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, A Feast Of Consequence, 13th Star, Field Of Crows, Fellini Days, Raingods with Zippos, Sunsets On Empire and Suits.

Now is the time to dwell on Fish’s cover album, Songs From The Mirror, originally from 1993. It also reappeared in The Remasters series in 2017. The relative success that Marillion and Fish had together, with the still fairly phenomenal response to Kayleigh, particularly in the realms of progressive rock and, later, to a lesser extent Lavender and Incommunicado, meant that Fish could not simply leave EMI after leaving the band. There was a clause to that effect in the contract the band had with EMI anyway. Besides that obligation, artistic freedom was limited in the further fulfilment of that contract. So leaving Marillion did not just mean a battle with his former band mates, Fish also entered into battle with EMI.

Redemption was served up by Polydor, the record company that also eventually arranged for Fish to break free from his contract with EMI and join them precisely. That was an expensive affair and the expectation was that the new release would ensure, with solid revenue, that Polydor also made a good return on the move.

Unfortunately, the sales figures of Internal Exile, his first release for Polydor turned out differently than expected. Fish was already very excited about the new album Suits he wanted to make, but it did not flow as much as he would have liked. What was left of the advances from Polydor became less and less, and the expected income from the studio he operated himself was also far from earth-shattering. At least, not in a positive sense.

So it was against this backdrop that Fish was keen to take action: he understood all too well that something had to be done. To generate income anyway, he suggested making an album of covers, of songs he used to love to sing at home. After many fives and sixes and the initial question of whether it couldn’t be an EP, Polydor agreed.

For Fish, who lost his good friend Andy Field at the time, Fish, who was also about to become a father at the time, who was also oriented towards acting, a possible solution on the horizon that could also give room creatively and in a financial sense. Although Fish’s acting was quite interesting, his fans still preferred to hear new music from him. With producer James Cassidy, whom he met while recording the Jeff Wayne album Spartacus, they set to work.

For Fish, it was also reliving and reinterpreting music from his youth and giving it his own voice. With a highly competent band at the start, featuring veterans Boult and Usher on guitar, David Paton on bass, Foss Paterson on keys and Kevin Wilkinson, the album was played in. This remastered version not only revives the album’s nine original songs but also adds all the additional tracks that did not make it onto the original album. And as may be noted more often with Fish’s The Remasters, this release is again extremely complete with both demos, live performances (including tracks from the unsurpassed Sushi live album, recorded at Vredenburg Utrecht in 1993) and, on a third disc, a documentary on Songs From The Mirror and some clips of songs from the album.

You can argue about it, about covers, about the usefulness and necessity of an album release with only covers. Do you also take into account how much heart and soul an artist puts into making such an album? We can agree and quickly, that these are not the finest songs Fish ever wrote himself. That’s already understood in the definition of covers. At the same time, listening to the album more closely at least paints a picture of Fish’s influences, musically ánd thus also experiencing how Fish’s music does meander through time. The raw side of rock as well as swinging rock can be heard as well as more contemplative songs that perhaps also tie in with Fish’s poetic side. Question by Moody Blues sounds both raw here with its double guitar sound and quite bombastic, that raw also applies to Alex Harvey’s Boston Tea Party, Hold Your Head Up by Argent and The Who’s The Seeker, Solo by Sandy Denny and Fearless by Pink Floyd and Bowie’s Five Years brings Fish into a reflective setting.

Fish – Hold Your Head Up 1992 Music Video HD

The double guitar approach works strongly on a number of tracks, the mood of a song can be greatly enhanced by it. And then the songs even offer something extra compared to the originals. Not that these covers are better than the originals, but put the covers in perspective. It gives something surprising to them sometimes. You can hear Fish’s enthusiasm about the songs in the way he approaches the lyrics, with how much eagerness he sings them. On Five Years, the version is bombastic and you can hear Fish balancing between a restrained approach, more of the undercurrent that Bowie could also put in his voice and the eagerness with which Fish wants to sing the song. You can pretty much put yourself in the shoes of the young Fish and how he listened to the music and how he wanted to make the songs his own.

The Seeker (Studio Demo)

It’s an album of covers that makes you think about Fish’s influences, that makes you hear how eager both he and his band were when recording the album. As much as the album had a functional aspect to it, the band just plays extremely tight. Yes, the approach to the songs may be somewhat uniform, but the approach here works: the dual guitar approach picks up tightly for the most part, and where reflection should be paramount, it does. Perhaps this is least the case with Five Years, but Solo and Time And A Word featuring the collaboration of Yes’ Steve Howe certainly show this as well.

Fearless (Live, Utrecht, 1993)

And, for those who love some fine dining in their music, Caledonia features guitar parts from both The Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s Zal Cleminson and Thin Lizzy’s Brian Robertson. It may not be the best album Fish ever recorded, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it is an enjoyable album of covers that is definitely worthwhile for Fish fans. Of course, again with remastering by Calum Malcolm and with, as a rarity, not artwork by Mark and Julie Wilkinson but by another artist. Kevin McIntyre’s The Guddler graces the cover. It is the image of a man catching a fish from the water by hand, from rest, a comparison Fish made with learning to discover music in his youth.

For all the 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.