Misplaced Childhood is the third studio album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in 1985. It is a concept album loosely based on the childhood of Marillion's lead singer, Fish, who was inspired by a brief incident that occurred while he was under the influence of LSD.

The album was recorded during the spring of 1985 at Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin and produced by Chris Kimsey, who had previously worked with the Rolling Stones. Misplaced Childhood is the group's most commercially successful album, peaking immediately at number one in the UK charts and spending a total of 41 weeks on the chart. It ultimately gained the Platinum status. and piano-led "Lavender", which peaked at number five.

Misplaced Childhood was listed as the sixth best album of 1985 by Kerrang! and chosen as the fourth greatest concept album of all time by Classic Rock in 2003.

Concept

Misplaced Childhood was Marillion's first full concept album consisting of two continuous pieces of music on the two sides of the vinyl record. The story has thematic elements of lost love, sudden success, acceptance, and lost childhood, along with an upbeat ending. As Fish explains, he conceived the concept during a 10-hour acid trip.

Several of the songs and titles contain notable autobiographical references; for example, "Kayleigh" references the breakdown of relationships as a whole but is centered around Fish's past girlfriend named Kay Lee. Fish came up with the name Kayleigh in order to obscure the original name due to the song being too personal. Another example is "Heart of Lothian" ("I was born with the heart of Lothian") which is a reference to a traditional region of Scotland – Fish himself being from Midlothian – and a reference to the Heart of Midlothian, a mosaic heart in the pavement of Edinburgh's Royal Mile.

The theme of childhood is developed in "Lavender", which is partly based on the traditional folk song "Lavender Blue". Brown also appeared on the artwork of the album's three hit singles, "Kayleigh", "Lavender", and "Heart of Lothian", and can be seen in the music video for "Kayleigh". The Jester from the two previous studio albums is imagined escaping through the window on the back cover.

Release

Misplaced Childhood was released in the United Kingdom on 17 June 1985 by EMI Records Misplaced Childhood was certified Platinum by the BPI for sales in excess of 300,000 copies on 26 November 1985 just five months after the release.

Three singles, "Kayleigh", "Lavender" and "Heart of Lothian", were released, with the first preceding the album. "Kayleigh" peaked at number 2 in the UK Singles Chart,

Remastering and reissues

As part of a series of Marillion's first eight studio albums, EMI Records re-released Misplaced Childhood on 17 October 1998 with 24-bit digital remastered sound and a second disc containing bonus tracks.

Reception

John Franck of AllMusic gave the album a 4.5 star rating. He retrospectively said that Misplaced Childhood was "not only the band's most accomplished release to date, but also its most streamlined... With its lush production and punchy mix, the album went on to become the band's greatest commercial triumph, especially in Europe where they would rise from theater attraction to bona fide stadium royalty". In 2015, Ryan Reed of Ultimate Classic Rock called the record "the cornerstone of the entire 'neo-prog' movement". Classic Rock placed Misplaced Childhood fourth on its list of "Rock's 30 Greatest Concept Albums" in 2003, and named it one of the top 10 essential progressive rock releases of the 1980s in 2016. In the special edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock released by Q Classic and Mojo, the album was ranked number 17 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums". In 2014, it was included in Rhythm magazine's "30 most influential prog drumming albums" at number 16. The album is ranked at #20 on Prog Magazine<nowiki/>'s "100 Greatest Prog Albums of All Time" list.

Legacy

Misplaced Childhood was the inspiration for comedian Will Smith's Edinburgh Festival Fringe show of the same name in 2005, which also led to a successful tour in 2006. In 2006, former Marillion lead singer Fish performed a 20th anniversary tour of Misplaced Childhood, and a 30th anniversary tour was performed in 2015. The album was played in full, and the albums Return to Childhood and Farewell to Childhood were released as documents respectively.

Promotion and tour

Marillion supported Misplaced Childhood with a one-year tour which began before the album was released. The band made two promotional appearances on BBC Television, firstly on the Wogan talk show on 20 May 1985 and then on Top of the Pops three days later, in both cases showcasing "Kayleigh". The tour consisted of European, Japanese and North American legs. In live performances preceding the album Fish claimed as a teaser that the next LP would consist of only two tracks, "Side 1" and "Side 2".

