8. Fish -
Vigil In A Wilderness of Mirrors, Internal Exile, Suits, Sunsets on Empire, Raingods With Zippos, Field of Crows, *live album* Uncle Fish and the Crypt Keepers
Genre: 80s era progressive rock
For fans of: Marillion’s first four albums. Well crafted, heartfelt, honest lyrics
What makes him special: To many people, what made the frist four Marillion albums special was Fish. Much like how many people here see Kevin Moore, Fish’s songwriting skills simply couldn’t be replaced when he went solo. Thankfully, he continued to put out quality albums.
Derek Dick, better known by his stage name Fish, has been one of my favorite songwriters for as long as I’ve known progressive music. While I discovered H era Marillion first, Fish era became my favorite as I discovered the back catalog. Even though he was the singer, what Fish-era Marillion had was great songs. Songs with feeling. Songs with heart. Songs with soul. Well, at least with more feeling, heart, and soul than most people/bands write. Scars and all, Fish bears it all for us, and his open book makes for some fantastic, touching music.
Much like Marillion, Fish’s sound has evolved through albums. His first two solo efforts,
Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors and
Internal Exile harken most to his Marillion roots, but even these early efforts show some new directions. The first two albums are where Fish’s lyric writing abilities absolutely shine. Most of my favorite Fish songs are on these first two albums, which is why I also included the live album
Uncle Fish and the Crypt Keepers, because it is a mix of the best songs from the first two albums as well as some Fish-era Marillion songs. For this reason it is one of my favorite live albums, and it gets regular spins from me.
As time has moved on, so has Fish. He’s gotten away from the early-Marillion sounding albums and has forged a nice little niche where he keeps putting out quality albums under the radar. In hindsight, a splitting was the best thing to happen for music listeners. This whole post is not meant as a slight to the current Marillion lineup. If I had not liked my first exposure to Marillion (that would be Radiation and Marillion.com if you’re wondering), I may never have followed an old friend’s recommendation of Misplaced Childhood back in 1999. Each have forged their own path, and what we have is the best of both worlds – Old Marillion with a jazzy influence and New Marillion simultaneously. Admittedly, I still need some of Fish’s more recent albums since I try to buy directly from him so he gets a bigger cut, and every time I listen to
Suits and his later albums I wonder why I don’t listen to them more because I do thoroughly enjoy them, I think my absolute love of his first two albums and that live album get away.
Even if you aren’t familiar with Marillion, you need to check Fish (and Marillion) out.
Tracks to try: Vigil,* Big Wedge*, Cliché, Shadowplay*, Credo, Internal Exile*, Lady Let It Lie, Fortunes of War, Emperor’s Song, Goldfish and Clowns*, What Colour Is God?*, Sunsets on Empire, Tumbledown, Plague of Ghosts (suite), Moving Targets, Exit Wound, Scattering Crows
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