WELTSCHMERZ

I have been a Fish fan since I first heard You Know he Knows on the radio way back in 1983. I was crushed when he left Marillion but his solo albums for the most part have been excellent, yes I know Fish writes great lyrics and has a great voice but he knows that you need cool guitar solos and a blend of guitar and keyboards. Most of his albums are like that and his masterpiece as far as I'm concerned were 13th star and A Feast of Consequence.

So I was freaking out waiting for this last album Weltschmerz especially when I saw some quite long songs, 15 minutes is pretty long for Fish. I was expecting some guitar solos or some heavy guitar sounds.To say I was a little shocked when I started listening was an understatement. Was this a Fish album or elevator music.

I'm very disappointed with it. I've listened to it 5 or 6 times and no it does not grow on me. After Steve Vantsis helped write all those cool songs on 13th star and parts of A Feast of Consequences how could he just fall flat on Weltschmerz, even Boult helped Vantsis on A Feast of Consequence with some songs and he also seems lost. Like where did all the good music go? So it's too bad but it looks like Fish is going out with a whimper. If you like good music to go along with good lyrics, this album is not for you.