FISH OUT OF WATER

Chris Squire

Symphonic Prog

4.00 | 520 ratings

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Argonaught

It might sound strange, but I am kind of glad that back in 1974 Yes went on de facto 3-year hiatus and KC disbanded.

Otherwise the skeleton crew of the Chris Squire's band, consisting of Bruford, Collins, Moraz and Squire, might have never come together the way they did to record Fish Out of Water (the gentlemen are listed alphabetically, not in order of importance).

Reading previous reviews, I came to realize that Fish isn't everybody's cup of tea, and I can myself see one noticeable "deficiency" about it: the album is not chasing new horizons, or breaking creative molds, or blazing trails. But it's still a 5-star purebred symph ? IMO, not inferior musically to CTTE and a few other flagship albums of the time.

If we set aside the lack of experimentation and innovation and evaluate Fish from a musical hedonist's point of view, here is what we are likely to see (at least I do):

LUSH, VOLUPTIOS SOUND THROUGOUT. There isn't such thing as "too much bass guitar" in general, and in Fish we get plenty of it in its best pedigree ? leading and driving the music-weaving process. Thanks be to Heavens for this.

Messieurs Moraz, Bruford and Collins also do classy job on this album, along with the uncredited, but very competent musicians on woodwind and brass instruments.

SENSE OF MEASURE, BALANCE AND PROPORTION. Fish does showcase sophisticated melody lines and arrangements, but at the same time it's not excessively "florid" (thanks be to Heavens again). It's surprisingly easy to listen to, probably because the sound patterns are so masterfully integrated into an ultra-smooth and wholesome musical monument.

STABLE QUALITY THROUGHOUT. Fish doesn't have a single weak segment or a skip-worthy track. I enjoy it when it's played whole in one sitting, or only Side A or B, or even a 8-10 minute long fragment. Frankly, I don't know many other albums that have such high music to fillers ratio.

All in all, in my book it's a masterpiece of symphonic rock ? not experimental, but great nonetheless.

Argonaught | 5/5 | 2012-11-2

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