FISH RISING

4.5 stars. "Fish Rising" is Steve Hillage's debut album and he pretty much has everyone from GONG here except Daevid Allen. Cool to see Lindsay Cooper from HENRY COW playing bassoon on it as well. And of course Dave Stewart adds his talents on the piano and organ. In my opion this is the best solo album that Steve ever made.

"Solar Musick Suite" is the almost 17 minute opener.This is very psychedelic, dreamy and spacey. Steve's vocals fit in perfectly too. It kicks into gear before 3 1/2 minutes with guitar leading the way. It settles then kicks back in with sax. Back and forth we go. Love the guitar before 8 minutes. Great section after 9 1/2 minutes as well as it turns spacey with bass. A fuller sound arrives a minute later. A climax before 13 1/2 minutes in then vocals return when it calms back down. Fantastic tune! "Fish" is a short song with water sounds to open before drums come in leading the way. Spoken words after a minute both male and female. "Meditation Of The Snake" has a very cool psychedelic sound to start. Some nice guitar before 1 1/2 minutes.

"The Salmon Song" hits the ground running but then turns dreamy quickly. It kicks back in before 1 1/2 minutes as drums and guitar lead the way. Vocals before 2 1/2 minutes. Great sound ! It settles as some bassoon comes in after 4 minutes. The tempo picks back up 5 1/2 minutes in and vocals return. Excellent sound 7 1/2 minutes in as they jam. "Aftaglid" is the almost 15 minute closer. It's mellow to start with before a fuller psychedelic sound arrives after 1 1/2 minutes. Incredible sound here. It settles 4 1/2 minutes in. Psychedelic vocals after 7 minutes as it stays calm. It kicks back in before 9 minutes. Nice guitar work here. It settles some 11 1/2 minutes in. Steve sounds incredible.

This could be a brother to the "You" album. Both are "must haves" in my opinion.