Fish
Field Of Crows (The Remasters)
October sees the start of Derek William Dick’s farewell tour or, as he is better known, Fish. That farewell tour will be much more than a retrospective of his years as Marillion’s frontman. And rightly so, because although his solo work maybe less well known than his Marillion legacy; whatever you do, don’t overlook that very period. To refresh your memory or to introduce you to his solo work for the first time at all, Written In Music dives into the catalogue of the sympathetic Scotsman and offers you an overview of Fish’s various studio albums. Previously we already shared our reviews of the EP A Parley With Angels, the albums Weltschmerz and A Feast Of Consequences and 13th Star. This review zooms in on Field Of Crows.
Field Of Crows was originally released in 2004. It is an album that showcases Fish with the eagerness he has traditionally possessed: the drive splashes off the album and especially his vocals. If you read the accompanying words Fish wrote for this reissue, you will see that Fish and his band also played for British troops. On that occasion, he also ended up at a battlefield from the 14th century: that battlefield, at the time also the abode of many crows, got him thinking. That and, how could it be otherwise if you look at the cover, a painting by Van Gogh. All in all, a great first basis for an album. And if you listen to this version of the album, in remix by Chris Kimsey from 2014 and mastered by Calum Malcolm before its release, it does sound very strong.
From opener The Field, you can hear Fish putting all his heart and soul into the songs. The opening is subtle and already evokes an atmosphere of the highlands. In terms of sound, the song could easily fit in with Fish’s second album, Internal Exile. Nice how one guitar plays the lead and the other accents to make it still sound as Celtic as possible. And a little further when Bruce Watson plays his E-Bow, everything falls into place. The E-Bow simply fits this song fantastically and gives it even more depth. Carefully composed and with carefully chosen instrumentation, the song builds.
Battlefields, soldiers wanting to take those battlefields, soldiers dying and perhaps just being buried on the spot. Taking the field in a very different way than expected. With the religious aspects in the text, Fish may still have wanted to refer to that ancient battle, or, in more abstraction, it is precisely also religion that is not infrequently at the root of armed conflict. Especially with the horn section added later, Mark Brzezicki’s military rolls added, the song takes on a very different climax than you might expect at the beginning of the song.
Moving Targets can be interpreted in several ways. On the one hand, it deals with increasing (firearms) violence; on the other, it addresses how, in today’s society, it is much easier for us to become victims in any way; it only takes one person to see you as a target. The song also ties in with the concept that Fish initially wanted to develop into a concept album; he refrained from doing so after another shooting incident where innocent people were victimised. Working out the concept would give people the idea that the album was expressing itself positively about such incidents. And that was certainly not Fish’s intention. It is a song that builds quietly with fine interaction between the instruments.
Then comes the great The Rookie which Fish sings nice and raw and where the keyboards and guitar set the song down wonderfully. You can hear the band’s and Fish’s enjoyment in playing everything: Tony Turrell pretty much takes the lead in the song. Don’t discount the rhythm section here either, though. A song that could be highly regarded live. Zoo Class keeps the energy level high. The song compares human existence to, call it, an animal mess. A tasty stomp, where the horn section is also allowed to go crazy again.
The intro that follows is from The Lost Plot and how beautifully Fish and the band build the tension here. Tony also has an absolute starring role here: he drives the song forward with the drums and with the acoustic guitars. The electric guitars offer extra tension in the song, both in their hitting parts and solos. This is a very nice song on the album, though.
It took some time to make the album. With a powerful band around him, Fish managed to bring a nice variety on the album between more rocky songs and some more drawn-out songs, sometimes in the form of a ballad, sometimes more progressive in nature. That melange of songs is very successful on Field Of Crows. The album is surprising because of the addition of horns that simultaneously kick the album’s proverbial ass and because of the raw energy you can hear emphatically in a number of songs. If anything, Field Of Crows is not Fish’s ultimate progressive rock album. In its rawness, in its passion, also in its subtlety and expressions of love, it is an album that both reflects on our current human existence, obviously highlights human relationships and at the same time delivers more than enjoyable rock tracks. And, perhaps needless to say, the various songs also come across as very tight live.
Fish Remasters’ releases are not just reissues, either. Not only do you find with this reissue very nice artwork by Mark Wilkinson -which is again very beautiful and appropriate here!- and Fish’s beautifully crafted accompanying words. Included in the set are two extra CDs with demos of the album’s songs and, for the most part, you’ll find acoustic and other live recordings on them.
The demos give a nice idea of the structure of the songs: they are definitely worth listening to. And, where many people think that can suffice with an occasional listen, the invitation is definitely there to do so more often. The live recordings come spread over three years in which they were created. Precisely because Fish’s band changed line-ups during those years and because acoustic live recordings are also included, the album is also a nice style map of Fish and his band through time. Whatever line-up of Fish’s band you experienced live, his band members always stood -and stand- for quality. A recommended album in Fish’s catalogue.
For all releases in this series, you won’t find them at retail. If you are interested in purchasing the titles, go to www.fishmusic.eu. There you will find most of the titles still in stock. Suits and Sunsets On Empire will soon be available again in a limited edition of 1,500.