited version of "This is the 21st Century" was made available free for download on MP3.com, and was downloaded enough to achieve No.1 in the alternative chart.

The only single from the album, a double A-side "Between You and Me" / "Map of the World", was released on 10 September 2001 and did not chart. It was available exclusively via the band's website and was sold with an additional free copy along with a letter and biography provided by Marillion. The fans who bought the single were asked to pass the free copy to their local radio stations to encourage its airplay.

Critical reception

As Marillion had constantly met the hostility of the music press, in a press release for Anoraknophobia, Hogarth said:

AllMusic reviewer Andrew Hamlin criticised the band for "high 'pricing' of their new project" and called the above-mentioned "challenge" imperious. He has admitted that "this odd poise of seeming to snap on feeding fingers carries over to the record on several levels".

Marillion Weekend 2015

Anoraknophobia was played live in its entirety during Friday night shows of the Marillion Weekend 2015 events, which took place in the Netherlands, the UK, and Canada. In November 2016, three separate 2-CD albums commemorating the concerts recorded at Center Parcs village Port Zelande in the Netherlands during 20–22 March 2015 were released. The Blu-Ray and DVD sets Out of the Box hit the stores a month later.

Track listing

  • The total length for the pre-order edition bonus disc is shown for the audio only part.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's 2001 and 2012 liner notes.

Marillion

  • Steve Hogarth – vocals, additional piano and percussion
  • Steve Rothery – guitars
  • Mark Kelly – keyboards
  • Pete Trewavas – bass, additional guitar (on "When I Meet God") and vocals
  • Ian Mosley – drums

Additional musicians

  • Stephanie Sobey-Jones – cello

Technical personnel

  • Dave Meegan – production, recording, mixing (at The Racket Club, Buckinghamshire)
  • Stewart Every – mixing (at The Racket Club, Buckinghamshire)
  • Simon Heyworth – mastering (at Chop 'Em Out, London)
  • Carl Glover – booklet graphic design
  • Matt Curtis – outer cover graphics
  • Jill Furmanovsky – photography
  • Fernando Aceves – photography

Charts

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! scope="col"| Chart (2001)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

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References

;Notes

;Citations

  • The Official Marillion Website