FIELD OF CROWS

The album is inspired by the paintings of Gogh. Gogh was an impressionist with the sad soul searching for some light in his life. The album is also sad, but not very much, it is sometimes jolly too, but not very much. Ballads are not so slow and soft, you feel a certain heavy insistence in depth; the heavy tracks are not so heavy, you can feel some romantic heart behind. Simply, Fish as we like him. It has taken a longer time for me till I dare to put down some words about that album. I like it. I think it is one of his best solo works, perhaps the best one. The only problem I have is if to rank it as 5* or 4*. There are songs which deserve 5 (Lost plot, exit wound, Scattering crows), but there are as well some shortcomings. The general problem is that the music does not bring anything new in the context of the Fish solo carier. There are strong ballads, catchy melodies, agressivity, angry political exclamations a la Speaking in tongues (No more innocent parties) as well as silent peace of empty fields with crying black crows. What I like especially is that the songs are not amplifed here with angry rapping and recitating as in some older stuff of Fish. But nothing really new and revelationary, as it should be in the case of masterpiece. Why? I think that the answer lies in the fact that Fish is not a musician. He is of course an excellent songwriter, vocalist, but he is also a poet, perhaps also a painter?, philosopher and some kind of an angry satirist, or better, a joker. And consequently, he is not evolving musically, of course, he gathered the excellent musicians around him, but the crew is changing often. So it is clear that the style is somehow dropping through his fingers. For example, M. Brzezinski is here back for the first time since the vigil, F. Usher is back on guitars after the pause. But J. Wesley is not here although he made an excellent work in the previous album. That is the problem, there is little continuity. This album could have been easily the second, third or the last one, as it is. So, even I like it very much, I cannot evaluate it as a masterpiece. But perhaps, once Fish comes with some. It is surely worthy following.