Marbles is the thirteenth album by
Marillion, released in April, 2004.
Like Anoraknophobia before it, Marillion had a pre-order campaign, this time to raise money for promoting the album and tour. People who signed up received a special 2 disc edition of the album, in a slipcover with a 128-page booklet, containing original artwork as well as all the names of the contributors.
Taking two years to write and record, and under the hand of Dave Meegan producing, the band created what is now considered one of their most artistically successful and profound albums. The combination of long tracks and themed Marbles vignettes gave the album progressive rock credentials, and songs like You're Gone and Don't Hurt Yourself proved to be good singles--the former reaching #7 on the UK singles chart on the strength of fans buying multiple formats. A stunt to be sure; but a stunt that got them a lot of press attention and helped sales of the album.
The band also was able to undertake a large tour on the strength of the pre-order campaign, traveling to many sites in Europe they hadn't been to for several years. They also went on their first North American tour since 1997.
Track listing (two-disc campaign edition and marillion.com version):
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