Fish released 13th Star

13th Star Fish

Released: September 7, 2007 Peak: -- US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: neo-progressive rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Circle Line [6:04] Square Go [5:31] Miles de Besos (Dick, Paterson) [4:22] Zoe 25 [5:19] (10/6/08, --) Arc of the Curve [4:29] (3/3/08, --) Manchmal [5:42] Openwater [5:07] Dark Star [6:48] Where in the World [6:05] 13th Star [5:41] Songs written by Derek W. Dick (Fish) and Steve Vantsis unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 55:30 The Players: Derek W. Dick, aka “Fish” (vocals) Frank Usher, Chris Johnson (guitar) Steve Vantsis (bass, guitar) Foss Patterson (keyboard, piano, etc.) Gavin Griffiths (drums) Dave Haswell (percussion) Lorna Bannon (backing vocals)

Rating: 3.192 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “It would seem that nothing inspires Fish to write some of his best material quite like personal demons; and so it is with 13th Star.” SP “Recorded during his darkest periods of his life” AZ in which “the ex-Marillion front man…went through a rather public breakup with fiancé Heather Findlay,” SP the album is “filled with anger, bitterness and regret but also suffused with moments of tenderness in remembering happier times; the big guy opens his heart like he hasn’t done in a very long time.” SP It is also interesting to note the openness to fan opinion in putting the album together. “The album was penned during a lengthy European tour summer to Winter 2007 in which he played most of these songs live followed by a podcast each night asking fans for a rection to them.” AZ “13th Star is very neatly split between rockers and ballads. The heavier songs contain Fish’s most muscular arrangements since Sunsets on Empire while the ballads are among the very best he’s ever written. Crunchy guitar riffs, sequenced keyboards and spacey interludes are sprinkled into pieces like Square Go and opener Circle Line. ‘Square Go’ recalls ‘The Perception of Johnny Punter’ in its menace and simple but heavy groove.” SP “Manchmal, a song of betrayal, is probably the heaviest cut on the album and calls to mind recent Porcupine Tree. The lyrics are particularly clever here as Fish tells the metaphorical tale of a turtle and a scorpion agreeing to cross a riverbank together before the scorpion stings the turtle just as the pair reach the other side. To make his meaning clear, Fish breaks through the metaphor with: ‘I can sense you’re going to leave me, I know you’ll break the deal, I’ll drown in my sorrows and I’ll drink at your shrine.’” SP “Openwater continues the bitterness with a bluesy infectious heavy rocker that’s almost uplifting…unless you're paying attention to the desperate lyrics. Dark Star is an imposing moody piece of self-recrimination that builds and builds to an awesome Middle Eastern tinged finish.” SP “The ballads, likewise, do not disappoint. Miles de Besos is a soft jazzy piece that tells of a torrid brief love affair in Chile. Where in the World speaks most directly of his recent split with Heather Findlay: ‘This time last year I was in love, this time last year there was a dream.’ The hauntingly vivid Zoe 25 tells of a pair of tragic figures.” SP “For many listeners, the true highlight among the ballads will be Arc of a Curve. In a different world, this would yield Fish a mainstream hit: wonderful lyrics, a beautiful musical arrangement and also a catchy enough chorus for top forty radio.” SP “The somber title track is equally impressive. As Fish contemplates following the 13th Star, he becomes so emotional that one can hear the singer choke up at one point.” SP “The key to the success of the album is that Fish has aligned himself with a strong writing partner in Steve Vantsis. Vantsis has been Fish’s bass player for 10 years and it’s amazing to think that prior to 13th Star, Vantsis had never written a song with Fish. Calum Malcolm’s production is likewise superb and he manages to get the best vocal performance that Fish has given in years.” SP “This is, above all, a songwriters’ album…[and] one of [Fish’s] major accomplishments.” SP “Far and away Fish’s best album in a decade.” SP

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Fish DMDB encyclopedia entry for Marillion AZ Amazon.com SP Steve Pettengill, SeaOfTranquility.org WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: Last updated 8/9/2021.

