Fish
Suits (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, A Feast Of Consequences, 13th Star, Field Of Crows, Fellini Days, Raingods with Zippos and Sunsets On Empire. The one before that was Suits which was Fish’s first independent release.
Suits was the first album Fish released on the Dick Bros label, under his own responsibility and his own direction. He did not do it entirely on his own after leaving Polydor. Producer James Cassidy was by his side, helping with music and taking charge of production. We can say upfront that James didn’t necessarily skimp on song length: with Suits, you get the feeling every now and then that less would have been more. The songs sometimes go on for a long time. And that, even with a fine singer like Fish, can be tiring.
Production-wise, not the strongest album on its original release, but most certainly neither Fish’s most powerful or convincing either. Where most albums really have a few tracks that immediately demand your attention, Suits comes across as significantly more flat. Was it the struggle with Polydor, was it dissatisfaction with the lack of commercial success, was it starting his own label with all its troubles, the realisation that there were cracks in the relationship with his wife or the combination of several factors?
The very own distinctive sound you get with Fish in those songs that grab, is in part precisely in the songwriting, in the contrast between vocals and instrumentation, and here the challenge between vocals and instrumentation seems much less present. That does not mean they are necessarily bad songs, but rather, that, the songs on Suits, compared to his other songs, are less distinctive within his overall catalogue. Sure, Fish’s social engagement is there and can be heard, but the musical framework within which that happens is less urgent, less aggressive.
When the emotion emerges in a song, it is predominantly in the lyrics and, linked to that, Fish’s vocals. The songs are generally not as abrasive as Fish and his music can be. The opener Mr 1470 builds slowly in terms of tension and that works well, also with the frequent use of the album’s title in the song. The combination of Fish’s voice with the backing vocals also works well, but somewhere well before a minute into the song, you feel like a lot is repeated for the sake of repetition. As lovely as the percussion guitar sounds with the harmony vocals, the rhythm section also sounds pretty much already a bit tired and working towards the end. However, one can safely imagine that with a sharper ending, the song would have gained much more of its own character.
Lady Let It Lie is a personal song, a contemplative account from Fish to his wife. The vocal lines the song starts with, Fish singing in a soft tone, tastes like more and the song certainly has its charm, but again, it takes a long time for the song to find its conclusion. Subtle guitar playing makes the song beautiful, but can’t quite take away the fact that the song stretches on for a long time.
Emperor’s Song is a song that certainly has potential. Could this be the Credo (found on Internal Exile) from Suits? Building up to a more uptempo approach, yes, Emperor’s Song has and gives more punch. Here, the interlude is also very engaging and the song retains its charm even after that. Yes, the repetition has an effect, albeit double, on the one hand we still stay in the mood, on the other hand there is also the risk of repeating for too long.
Fortunes Of War once again brings Fish’s involvement into play. With David Paton on bass, ah, how nice, is this song. Although, within the whole track list, it is a distinctly quiet song and where you would think that a certain uniformity on the album would actually bother you, this song, with its quiet character and subtle guitar playing, demands your attention just now. The quietness does this song good. Here you once again hear how long-spun songs can be. You pretty much get the idea that Fish thought something of it himself. Or thinks. The song’s conclusion is nice, but perhaps a shortening would have been desirable.
Yes, not to mention Somebody Special, the song just has something and is already different from the rest in terms of instrumentation. You get curious about the demos already. A fine and interesting song. No Dummy with its playful sounds is a bit understated in its tempo, but it has a nice swing. Precisely because the bass loop runs through it so strongly and the wind instruments add their accents in this song, it has become a very mature song. Actually the right prelude to Pipeline. It’s a bit of a shame, but with this song in particular, the feeling often creeps up on me that the song is mainly also a pause music. Maybe it’s also in the way the choruses on the album sound, they hang above the music rather than contrasting with Fish’s voice. The tempo shift towards the end is certainly nice, but the question is whether that saves the song? Fish sings about waiting all the time in the song. That’s how this song does feel at times.
In terms of atmosphere, the following Jumpsuit City, extremely languid, matches this. Nothing wrong with the instrumentation and I think the band members certainly do their best as well, but this is a song that might do better live. Again, nice to have horns have a role in the song, but it doesn’t really want to get going. The penultimate track on the original release, Bandwagon, has more pace and it offers more of a challenge already, but even in this song, James did not draw a line and indicate where an ending might fit in earlier.
The original closing track, Raw Meat, makes the album’s first very distinctive track. This is not even in that it is perhaps the closest to Fish’s earlier work, no, there is tension in the song itself. That very thing is an essential feature of this song. Here, everything falls into place. And the remarkable thing is, the songs from this period were not even necessarily of inferior quality. Where the original album ends after this, the beautiful Out Of My Life and Black Canal follow on this version. Both songs that did not make it onto the album and that considering they would have given Suits a different flow.
Listening to the demos, you get the idea that the raw material Cassidy had to work with already had more panache than what the final album became. There was more fire in some of the songs. It also does sound like the instruments can be heard emphatically in relation to each other. In the case of Suits, the demo CD already adds value.
Especially when you listen to the live versions afterwards, the songs show their power. Whereas in the studio versions, the more poppy side of the songs was perhaps also highlighted, the songs come across as significantly rockier live and the contrast in the songs works better. So maybe not the most convincing in the studio, live the songs stand their ground. Definitely worth giving this edition of Fish’s The Remasters a closer listen. It has some great songs in it that are worth listening to on their own, maybe you will discover for yourself more greatness in the other tracks as well. Perhaps not the strongest but still an interesting Fish album with once again beautiful artwork, here by Mark and Julie Wilkinson and of course the remastering in the hands of Calum Malcolm.
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.