FISH RISING

Between Khan and Gong, there was Fish Rising, another awesome work. A concept album about... fishing? According to Steve Hillage, most of the music on Fish Rising, like The Salmon Song, Solar Musick Suite and even the bonus track Pentagrammaspin would have appeared on a second Khan album. The titles and lyrics were different. The review below was taken by an "album reviews-album of the month" page from a 70s newspaper. It cames within my Fish Rising booklet, I found it interesting so I will share with you guys.

That Steve Hillage is now firmly established as one of the finest guitar players in the country must now be beyond doubt. As the new driving force behind Gong ménage, he has given them driving direction that they needed to allow them to break through from the "too freaky for me" accusation which once used surround them. Now, Hillage has produced his own solo album and what a masterpiece it is. On any of its many levels it hits you as a triumph for a new type of music which doesn't draw it's influences from any of the big fads at present in vogue. It's not boring laid-back pseudo country music, it isn't white soul and it isn't repetitive. What it is is completely original guitar work which draws its inspiration from straight out of Hillage's head, not off a B. B. King album of a Nashvile session man's lunchtime break. Backed by a collection of many of the people Hillage has spent the last few years with, this solo album presents a bewildering amount of talent. Listen to the bass lines of Mike Howllet, the drum work of Pierre Moerlin and, especially the synthesizer work of Tim 'Moonweed' Blake. The musical style of the album is difficult to describe, fluctuating from a sort of nursery rhyme innocence followed by towering waves of echo guitar and synthesizer to a straightforward rock riff covered over by beautiful sustain guitar. By the way, don't worry if Steve's mystical motivation puts you off (it doesn't us we should add). He has not fallen into the Harry Georgeson trap of ear bending you with fairly boring pseudo Eastern religions. Hillage just calmly puts in his own feelings (which are broad enough and natural enough for anyone to get off on) and lets us take it from there.