FISH: Bouillabaisse – The Best Of Fish

Cover	Release	Style
	2005-10-07	Progressive rock (a.o.)
	Label
	www.snappermusic.com
	Website
	www.the-company.com
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	71:02 / 72:39	SMADD922
	Review by	Rating
	Edwin	comp.
nederlands	Review
Fish’s first solo album, "Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors" (1990), was an extraordinary record from start to finish, and it seemed to guarantee a successful career after leaving Marillion. But it went downhill from then on. The subsequent albums were a bit of a mixed bag. Even now I still can’t listen to an album like “Suits” in one sitting. Yes, most of the cd’s contained some great songs, but there was a definite lack of direction and far too much filler material that was, to remain polite, unexciting. A good compilation album should rectify that, though, and “Bouillabaisse” certainly is that. The double album is divided into two parts: “Fish: the balladeer” and “Fish: the rocketeer”. The first cd brings the ballads. Over the years, Fish has established himself as a romantic poet. Still, while he has some absolutely majestic ballads in his catalogue, putting them all on one cd diminishes their impact a bit. Best tunes on this cd are the exquisite “A Gentleman’s Excuse Me”, “Incomplete”, “Cliché”, “Kayleigh”, “Caledonia” and my personal favourite “The Company”. The second cd highlights the more uptempo material, is a lot more balanced and, luckily for us, there’s a lot of attention for his progressive material. “Goldfish And Clowns”, “Brother 52”, “Clock Moves Sideways” and “The Perception Of Johnny Punter” are all highlights and of course, the epic “Plague Of Ghosts” is a genuine classic. It is nice to hear the original Marillion versions of “Kayleigh”, “Lavender” and “Incommunicado” (instead of the re-recordings from “Yin” and “Yang”), but if you include the Marillion years in a ‘best of’, surely more tracks of that period should have been included. And of course those responsible for the choice of songs should be tortured and locked up for not including “Vigil”, arguably one of the very best things he’s done during his solo career. All in all, though, this is a good collection and a nice overview of what the big man has to offer, and it will be in my cd player much more often than most of his regular albums.
Musicians

Tracklist
Disc 1: Balladeer Just Good Friends Shot The Craw A Gentleman’s Excuse Me Keyleigh Solo Incomplete The Company Fortrunes Of War Our Smile Lavender Lady Let It Lie Cliché Scattering Crows Tara Caledonia Raw Meat Disc 2: Rocketeer Big Wedge Credo Incommunicado Goldfish And Clowns Long Cold Day Brother 52 Clock Moves Sideways The Perception Of Johnny Punter Moving Targets Plague Of Ghosts (i) Old Haunts (ii) Digging Deep (iii) Chocolate Frogs (iv) Waving At Stars (v) Raingods Dancing (vi) Wake Up Call (Make It Happen)
Discography
Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors (1990) Internal Exile (1991) Songs From The Mirror (1993) Suits (1994) Yin (1995 – compilation) Yang (1995 – compilation) Sunsets On Empire (1997) Kettle Of Fish (1998 – compilation) Raingods With Zippos (1999) Fellini Days (2001) Field Of Crows (2004) Bouillabaisse – The Best Of Fish (2005 - compilation)


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