H.M.S. Fable is the third album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 by Liverpudlian

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 band Shack

Shack (band)

Shack are an English band formed in Liverpool in 1987. Originally Shack consisted of Mick Head , his brother John Head , Justin Smith and Mick Hurst.-The Pale Fountains:...

, released in June 1999 via London Records

London Records

London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....

. It was the band's first album following their reformation after the interest generated by their previous much-delayed album Waterpistol

Waterpistol (album)

Waterpistol is the second studio album by English alternative rock band Shack. The album was recorded in 1991, but its release was delayed due to a studio fire which destroyed the master tapes. During the period between the album's recording and release, the band broke up and frontman Mick Head...

and the album by offshoot band The Strands

The Strands

The Strands were an offshoot of the Liverpool based band Shack. The band consisted of Mick Head and John Head , Iain Templeton and Michelle Brown . They released one album, titled The Magical World of The Strands in 1997.-External links:* and from BBC Liverpool08...

. 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

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

and Uncut

UNCUT (magazine)

Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...

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

Track listing

Shack

• Michael Head
  Mick Head
  Michael Head often called Mick Head, is an English musician. He is most famous as the lead singer and songwriter for Shack and The Strands, both of which also feature his younger brother John...
  
   - vocals, acoustic guitar
• John Head
  John Head
  John Head is an English musician from Kensington, Liverpool. He is the younger brother of Mick Head and has performed with in Shack and The Strands as lead guitarist. He has also performed with Love.-External links:* and from BBC Liverpool08...
  
   - electric guitar, vocals, Hammond organ
  Hammond organ
  The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
  
   on "Cornish Town"
• Ren Parry - bass
• Iain Templeton - drums, precussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Michelle Brown - bass on "Comedy", "Lend's Some Dough" and "Captain's Table"
• Martin Duffy
  Martin Duffy (musician)
  Martin Duffy is an English keyboardist who originally played in Felt and currently plays with Primal Scream.-Career:Duffy was born in Birmingham and grew up in Rednal in the south of the city, attending St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in King's Norton, and growing up listening to Two Tone, punk,...
  
   - piano on "Captain's Table"
• The Kick Horns (Roddy Lorimer
  Roddy Lorimer
  Roddy Lorimer is a Scottish musician who has performed with a number of bands, including Blur, Gene, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Eric Clapton, Suede and The Waterboys. He is currently a member of the horn section Kick Horns....
  
   and Paul Spong) - trumpets and horns on "Reinstated" and "Since I Met You"
• Richard Payne
  Richard Payne
  Richard Payne is an English musician who plays the keyboards and guitar. He is a former member of the bands Dodgy and The Bluetones.-External links:***...
  
   - Hammond on "Reinstated"; celeste
  Celesta
  The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
  
  on "Since I Met You"
• Anne Woods - violin on "Streets of Kenny"