Fish released covers album, Songs from the Mirror

Songs from the Mirror Fish

Released: January 20, 1993 Peak: -- US, 46 UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: neo-progressive rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers: original performer) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Question (Justin Hayward: the Moody Blues) [6:41] Boston Tea Party (Alex Harvey, Hugh McKenna, Zal Cleminson: Sensational Harvey Band) [4:22] Fearless (David Gilmour, Roger Waters: Pink Floyd) [6:15] Apeman (Ray Davies: The Kinks) [5:57] Hold Your Head Up (Rod Argent, Chris White: Argent) [3:47] (12/12/92, --) Solo (Sandy Denny) [4:46] I Know What I Like (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hacket, Mike Rutherford: Genesis) [4:17] Jeepster (Marc Bolan: T-Rex) [4:10] Five Years (David Bowie) [5:19] (radio promo) Total Running Time: 44:53 The Players: Derek W. Dick, aka “Fish” (vocals) Robin Boult (guitar, backing vocals) Frank Usher (guitar) Foster Paterson (keyboards, backing vocals) David Paton (bass, background vocals) Kevin Wilkinson (percussion, drums) Mick Wall (voices) Lorna Bannon, Jackie Bird (background vocals)

Rating: 3.096 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Fish’s second solo album, Internal Exile, “hadn’t done very well from a sales point of view. Polydor was getting restless and Fish needed more time to write a good follow-up record,” ES deciding to offer up an album of cover versions. His “idea to make a cover album dates back to the late Marillion [the neo-prog group he fronted in the ‘80s] period, but had been rejected by the band.” WK Polydor initially rejected the project, wanting a new studio effort instead. The company eventually relented and “accepted it as the second album Fish was obliged to deliver under their contract.” WK “As was to be expected, the partnership ended then and there.” ES “As of February 2008, Songs from the Mirror is Fish’s last ever output on a major record company.” WK It “wasn’t a success [and] loads of Fish fans consider it to be their least favourite Fish album.” The album serves as a tribute to the “artists who inspired him before his career started. The choice of songs by Pink Floyd, Genesis, David Bowie, The Moody Blues and others, all originally from a period between 1970 and 1976, reflects Fish’s taste in music when he was 12 to 18 years old. The title is a reference to the time when he would impersonate his teenage idols in front of a mirror.” WK “Some of the tracks are very good, like Question…, Fearless [and] Five Years.” ES “Solo is probably the least well-known track on the album. Nevertheless it became one of Fish’s best ballads ever.” ES “The rest of the songs are either just nice or don’t really fit Fish’s normal style (Apeman) but are still interesting.” ES Fish understandably covers Genesis here (his voice is often compared to Peter Gabriel and when Fish was with Marillion the band was often compared to Gabriel-era Genesis. As one reviewer says, however, the Genesis song of choice here, I Know What I Like, was already “just on the edge of being ‘too sweet’…[and then] Fish took it and made it even sweeter than the original.” ES “The core line-up on this album is the same as on the 1992 tour. Since the recording of Internal Exile, keyboardist Mickey Simmonds had been replaced with Foster Paterson, while drummer Kevin Wilkinson had taken over from session player Ethan Johns. The spots for guitars (Robin Boult, Frank Usher) and bass (David Paton) had remained unchanged. Other than that and backing vocals, only two tracks (‘Solo’ and Jeepster) feature an additional guest musician, Ben Molleson on violin and tin whistle. The album was mixed and produced by James Cassidy, who Fish had met while recording guest vocals for Jeff Wayne’s musical Spartacus. Cassidy would also produce and co-write Fish's next album Suits (1994).” WK “Songs from the Mirror is the only regular Fish album not to be designed by Mark Wilkinson. Fish had deliberately decided to not use Wilkinson, as he didn’t want to give the impression it was an album with original material. Instead, he chose the ‘The Guddler’ by Scottish painter Keith McIntyre as the cover. ‘The Guddler’ had also been the working title of the project.” WK “The 12-page booklet does not feature any lyrics (probably because of copyright reasons) but is full of pictures and liner notes about this period in Fish’s career, the role music played in his childhood and the selection of tracks on the album.” ES Notes: A remastered edition bumped “Jeepster” in favor of a pair of covers of Yes song – “Time and a Word” and “The Seeker.”

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Fish DMDB encyclopedia entry for Marillion ES Ed Sander, DPRP.net WK Wikipedia Last updated 6/12/2021.