Fear of the Unknown

Fear of the Unknown
Fear of the Unknown
Studio album by Martin Briley
Released	August 1981
Recorded	July–August 1981
Studio	Howard Schwartz Recording (New York City)
Genre	Pop rock
Label	Mercury
Producer	Allan Blazek, Martin Briley
Martin Briley chronology
Singles from Fear of the Unknown
	"I Don't Feel Better"; Released: 1981; "The Man I Feel"; Released: 1981; "Slipping Away"; Released: October 1981;

Fear of the Unknown is the debut solo album by the English rock musician Martin Briley, released in 1981 by Mercury Records.

Although most of the album features the same brand of pop that Briley would play throughout his solo career, the title track is a final salute to Briley's progressive rock background, featuring menacing distorted vocals and paranoiac violin riffs reminiscent of King Crimson. Fear of the Unknown is more self-contained than most of Briley's solo albums, being the only one on which he played all the guitars himself, and the only one which he co-produced.

The cover artwork was painted by Norman Walker. Briley, having studied graphic design, had a lot of input on the artwork and wanted the album to have a photo-realistic cover.^[3]

Track listing[edit]

All songs written and arranged by Martin Briley.

Side one

"Slipping Away" – 3:22
"The Man I Feel" – 4:02
"I Feel Like a Milkshake" – 3:53
"First to Know" – 3:06
"Heart of Life" – 5:00

Side two

"A Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing" – 3:12
"I Don't Feel Better" – 3:12
"More of the Same" – 2:56
"One Step Behind" – 5:49
"Fear of the Unknown" – 3:57

Personnel[edit]

Musicians

Martin Briley – lead and backing vocals, guitars, bass guitar, percussion
Eric Parker – drums
Tommy Mandel – synthesizers
Graham Preskett – piano, violin
Robert Brissette – bass guitar, backing vocals
Eric Troyer – backing vocals

Technical

Allan Blazek – engineer
Richard Brownstein – assistant engineer
Ted Jensen – mastering
Norman Walker – illustrations
Waring Abbott – photography
Bill Lewy – cover concept
Bob Heimall – design

References[edit]

^ Novitsky, Ed; Ruppli, Michel (1993). The Mercury Labels: The 1969–1991 Era and Classical Recordings. Greenwood Press. p. 466. ISBN 9780313290343 – via Google Books.
^ "Top Single Picks". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 41. 17 October 1981. p. 79 – via Google Books.
^ "The Art". Archived from the original on 30 December 2006. Retrieved 31 December 2006.

External links[edit]

Official Martin Briley website

[1] Novitsky, Ed; Ruppli, Michel (1993). The Mercury Labels: The 1969–1991 Era and Classical Recordings. Greenwood Press. p. 466. ISBN 9780313290343 – via Google Books.

[2] "Top Single Picks". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 41. 17 October 1981. p. 79 – via Google Books.

[3] "The Art". Archived from the original on 30 December 2006. Retrieved 31 December 2006.

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