Track listing

  • Tracks 6–17 on the 1998 remastered edition bonus disc are Misplaced Childhood album demos, recorded in February 1985 and previously unreleased.

4-CD + Blu-ray Disc, 2017, Remastered, Digi-Book

CD 1 Misplaced Childhood <br>

2017 Remaster by Michael Hunter <br>

<br>

CD 2 Live at Utrecht 1985 <br>

15 October 1985 at The Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands <br>

2017 Mix and Master by Michael Hunter

  1. Emerald Lies (Intro) 0:50
  2. Script for a Jester's Tear 8:41
  3. Incubus 9:41
  4. Chelsea Monday 9:59
  5. The Web 8:17

CD 3 Live at Utrecht 1985 (continued)

  1. Pseudo Silk Kimono 3:15
  2. Kayleigh 4:00
  3. Lavender 2:20
  4. Bitter Suite 8:20
  5. Heart of Lothian 4:02
  6. Waterhole (Expresso Bongo) 2:26
  7. Lords of the Backstage 1:47
  8. Blind Curve 9:36
  9. Childhoods End? 4:13
  10. White Feather 5:48
  11. Fugazi 12:35
  12. Garden Party 6:14
  13. Market Square Heroes 7:25

CD 4 Singles, B-sides & Versions

  1. Lady Nina (B-side) 5:50
  2. Freaks (B-side) 4:08
  3. Kayleigh (alternative mix) 4:03
  4. Lavender Blue 4:23
  5. Heart of Lothian (extended mix) 5:49
  6. Lady Nina (Steve Wilson stereo remix) 3:43

Misplaced Childhood Demos

  1. <li value="7">Pseudo Silk Kimono 2:19
  2. Kayleigh 3:59
  3. Lavender 2:38
  4. Bitter Suite: Brief Encounter / Lost Weekend 2:55
  5. Lords of the Backstage 1:47
  6. Blue Angel 1:46
  7. Misplaced Rendezvous 1:57
  8. Heart of Lothian: Wide Boys / Curtain Call 3:49
  9. Waterhole (Expresso Bongo) 2:01
  10. Passing Strangers: Mylo / Perimeter Walk / Threshold 9:17
  11. Childhoods End? 2:24
  12. White Feather 2:14

Blu-ray Disc

  1. Misplaced Childhood [Steven Wilson Remix] 41:11
  2. Lady Nina [5.1 Surround Mix] 3:43
  3. Lady Nina [Stereo Remix] 3:43
  4. Misplaced Childhood [2017 Remaster] 41:11
  5. Childhood Memories [Documentary] 72:00
  6. Kayleigh [Promo Video] 3:37
  7. Lavender [Promo Video] 3:41
  8. Heart of Lothian [Promo Video] 3:27
  9. Lady Nina [Promo Video] 3:38

Personnel

;Marillion

  • Fish – vocals; cover concept
  • Steve Rothery – guitars; additional bass guitar; photography (1998 remastered edition)
  • Mark Kelly – keyboards
  • Pete Trewavas – bass guitar
  • Ian Mosley – drums, percussion

;Technical personnel

  • Chris Kimsey – production and mixing
  • Thomas Stiehler – recording
  • Mark Freegard – mixing engineering
  • Mark Wilkinson – sleeve design and illustration
  • Julie Hazelwood – collage

;1998 remastered edition

  • Peter Mew – digital remastering (July — August 1998 at Abbey Road, London, England)
  • Bill Smith Studio – artwork design

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

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! scope="col"| Chart (1985–1986)

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

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|-

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! scope="row"| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)

| align="center"| 29

|-

|-

! scope="row"|Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)

| align="center"| 11

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (2017–2025)

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

|-

! scope="row"| Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)

| 21

|-

|-

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (1985)

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

|-

|-

|}

Certifications

References

;Notes

;Citations

  • The Official Marillion Website