FISH RISING

An album that captures both the best of the spirit and potential of Canterbury, Fish Rising is one that won't get away from my clutches. It's not great, but it does contain some undeniably great moments, and as such is one of my favorite Canterbury albums.

Solar Musick is definitely the highlight, as it is just packed with layers of guitar, and it samples from hard rock, space rock, jazz, and some interesting hybrids of these. Perhaps greatest is that it's not just a complex guitar song, as keys, organs, some nice sax, and excellent percussion make welcome appearances throughout. Despite the limited vocals, the spacey intro and outtro work very well, and the instrumental middle section is absolutely inspired, from the laid back jazz jam, to when the mood suddenly turns dark, to when everything explodes in climax, only to die down to the familiar theme. One of my top 50 epics.

Aftaglid is not on par with Solar Musick, but it's the second highlight of the album for me. Hillage starts up an absolutely huge echoed riff, coupled effectively by synth, and then dies down for the definitely less enthralling yoga session. However, things pick back up nicely with Hillage taking up the echo effects to great success, topped off with some handclaps. Sometimes good rock can be this simple.

Trippy album with some sublime moments for all time, and a fitting cover to boot. Fish Rising hits the spot when I just want some killer prog music that I don't have to think too much about.