''Misplaced Childhood'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

by the British neo-progressive rock band

Marillion Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the most ...

, released in 1985. It is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Some ...

loosely based on the childhood of Marillion's lead singer,

Fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

, 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 Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

and produced by

Chris Kimsey Christopher Kenneth Kimsey (born 3 December 1951 in Battersea, London, England) is an English record producer, mixer and musician most famous for having co-produced The Rolling Stones' ''Undercover'' and ''Steel Wheels'' albums. He was also an ...

, who had previously worked with

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

. ''Misplaced Childhood'' is the group's most commercially successful album to date, peaking immediately at number one in the UK charts and spending a total of 41 weeks on the chart. It ultimately gained the

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

status. It features Marillion's two most successful singles, the guitar-led rock ballad "

Kayleigh "Kayleigh" is a song by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion. It was released as the first single from the concept album ''Misplaced Childhood''. It was the band's most successful single in the UK, where it peaked at number-two and ...

", which reached number two in the UK, and piano-led " Lavender", which peaked at number five. ''Misplaced Childhood'' was listed as the sixth best album of 1985 by ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication '' Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a on ...

'' and chosen as the fourth greatest concept album of all time by ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

'' 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 Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east- central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinbu ...

– and a reference to the Heart of Midlothian (Royal Mile) – 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 "Lavender's Blue" (also called "Lavender Blue") is an English folk song and nursery rhyme from the 17th century. Its Roud Folk Song Index number is 3483. It has been recorded in various forms and some pop versions have been hits in the U.S. and ...

". Like "Kayleigh" it is a love song, but whereas "Kayleigh" was about the failure of an adult relationship, "Lavender" recalls the innocence of childhood.

Packaging and cover art

Like '' Script for a Jester's Tear'' and ''

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their sty ...

'', the original vinyl edition of ''Misplaced Childhood'' was released in a gatefold sleeve. The artwork was created by

Mark Wilkinson Mark Wilkinson (born 3 October 1952) is an English illustrator. He is best known for the detailed surrealistic cover art he created for a number of British bands. Wilkinson's breakthrough came through his association with the neo-progressive ...

who was commissioned to the role on all Marillion albums and 12" singles of the Fish-era. The front cover features a soldier drummer portrayed by Robert Mead, a then ten-year-old boy who lived next door to Wilkinson. Mead 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 EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

on LP, 12" picture disc and cassette and went on to be the band's biggest selling album. It topped the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, becoming the first and the only Marillion album to do so. It stayed on the charts for 41 weeks, the longest chart residency of any of the band's albums. ''Misplaced Childhood'' was certified Platinum by the BPI for sales in excess of 300,000 copies on 26 November 1985 just 5 months after the release. It was the 20th best selling album in the United Kingdom for 1985. The album was also highly successful across mainland Europe reaching number 3 in Germany, number 6 in Switzerland and the Netherlands, the latter of which is where Marillion have one of their largest fanbases, and number 10 in Norway. In the United States ''Misplaced Childhood'' came out on the

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

label and reached number 47 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, the highest position the band has ever achieved. 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 The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

turning out to be the biggest hit for Marillion and prompting the success of ''Misplaced Childhood''. The two further singles were less successful but still ended up at high positions as "Lavender" reached number 5 and "Heart of Lothian" peaked at number 29.

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. The remastered version was also made available without the bonus disc in 2000 and again in 2005 as a Japanese mini-LP replica. A new 180g heavy weight vinyl pressing identical to the original 1985 edition was released in 2013. On 21 July 2017, a deluxe edition of ''Misplaced Childhood'' was released via Parlophone as a 4CD/Blu-ray set along with a 4LP boxed version. The deluxe edition includes a new remaster, as well as, on the Blu-ray disc, new high-resolution stereo and 5.1 surround remixes by Steven Wilson. The set also includes a previously unreleased 1985 concert from Utrecht featuring a performance of ''Misplaced Childhood'' in its entirety, along with demos and rarities.

Reception

John Franck of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

gives the album a 4.5 star rating. He has 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".

Accolades

'' listed the album the sixth best LP of 1985. ''

'' 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 Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'', the album was ranked number 17 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums". In 2014, it was included in ''

Rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...

