''H.M.S. Fable'' is the third

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Liverpudlian Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

band

Shack A shack (or, in some areas, shanty) is a type of small shelter or dwelling, often primitive or rudimentary in design and construction. Unlike huts, shacks are constructed by hand using available materials; however, whereas huts are usually r ...

, released in June 1999 via

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. It was the band's first album following their reformation after the interest generated by their previous much-delayed album '' Waterpistol'' and the album by offshoot band The Strands. ''H.M.S. Fable'' was well received by the critics: among the UK music publications, the album was placed at number 2 on both the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' and '' Uncut'' critics' poll of the albums of the year for 1999, and number 5 in '' Select'' magazine.

Legacy

The album was included in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music criti ...

''. ''

'' placed the album as number 332 on their 2013 list of the

500 greatest albums of all time 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

Track listing

Personnel

Shack

* Michael Head – vocals, acoustic guitar * John Head – electric guitar, vocals,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

on "Cornish Town" *Ren Parry – bass *Iain Templeton – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

*Michelle Brown – bass on "Comedy", "Lend's Some Dough" and "Captain's Table" *

Martin Duffy Martin Bernard Duffy (18 May 1967 – 18 December 2022) was an English musician who played keyboards with Felt and Primal Scream. Career Duffy was born in Birmingham and grew up in Rednal in the south of the city, attending St. Thomas Aquinas ...

– piano on "Lend’s Some Dough" *The

Kick Horns Kick Horns are a UK horn section based in London. They have worked prolifically as session musicians with a wide variety of performers, and have also recorded as an ensemble. The Kick Horns were established in the 1980s by Simon C. Clarke and Ti ...

(

Roddy Lorimer Roddy Lorimer (born 19 May 1953) is a Scottish musician who plays trumpet and flugelhorn. He has performed with Blur, Gene, the Rolling Stones, Draco Rosa, the Who, the Style Council, Eric Clapton, Suede, Supergrass, Beyoncé, Jamiroquai, D ...

and Paul Spong) – trumpets and horns on "Reinstated" and "Since I Met You" *Richard Payne – Hammond organ on "Reinstated"; celeste on "Since I Met You" *Anne Woods – violin on "Streets of Kenny"

References

{{Authority control Shack (band) albums 1999 albums Albums produced by Hugh Jones (producer) Albums produced by Youth (musician) London Records albums Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios