FISH

The man who would be Peter Gabriel.

I can't say I ever appreciated Fish's work. Marillion, while he was a member always sounded like a second rate Genesis. Fish's voice even sounds somewhere between Gabriel's and Phil Collins'. Then there was the act of leaving the band he helped make popular (so to speak) at the height of their success (so to speak).

So here is Fish's second solo album. Mine has a different cover than the one posted here, but at least he's not posing in a wet car, or displaying finger trails. You get a couple of passable prog songs, like Marillion, that sound like Genesis knockoffs, a few songs that sound like they were "inspired" by some of Gabriel's solo work (one brings to mind Humdrum, and another, Solsbury Hill, complete with Gabriel-like shouts). There are also some very forgettable arena rock type songs.

But I really must mention the cover of Thunderclap Newman's Something In The Air. Either Fish is being extremely ironic (but I doubt it), or he misses the point. Here we have a song about coming revolution, and he arranges it in a bland corporate pop style.

Instead of Peter Gabriel, he has become Phil Collins.

I had given up on Fish a while ago until I went to one of his shows last year. He notably played Arc of the Curve and it quickly got into me just enough to have me say "ok, let's give the great man another try". Well, I never thought I'd love a new Fish album this much. Thirtheenth Star is a complete success from start to finish. Just stunning.

This is a very melodic, crossover prog album; thus those looking for something more technical or heavy could be disappointed. I personnally have a crush for melodic stuff when it's well done, so this one was made for me. It is also a very consistent, steady album, rather than a roller coaster with many highs and lows. The sound is ambient-oriented, quite atmospheric, with some edgy guitars here and there, and some more energetic segments, such as the first part of Manchmal. It also draws from a variety of genres such as celtic, folk or jazz, but not too much so as to avoid thinning down the album's very original spirit.

For me, it also took quite some time to grow, to the point I almost shelved it and thought it was another disappointment. Strangely, this one started to grow while I was listening to it while I was distracted at doing something else. At some point, it just grabbed me, I realized I was listening to something that I very much liked, and I cannot get tired of it now. Even my girlfriend, who is a classical musician but who is not usually much fond of prog, loves it !

Steve Vantsis appears as a genius here. Thirteenth Star is a joyfest of superb guitars and songwriting. It also features one of Fish's best vocal performances (now with a very mature, balanced and poised voice) as well as great backing vocals by Lorna Bannon, and comes with a pretty booklet and CD design.

Except perhaps for the grandiose finish, I cannot point at my favourite moments; I love the whole thing. Easy 4 stars, just short of being what I consider a "masterpiece". But just how much I appreciate this album would probably have many people award 5 stars.

Thirteenth Star is not to be missed and is a more than excellent addition to just about any collection.

I had shelved this album many years ago, but Fish's latest album, 13th Star, as well as the mostly excellent ratings given in PA, convinced me to give it another try in case I had been completely mistaken. And I was not.

Listening tho Sunsets on Empire again for the purpose of this review was excruciating. I am a fan of Fish, notably for his work with Marillion, his live performances as well as his first and latest solo albums, but the only reason why I will not pawn this album is because I am also a collector. And then, even as a collector, I would avoid buying it knowing full well what it is.

Sunsets on Empire opens with a good progressive track, The Perception of Johnny Punter. Nice guitar riff mixing accoustic and electric, spacey keyboards and great vocals. Slowly builds up to a strong ending.

Golfish and Clowns, the second track, is pretty. Yet, nothing progressive there, and mostly sounds like trying to "chart the single".

The only other bearable track would be Brother 52, another radio hit attempt. Edges towards hard rock with folk elements, would fit on a Fish compilation. But that's about it for Sunsets.

All of the other 7 tracks consist of taxing melodies and elementary compositions. It seems to me that they were crafted for the purpose of filling an album which was required to sell the two or three decent tracks mentioned above. Sunrise will not come again for this CD as far as I'm concerned.

Solid 4 stars, if not 4.5

Is it a cliché to say "Great album"? Fish's solo debut after his departure from Marillion was a strong, strong start and yet the first step into a story that did not unfold as many would have hoped.

As most purists of progressive music agree, the divorce between Fish and Marillion is something that should have never happened, and is quite as tragic as Peter Gabriel's departure from Genesis. Together, Marillion and Fish had a unique chemistry from which emerged a musical ambiance of gloomy sentimentality and poetic melancholy that is forever lost and that I still long for after all these years.

Still, after this tragic divorce, both Fish and Marillion, now with frontman Steve Hoggart, produced excellent debut albums, the former with Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors and the later with the excellent Season's End. Both parties would keep producing good pieces here and there but never quite reached the same level of musical creativity on a continuous basis like in the good old days of those four early albums.

This being said, and my apologies for this long intro, Vigil exceeded most if not all expectations as a debut album for Fish solo. First, Vigil marked a major shift of musical and lyrical color for Fish, who chose to work, à la Gabriel, with happier themes and ambiances (still not rosy though).

The title track (my favourite) opens with a slow but powerful progression from soft keyboards to electric guitar and then full throttle, and off we go into an album that never really disappoints for its full lenght.

Big Wedge is the radio hit attempt and has little relevance to the progressive world, but somehow fits nicely into the album.

Then follows State of Mind and Company, two songs with interesting musical arrangements and lyrics. The accordion section on The Company is particularly moving.

The ballad A Gentlemen's Excuse Me can hardly leave anyone indifferent. Simple on the structure and arrangements, but featuring a nice lyrical progression and musical movements, with the violin addition in the last section. Makes a strong impression.

Voyeur is, perhaps, my least favourite song, but it adds a harder rock element at a point of the album where it is welcome.

The last tracks, Family Business, View from the Hill and especially Cliché, are three more testaments to Fish's creativity and emotional appeal, combined with nicely done musical compositions. Cliché, perhaps the track with the most progressive elements next to Vigil, ends this great album with a powerful and poignant song, vocally, lyrically and musically, and features one of the nicest lyrical twists I can think of.

Unfortunately, the following albums from Fish were not to match this one.

NB : The bonus disc on the remastered edition of Marillion's Clutching at Straws contains materials that were being worked on by the band at the moment of Fish's departure. Some were kept by the band and integrated into Season's End, while some others were kept by Fish and integrated into Vigil, such as Sunset Hill and Voice in the Crowd...

An artist that gives everything he has...and more, to his audience

I received "Return to Childhood" as a gift from a cousin who liked MARILLION but never cared for FISH solo stuff, well I'm not too far from him, heard very little of his solo material but accepted the DVD, more because of curiosity than for real conviction, but I'm happy to have done it, the show is fantastic

I'm used to read "The great artist has given all what he has for his public"·, hey that's nice, only professionals do it, but when you see a guy like FISH, who apparently is not in the best physical conditions giving such a splendid show, we must accept that gives more than what he has to his public.

If you have seen this DVD, probably noticed that in the instrumental breaks FISH sits holding his head between his hands and seems extremely tired in some moments, but when he stands up and tells stories to his public, he manages to grab the audience with his great charisma, and when he sings, his problems seems to vanish, this guy is a real and complete artist.

The first part of the show consists in FISH's solo material, which I found very interesting, specially "Moving Targets" which has many similarities with early MARILLION music and the delightful "Goldfish & Clowns" a song that has clear influence of PETER GABRIEL.

Even though I wasn't familiar with FISH'S solo songs I enjoyed most of them and will be getting some of his albums because I believe this good material deserves to be listened.

But what I was really expecting was MARILLION'S music, and I wasn't disappointed, the charismatic vocalist maintains the good voice that made him famous and the close communication with the audience with stories and jokes.

The band is extremely efficient, specially Frank Usher who does some outstanding solos like the one in "Kayleigh" and John Tonks who is extremely solid in the drums.

It would be futile to comment and describe the tracks, because all have been commented by several members while reviewing the studio albums, but I believe it's enough to say that the show is worth to be seen from start to end.

The video is not perfect but good enough to appreciate the performance and there's even an interesting interview with FISH, so the correct rating for me is 4 stars.

Interesting debut album by Fish, famous because was Marillion first 4 albums singer. With my disappointment Fish conceives an album that is extreme good. But not, certainly, too personal. In certain passages the songs are similar to Phil Collins solo song but with Prog structure, in other passages Peter Gabriel is here and in another passages Marillions are presents. And all of this with a magic that is not the magic of Collins, Gabriel or Marillion or Genesis but... Fish's magic! In truth, except for the big band Jazz of ''Big Wedge'' and for the modern POP of ''The Voyeur (I Like To Watch)'', ''Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirror'' is a compact album in a style that is a perfect mix between solo Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Marillion and Genesis but with Fish mentality for to be a reasonable personality in music.

The production is good and this fact confused the ideas. In fact the songs are not so Prog but it is also that these songs are not simple POP songs because the Prog quotient is reasonable high. Certainly if you wait a Marillion album you are outside of the road. Fish is Fish and without Marillion Fish treats a different and more airy music. That at the end is also more elegant and exciting. But, of course, less Prog.

Vigil in A Wilderness of Mirrors is the debut album by former Marillion vocalist Fish. Fish and Marillion parted ways in 1988 after making four of my personal favorite albums. EMI had the rights to Fish solo recordings because of a leaving members clause but Vigil in A Wilderness of Mirrors would be the only album Fish released on EMI as he would leave the label after a lengthy legal dispute in 1991. Most songs on the album are co-written by keyboard player Mickey Simmonds ( who would also tour with Fish on the following tour for the album), but Janick Gers ( Iron Maiden) and Hal Lindes ( Dire Straits) would also contribute to the writing of a few songs on the album.

The music ranges from slightly progressive rock and ballads to pop/ rock. My favorites on the album are the opening title track which is probably the song on the album which sounds mostly like Fish-era Marillion and the heavily orchestrated A Gentleman's Excuse Me. The Company and Family Business also comes of as sounding quite succesful to my ears. The rest is rather forgettable though and not really something that impresses me. Big Wedge with its brass arrangement and female backing choir even annoys me a bit. Most of the songs are lacking in the instrumental department though and that also counts for the better songs on the album. This album is clearly a solo album by a vocalist. Fish shines as ever and his lyrics are as usual of high quality but I wish he would have concentrated more on making interesting music as well.

The musicianship is good, but the performance of the musicians come of as a bit anonymous simply because the song arrangements are too generic. The performance needs bite and it´s really only Fish who sounds like he means it.

The production is good, but again there´s too much emphasis on the vocals and too little emphasis on the music as a whole.

It´s safe to say that I had big expectations to both Fish solo albums and Marillion´s post-Fish ditto. None of them have delivered what I would call better than average rock albums since they parted ways and I must admit to be one of those who cry myself asleep every night because of the split. Fish-era Marillion simply had a wonderful magic that neither the band nor Fish have been able to create since. Vigil in A Wilderness of Mirrors is overall a pretty good album from the singer though and deserves a 3 star rating.

I just read lazland's review of Thirteenth Star, and it convinced me that not only did I need to write a review of Fish's Thirteenth Star, but also that I should go against the common wisdom of the community and award it 5 stars.

Let me explain. lazland was mentioning all of his favorite tracks from this album and I was reading along and saying amen to every thing he had to say.

Then I realized that he hadn't mentioned any of the songs that I consider to be the high points of this album.

Ever had an album that took you ages to listen to because you kept going back to certain tracks over and over again? Well, Thirteenth Star is one of those rare albums for me. It literally took me a couple months to hear it all the way through, because I never made it past Zoe 25. By the time I got that far I would either go back to the beginning or start over again at Miles de Besos. Of course I eventually made it to the second half of the album and loved it just as much as the first.

Now THAT to me says that an album is truly a masterpiece. Not many CD's capture me that way from the get go. The only two that I can think of offhand are Steve Hackett's Spectral Mornings and Echolyn's Suffocating the Bloom. And I'll stack Fish's latest work up against those two great CD's any day.

As for the music, it is classic Fish but edgier. Fish is more relevant to the progressive scene today than he has been ever since his time with Marillion. The lyrics too (and Fish is a great lyricist even when he's off his game) are some of his best.

5 stars. One day we will all acknowledge this to be Fish's greatest contribution to prog (well, except maybe for his performance on Script.)

I thoroughly agree with a previous reviewer that this is a grown up version of Misplaced Childhood. It is easily the Big Man's finest solo work and combines all sorts of celtic, jazz, prog, and classic elements.

The key to the whole work, though, is the fact that it was written as a result of emotional upheaval, his split from Heather Findlay, in much the same way as his great first solo LP was born from his leaving Marillion. Perhaps Fish should only write LPs at such times as this!!

The tracks are even better performed live, but his emotive discussion of a failed relationship on Arc of the Curve is simply classic Fish. He feels and means every single word. Manchmal has everything, includinf a stunning guitar solo. Dark Star speaks atmosphere, and, indeed, many of the tracks have a mellow and meloncholic feel to them.

Square Go has a deep thundering bass and guitar opening before closing with a melodic keyboard backing to as mournful statement of loneliness. Zoe 25 contains a lovely mix of vocals with piano and guitar backdrop. It is emotive and real.

Where in the World is a nice prog ballad with wistful vocals combined with again beautiful keyboard and guitar work.

13th Star, the album closer, starts off gently before coming to life with powerful music and vocals before calming down again with wistful meaning. You feel the man's pain.

This is a great LP and is thoroughly recommended to all who enjoy their music to mean something.

Heartbreaking, but so rewarding.

Fish's latest (and perhaps final) solo album has been called his best offering to date, and it may very well be. Since his departure with Marillion The singer has boasted a wide discography neo-prog albums that have sparatically done well or flopped, but this one is sure to please just about any prog fan. Like many neo-prog albums these days the album is dark and brooding, clearly over love lost since just about every song on the album deals with a break up in some way or another, but the lyrics and music are done so well that is doesn't come off as ''feeling sorry for one's self,'' but rather just very good and dark prog. As far as style goes, it's hard to compare this effort to anything done with Marillion other than Fish's voice itself - the music is darker, shadier and generally less welcoming, but it is very much something that the general population would label as 'prog rock' with each song being fairly lengthy and imploring the use of off kilter time signatures that makes every song rather 'mid-paced', but gives it an incredible amount of longevity with the listener.

One of the best parts about this album is just how even it is. None of the songs stand out against one another, they're all very even, and this means that there's no weak points on the album. The fact that there's no overwhelming high points on the album also means that there's never ''just that one song'' that you're always waiting for, or will skip ahead to - making this a very solid offering. From the opening tune, Circle Line you're bombarded with a plethora of eastern influences, hard riffs and almost trip-hop moments that blend together along with Fish's emotional voice and it all works so well. Songs such as Zoe 25 and Miles De Besos work mostly off the lyrics to tell a sad tale backed by a full and richly melodic soundscape. Other songs are a little bit more on the upbeat side such as the heavy Manchmal or the almost be-boppy Openwater, but it all flows so well that none of the songs seem out of place at any given time.

It's a little bit difficult to go into detail about every single song because while they're all very different they seem to follow a theme which keeps them in line with one another. All that can be said is that by the end of the strangely heart-string plucking title track, 13th Star you'll be feeling rather uplifted from the whole experience - even if the album is rather dreary on the whole. Perhaps it's just the simply wonderful instrumentation throughout the disc that makes it just so pleasing to the ear amongst the dark themes, but something works, whatever it is.

This is a very strong album which is sure to please any prog fan who likes traditional prog rock put into a concise form with sharp moments abound - even if it is a little darker than some other albums out there. 4 stars out of 5 for an emotional rollercoaster of an album put to some of the best music to come out of the neo-scene in quite some time. While it would be unfortunate if Fish never make another album again, this would definitely be a high not to go out on. High recommended.