'' magazine's "30 most influential prog drumming albums" at number 16.

Legacy

''Misplaced Childhood'' was the inspiration for comedian

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

show of the same name in 2005, which also led to a successful tour in 2006. In 2006, former Marillion lead singer

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 BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

, firstly on the ''

Wogan ''Wogan'' is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 until 1992, presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then broadcast ...

'' talk show on 20 May 1985 and then on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' 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
2017 Remaster by Michael Hunter

CD 2 Live at Utrecht 1985
15th October, 1985 at The Muziekcentrum Vredenburg,

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

2017 Mix and Master by Michael Hunter # Emerald Lies (Intro) 0:50 # Script for a Jester's Tear 8:41 # Incubus 9:41 # Chelsea Monday 9:59 # The Web 8:17 CD 3 Live at Utrecht 1985 (continued) # Pseudo Silk Kimono 3:15 # Kayleigh 4:00 # Lavender 2:20 # Bitter Suite 8:20 # Heart of Lothian 4:02 # Waterhole (Expresso Bongo) 2:26 # Lords of the Backstage 1:47 # Blind Curve 9:36 # Childhoods End? 4:13 # White Feather 5:48 # Fugazi 12:35 # Garden Party 6:14 # Market Square Heroes 7:25 CD 4 Singles, B-sides & Versions # Lady Nina (B-side) 5:50 # Freaks (B-side) 4:08 # Kayleigh (alternative mix) 4:03 # Lavender Blue 4:23 # Heart of Lothian (extended mix) 5:49 # Lady Nina (Steve Wilson stereo remix) 3:43 ''Misplaced Childhood'' Demos #

Pseudo Silk Kimono 2:19 # Kayleigh 3:59 # Lavender 2:38 # Bitter Suite: Brief Encounter / Lost Weekend 2:55 # Lords of the Backstage 1:47 # Blue Angel 1:46 # Misplaced Rendezvous 1:57 # Heart of Lothian: Wide Boys / Curtain Call 3:49 # Waterhole (Expresso Bongo) 2:01 # Passing Strangers: Mylo / Perimeter Walk / Threshold 9:17 # Childhoods End? 2:24 # White Feather 2:14 Blu-ray Disc # Misplaced Childhood teven Wilson Remix41:11 # Lady Nina .1 Surround Mix3:43 # Lady Nina tereo Remix3:43 # Misplaced Childhood 017 Remaster41:11 # Childhood Memories ocumentary72:00 # Kayleigh

romo Video Romantic Modernism, more commonly known as Romo, was a musical and nightclubbing movement, of glam/style pop lineage, in the UK circa 1995–1997, centred on the twin homes of Camden-based clubnight Club Skinny and its West End clone Arcadia ...

3:37 # Lavender

3:41 # Heart Of Lothian

3:27 # Lady Nina

3:38

Personnel

;Marillion *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

; cover concept * Steve Rothery –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

s; additional

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

;''Misplaced Childhood'' 1998 remastered edition - Pete Trewavas' sleevenotes photography (1998 remastered edition) *

Mark Kelly Mark Edward Kelly (born February 21, 1964) is an American politician, former astronaut, and United States Navy captain who has served as the junior United States senator from Arizona since 2020. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elect ...

– keyboards * Pete Trewavas –

* Ian Mosley –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

;Technical personnel *

– production and mixing *Thomas Stiehler – recording *Mark Freegard – mixing engineering *

– sleeve design and illustration *Julie Hazelwood – collage ;1998 remastered edition *

Peter Mew Peter Mew is a retired British music audio engineer. He worked at Abbey Road Studios, where he was the senior mastering engineer. He came to Abbey Road in 1965 as a tape operator and has since worked with many artists at the studio. Kevin Ayers of ...

– digital remastering (July — August 1998 at Abbey Road,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

) *Bill Smith Studio – artwork design

Charts

;Weekly charts ;Year-end charts

Certifications

References

;Notes ;Citations

External links

The Official Marillion Website
{{Authority control Marillion albums 1985 albums Neo-progressive rock albums Concept albums EMI Records albums Albums produced by Chris Kimsey