INTERNAL EXILE

Somehow, in the 90´s, I lost sight of Fish´s solo career after his first album, even if I loved that CD a lot (see my review). It was only in 2002 that I´ve decided it was time to have a look at one of my favourite prog singers and poet. That was when I got the new remastered version of International Exile with a great booklet written by Fish himself and two bonus tracks for a quite reasonable price. Not bad!

I was glad I bought it later on. I suppose I´d see this work as a big disappointment then. The music here is much more dense, less melodic and, in some ways, more repetitive than on his first solo effort. Not that is bad. No! I really think that it has its charm and most of the tracks have a strong and subtle instrumentation that takes some time and attention to be fully appreciated. That said I must also say Internal Exile does have its flaws. Some of them might be tied to the difficult situations Fish faced at that period concerning his recording deal and some personal problems. Those are well explained in details on the CD´s booklet.

So it took me quite a long time to like this CD. Some of the lyrics (and, I believe, the music) reflects the turbulent phase. However, none of the tracks is really weak. But also I find hard to point a highlight. It seems to me like all tunes have its charm and power but also have something that drags them down one way or another. However I love the title track, one of his best folk influenced works ever (even if it was written around the time of the first album). His version of Something In the Air is also much better and more creative than Tom Petty´s, that was unfortunately released soon after Fish´s and hit the charts. Talk about bad timing! Interestingly enough, one of the bonus tracks, Poet´s Moon, is also one of the best with a fine melody line and great hook (something quite a missing on most of the tracks).

The lyrics are, as expected, brilliant. The man is definitely a great writer. The musicians involved are very skilful. Too bad that the melodies are not as strong as they were on Vigil In A Wilderness of Mirrors.

Conclusion: I see Internal Exile as a transitional work. It has its moments. But I can´t say it is on par with Fish´s best output. It is good. Sometimes very good. But in my opinion it is not excellent. If you´re a fan of Fish you´ll find some fine stuff here. If you´re new to his solo career, start with his first. Rating: 3 stars.