Strange Hobby

Untitled

Strange Hobby is an uncredited cover album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen, released in 1996. The album and the booklet contain no information about Lucassen and don't explain who was responsible for the recordings, to make the album even more "strange".

The album features covers of songs that have influenced Lucassen's musical development, mainly from the 1960s. As he did in his solo album Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy, Lucassen makes all the vocals and all the instruments (except drums and synthesizer), and arranged all the songs himself.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original artist (date)	Length
1.	"Arnold Layne"	Syd Barrett	Pink Floyd (1967)	2:59
2.	"Norwegian Wood"	John Lennon, Paul McCartney	The Beatles (1965)	2:07
3.	"Pictures of Matchstick Men"	Francis Rossi	Status Quo (1968)	3:10
4.	"I Am a Rock"	Paul Simon	Paul Simon (1965)	2:35
5.	"Boris the Spider"	John Entwistle	The Who (1966)	2:10
6.	"In the Room of Percussion"	Eddy Pumer	Kaleidoscope (1967)	3:11
7.	"Sunny Afternoon"	Ray Davies	The Kinks (1966)	3:29
8.	"See Emily Play"	Syd Barrett	Pink Floyd (1967)	2:41
9.	"For No One"	Paul McCartney	The Beatles (1966)	2:02
10.	"I Want You"	Bob Dylan	Bob Dylan (1966)	2:38
11.	"Bus Stop"	Graham Gouldman	The Hollies (1966)	3:05
12.	"Flowers in the Rain"	Roy Wood	The Move (1967)	2:11
13.	"The Letter"	Wayne Carson Thompson	The Box Tops (1967)	2:08
14.	"Ride a White Swan"	Marc Bolan	T. Rex (1970)	2:18
15.	"Sloop John B"	Traditionnal West Indies song	The Beach Boys (1966)	2:55
16.	"Daydream Believer"	John Stewart	The Monkees (1967)	2:42
17.	"Catch the Wind"	Donovan	Donovan (1965)	1:58
18.	"Ice in the Sun"	Marty Wilde, Ronnie Scott	Status Quo (1968)	2:26

Commercial reception

The album was a commercial loss, partially because Lucassen wasn't very well known yet (his success really started with Into the Electric Castle). Years later, Arjen stated "it may not be smart from a commercial point of view, but it was fun".