Fish - The Complete BBC Sessions


Year of Release: 1999
Label: Blueprint
Catalog Number: BP297CD
Format: CD
Total Time: 00:00:00

I was rather surprised to find this two-disk set lurking in my local Best Buy as I had heard nothing about it. Being a big fan of Fish, I, of course, had to pick it up and hear what it was all about - well, other than what the title The Complete BBC Sessions said.

The set covers two shows by the Scotsman dating from 1989 and 1991, respectively. The production and performances are better during the 1991 date, a November 15 show at Nottingham Royal Concert Hall. The first show actually bleeds over to disk two with the persistently requested "Kayleigh" and "Lavender" (and "Heart of Lothian") ending the London Town and Country Club show. The all too familiar guitar phrases take on a different character here - not bad, but decidedly different, making the track seem much sunnier than it was intended. In fact, it almost seems to be out of another song.

The performances for the 1989 show are a little too loose, where the band seems a little out of sync. This isn't helped by the often-muddy sound. The band seem a little sluggish, especially in comparison to the more energy Fish seems to exhibit. Disc two fares better; the production certainly does as this has a much clearer, crisper sound. The band sounds and feels more energetic and more in sync.

All the expected tracks are here, both from his Marillion days and his solo career to that point. As Fish alludes to in the liner notes, the circumstances surrounding his career at the time (the whole EMI then Polydor "things") provide a subtext to his performance here on the 1991 show. This well above the subtext inherent in the lyrics anyway. "Vigil" has an extra punch, "Tongues," "The Company" too.

Because there is so much live Fish material out there both legit and bootleg, it doesn't make this disk essential. I haven't judged this in comparison to those other (legit) live disks, but it is worth buying if for disc two alone.


Tracklisting:
Disc One: Faithhealer (6:30) / The Voyeur (I Like To Watch) (5:33) / Punch And Judy (5:52) / The Company (4:16) / Script For A Jester's Tear (9:49) / Family Business (6:18) / Warm Wet Circles (4:18) / Slainthe Mhath (7:03) / Vigil In A Wilderness of Mirrors (9:05) / Big Wedge (5:55) / Fugazi (8:42)

Disc Two: Kayleigh (4:35) / Lavender (2:30) / Heart Of Lothian (3:39) / Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors (9:41) / Credo (7:31) / Tongues (7:09) / Incubus (9:23) / The Company (4:02) / Big Wedge (6:29) / Internal Exile (4:34) / Market Square Heroes (5:24) / Heart Of Lothian (4:57)

Musicians:
Fish - vocals
Mickey Simmons - keyboards
Mark Brzezicki - drums (disc 1)
Kevin Wilkinson - drums (disc 2)
Robin Boult - guitar
Frank Usher - guitar
Steve Brzezicki - bass (disc 1)
Davey Paton - bass (disc 2)

Discography:
Vigil In A Wilderness of Mirrors (1990)
Internal Exile (1991)
Songs From The Mirror (1992)
There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop
?Swears He's Fish
(1992)*
Toiling In The Reeperbahn (1993)**
Derek Dick And His Amazing Electric Bear (1993)**
Pigpens Birthday (1993)**
Uncle Fish & The Crypt Creepers (1993)**
For Whom The Bells Toll(1993)**
The Funny Farm Project - Outpatients '93 (1993)***
Suits (1994)
Sushi (1994)**
Acoustic Session (1994)**
Yin and Yang (1995)
Fish Head Curry (1996)**
Krakow (1996)
Sunsets On Empire (1997)
Kettle Of Fish (1998)
Fortunes Of War Acoustic Set UK '94 (1998)
Tales From The Big Bus (Live From K?ln 1997) (1998)
Haddington Corn Exchange 1998 (1999)
The Complete BBC Sessions (1999)
Raingods With Zippos (1999)
Candlelight In Fog (USA 2000) (2000)
Fellini Days (2001)
Sashimi (Live In Poznan, Poland 1999) (2001)
Fellini Nights (2002)
Mixed Company (2003)
Field Of Crows (2004)
Bouillabaisse - The Best Of Fish (2005)
Return To Childhood (2006)
Communion (2007)
13th Star (2007)
A Feast Of Consequence (2013)
The Moveable Feast - European Tour 2013-2015 (2016)
Farewell To Childhood - Live In Europe 2015-2016 (2017)

NEARFest - Fish Live In The USA (2009)
Leamington Spa - Sunday October 21st (2013)
Fishheads Club Live (2013)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin UK

Added: March 1st 2000
Reviewer: Stephanie Sollow
Score:
Artist website: www.fish-thecompany.com
Hits: 2614
Language: english

  

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