Clutching at Straws

Clutching at Straws
Cover art by Mark Wilkinson
Studio album by
Marillion
Released22 June 1987
RecordedWestside Studios
(London, England)
GenreNeo-prog
Length49:25 (LP)
52:12 (CD)
LabelEMI
ProducerChris Kimsey
Marillion chronology
Brief Encounter
(1986) 		Clutching at Straws
(1987) 		B'Sides Themselves
(1988)
Singles from Clutching at Straws
  1. "Incommunicado"
    Released: 11 May 1987
  2. "Sugar Mice"
    Released: 13 July 1987
  3. "Warm Wet Circles"
    Released: 26 October 1987

Clutching at Straws is the fourth studio album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released on June 22, 1987.[1] It was the last album with lead singer Fish, who left the band in 1988, and is a concept album.[2][3]

Although Clutching at Straws did not achieve the sales of its predecessor, the number one album Misplaced Childhood, spending 15 weeks on the UK album chart (the shortest chart residency of any of Marillion's first four studio albums), it was still an immediate commercial success, becoming the second highest charting Marillion album by entering the chart at number two. It produced three UK Top 40 singles: "Incommunicado", "Sugar Mice" and "Warm Wet Circles".

The album has received critical acclaim, being listed in Q magazine's "50 Best Recordings of the Year",[4] it has been described by AllMusic as an "unheralded masterpiece",[5] and Rolling Stone placed it at number 37 in its countdown of the "50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time".[6] Prog Magazine rated it #47 on their "100 Greatest Prog Albums of all Time." In 1999, a 2-CD 'Remastered Version' with additional B-sides and demos was released, including detailed liner notes from all of the original members including Fish.

  1. ^ Strickland, Andy (20 June 1987). "News Digest". Record Mirror. p. 17. ISSN 0144-5804.
  2. ^ Borthwick, Stuart (2004). Popular Music Genres: An Introduction. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0748617456.
  3. ^ Macan, Edward (1997). Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture. Oxford University Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-0195098884.
  4. ^ "1987 Q Magazine Recordings of the Year". Rocklist.net. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  5. ^ "Clutching at Straws". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  6. ^ "50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.