Album Review: Fish - Internal Exile
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Released on the same day a Fish’s debut solo album, Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors, comes the same Deluxe treatment of his 1991sophomore album, Internal Exile. Whereas Vigil was not a concept album, it is linked by themes of corporatism, greed and excess, all embodied in the central image of The Hill. It’s title – taken from T.S. Eliot’s poem, Gerontion – is an allusion to disinformation.
This second record operates in much the same manner, though the subject matter is much more personal and addresses Fish’s staunch Scottish identity, not only lyrically, but in the choices of music across the record.
Opening with the whistles of a defiant Scottish brigade, Shadowplay drives into an irresistible progression, that incorporates the kind of choral and folk moments Fish was free to employ now he was the sole progenitor. Lucky is sort of alternate version of Tux On, while Just Good Friends should have made a significant dent in the charts.
The big three from Exile are the title-track itself, the predominantly Scottish tune doing for Edinburg what Joyce did for Dublin, the slithering and dramatic Tongues, and the uncompromising Credo. This and Exile were the first two singles taken from the album while the third, a cover of Thunderclap Newman’s 1969 Something In the Air – which didn’t feature on the vinyl version of the album – starts with a bagpipe before taking on a distinctly Eighties pop sound. Even though those pipes are evident throughout, the placing of this one, at the centre of the record, feels disjointing and would have been better served after Internal Exile itself. That’s just my opinion, for what it’s worth.
As with Vigil, the first disc closes with the B-sides of the three singles: Carnival Man is lifted from the Internal Exile 45, and has an American feel through the prominent clean guitars and bends; Credo sported Poet’s Moon as its running mate and, though elements of chart-fodder exist here, they’re more of a result than an intention, as the tune is more representative of Fish as an artist. Finally, Something…’s flip side, Dear Friend, is the kind of heartbreaking poetry through which Fish forged his reputation on songs like Sugar Mice.
Disc two are Exile’s demos, showing the evolution of the songs that would eventually be crafted sufficiently to be included on the final album. Of note is the Demo Jam of Dear Friend, which is heavily influenced by Mikey Simmonds’ piano, an acoustic version of Favourite Strangers and distorted guitar version of Credo. There’s also the 1989 demo version of Internal Exile, as featured on the first disc of the Vigil set, as well as the full band demos of both Dear Friend and Favourite Stranger.
Discs three and four are assorted studio and live versions of the album’s tracks. 1995 re-recordings of Credo, Just Good Friends, Lucky and Favourite Strangers are given the Calum Malcolm remix treatment, and to hear Fish and Sam Brown’s duet of Just Good Friends, with its lush steel-stringed guitars, is a real treat for the ears. The remainder of disc three are extensions of shows included on the Vigil-equivalent disc, the Royal Court in Nottingham in 1991 and the Utrecht show in 1994, featuring Exile only songs and, when introducing Credo in Holland, Fish dedicates the tune to Bosnia and Sarajevo, simultaneously dating the recording and showing the more things change, the more they stay the same.
The first half of disc four is given over to the ‘Uncle Fish and the Crypt Creepers’ show that is included in its entirety on the Blu Ray of this collection, and a couple from the Haddington Communion set also found there. As this collection is available as both the Deluxe Blu Ray and three CD collections, the third of the CDs in the truncated release is again an amalgam of discs three and four.
One-off performances can be heard from Fish’s 1994 Fortunes of War acoustic shows in Newport and at London’s Mean Fiddler; Dear Friend from the capital is a wistfully haunted version, while, in Wales, Lucky is full-on. Now, I’m not saying this to be controversial – and I’ll probably be allowed nowhere near either a Fish or Marillion gig again – but I cannot help but hear similarities between the opening guitars of Lucky and those of Cover My Eyes (Pain and Heaven) from Marillion’s Holidays In Eden album released the same year. Is it the kernel of an idea left over from 1988? Or just a wild coincidence? Or have I started having auditory hallucinations?
The Blu Ray has the promo videos for Credo, Just Good Friends and Internal Exile, plus a Fish interview and one with artist Mark Wilkinson about Exile’s imagery. (Unnecessary Name-Dropping Fact Included Just Because: I met Mark Wilkinson at Bloodstock in 2011, and what a nice chap!)
The Blu Ray audio includes Dolby Atmos and 5.1 mixes of the Callum Malcolm 2024 remixes and features two ‘Official Bootlegs’ recordings from the tail end of 1991; one at Dusseldorf’s Phillips Halle, under the guise of Uncle Fish and the Crypt Creepers, and the other at Haddington’s Corn Exchange, billed as Derek Dick and his Amazing Electric Bear. (And, I believe that’s is the first time in either of these reviews, that I’ve referred to Fish by his God-given name).
By the end of 1991, Fish was starting to develop a catalogue of his own works, so was less reliant on the Marillion material to flesh-out his sets. In Dusseldorf we’re presented with very-much a Fish set from the start: Vigil, Credo, Tongues and Family Business have come and gone before Incubus rears its head.
We’re also hearing a band that had been together for a while by this point and owned the material as much as anyone else. Frank Usher and Robn Boult played off each other to a fine extend, while keyboardist and co-conspirator Mickey Simmonds orchestrates everything from behind the ivories, leaving Fish to do that thing Fish does.
I wasn’t fortunate enough to see a Fish-fronted Marillion and, though I’ve been seeing the Hogarth-era regularly since Seasons End, I have unfortunately not managed the same frequency with Fish. The closing section of the Crypt Creepers show, that includes Heart of Lothian, Fugazi and Market Square Heroes is a real bonus, as they rarely, if ever, make it into Marillion’s shows these days.
But it is the inclusion of Forgotten Sons - one of my absolute favourite Marillion songs, ever - at the climax of the Dusseldorf show, and again at Haddington, that sends shivers down the spine (No small achievement on the hottest day of the year). Those screeching keys and wailing guitars. Perfection.
The Haddington show follows much the same setlist, mixing the track up a little and adding State of Mind to the early part of the show.
As a collection, it’s another triumph of great music over the documented animosity which ensued after the split. From here, Fish would go on to create Suits, Field of Crowes and A Feast of Consequences before the incredible finale that is Weltschmerz. For their part, Marillion would create the masterpiece that is Brave, the utterly underrated Afraid of Sunlight and the darkly prophetic F.E.A.R.
In short, we get the Best of Both Worlds. And while neither have illuminated the mainstream like Misplaced and Clutching did in the Eighties, their contributions are still as anticipated and beloved by all of us who had our first school Christmas disco snog to Kayleigh.
