title: Fear of the Unknown
text: # Fear of the Unknown
  
  Fear of the Unknown is the debut solo album by British musician Martin Briley. It was released in 1981 on Mercury Records. Though most of the album features the same brand of pop that he 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.
  
  ## Artwork
  
  The artwork for Fear of the Unknown was painted by Norman Walker. Briley himself had a lot of input on the artwork, having studied graphic design, and wanted the album to have a photo-realistic cover.
  
  ## Track listing
  
  All songs written and arranged by Martin Briley.
  
  * "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
  * "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
  
  * Martin Briley – lead and backing vocals, guitars, bass, percussion
  * Robert Brissette – bass, backing vocals
  * Graham Preskett – piano, violin
  * Tommy Mandel – synthesizers
  * Eric Parker – drums
  * Eric Troyer – backing vocals
  