FISH OUT OF WATER

"Fish Out Of Water" is the debut full-length studio album by UK progressive rock artist Chris Squire. The album was released through Atlantic Records in November 1975. If you discount the 2007 Christmas album "Chris Squire's Swiss Choir ", "Fish Out Of Water" was the only solo release by Squire throughout his long career (which sadly stopped when he died in June 2015). Predominantly known for his work with seminal progressive rock act Yes, Squire was involved with a lot of other projects over the years. "Fish Out Of Water" was was recorded during a rare downtime period for Yes after the release of their seventh full-length studio album "Relayer" (November 1974) and in between the US and the UK legs of the tour supporting the album. A period which also spawned solo albums from several of the other members of Yes.

The album features five tracks and a total playing time of 42:30 minutes. Stylistically it´s pretty much Yes-style progressive rock and had Jon Anderson provided the lead vocals instead of Squire, "Fish Out Of Water" could just as well have been a Yes album (minus the use of brass). Squire´s distinct sounding bass tone and playing style is all over the album, and the arrangements of the songs also point in the direction of Yes, but since Squire was always one of the main composers of Yes songs, it´s really no surprise that his solo work is in the same ballpark. Let´s just say that he didn´t take the opportunity to write and record a solo album which was significantly different from the output of his main act.

Squire is a skilled vocalist, but he doesn´t have the personality and unique voice of Anderson and therefore his vocals on this album are good, but not extraordinary. Although a completely different band and genre of music, it´s comparable to the lead vocalist situation in Alice in Chains where lead vocalist Layne Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell also had similar lead vocalist/harmony vocalist relations (just as Anderson and Squire had in Yes), but the few times Cantrell performed lead vocals, the uniqueness of Staley´s voice was missing and you just kept wishing that it was Staley singing. It´s harsh words I know...but as mentioned it´s not that Squire isn´t a skilled vocalist and the vocals on the album are arguably well performed.

Squire has enlisted quite a few high profile session musicians for the project. Former Yes bandmate Bill Brufford performs the drums, while Mel Collins, Jimmy Hastings, and at the time current Yes bandmate Patrick Moraz also make guest appearances (on saxophone, flute, and synths). The most important session musician on "Fish Out Of Water" is however Andrew Pryce Jackman, who performs acoustic and electric pianos, and who is responsible for orchestration. Jackman was a childhood friend of of Squire´s and he had a huge part in how the material was arranged. The tracks naturally features a lot of dominant bass parts, but surpringly few guitars considering that this is a rock album. The remaining instruments (which includes both winds and brass) more than fill out the soundscape though, so the sparse use of guitars isn´t anything you notice.

"Fish Out Of Water" is a self-produced affair, and Squire has managed to produce a a well sounding album. The sound production is organic, powerful, and detailed, suiting the material well. So upon conclusion "Fish Out Of Water" is a good quality progressive rock album and a decent debut album from Chris Squire, but compared to the contemporary releases from his main band, this one can´t quite match those. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.