RETURN TO CHILDHOOD

Fish is a vocalist, poet and musician very well known in the progressive rock world. He was born April 25, 1958, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Derek William Dick, aka Fish, joined the neo-progressive rock band Marillion in 1981 and led the band through numerous successes. He was the dramatic lead vocalist of Marillion with a dynamic personal presence, both off and on stage, in the same vein of Peter Gabriel of Genesis. He participated as a band's member of Marillion on their four first studio albums and on many of their live shows, before departing for a brilliant solo career, in 1988.

"Return To Childhood" is a live album of Fish and was released in 2006. It was also released on the DVD format that contains the same songs, precisely in the same order. It was also released in the same year. In 2005, Fish celebrated the 20th anniversary of Marillion's best-selling album "Misplaced Childhood" with a series of concerts which featured an integral performance of the album. It was recorded from a live concert made at The Paradiso, in Amsterdam, Holland.

"Return To Childhood" has twenty two tracks. The album is divided into disc 1 and disc 2. Disc 1 has nine tracks, all belonging to the solo repertoire of Fish. So, those tracks are: "Big Wedge" from "Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors", "Credo" from "Internal Exile", "Brother 52", "Goldfish And Clowns" from "Sunsets Of Empire", "Raingods Dancing" and "Wake Up Call (Make It Happen)" from "Raingods With Zippos", "Long Cold Day" from "Fellini Days" and "Moving Targets" and "Innocent Party" from "Field Of Crows". The disc 2 has thirteen tracks, all belonging to Marillion's catalogue. The first ten tracks of that disc belong all to the third studio album of Marillion, "Mispalced Chilghood". The remaining three tracks are: "Incommunicado" from their fourth studio album "Clutching At Straws", "Market Square Heroes" from their debut EP "Market Square Heroes" and "Fugazi" from their second studio album "Fugazi".

The line up on "Return To Childhood" is Fish (lead vocals), Deborah French (backing vocals), Frank Usher (lead guitar), Andy Trill (guitar), Tony Turrell (keyboards), Steve Vantsis (bass) and John Tonks (drums).

When comparing this band to the band that played "Misplaced Childhood" at the European convention in 2002, this new line up represents a step forward. The band on this album plays as a very tight unit, which coupled with Fish's voice, it sounds best that it has in a long while, which makes of it in one of his better live albums, in the most recent years.

As I said before, the first half of the gig contains of a selection of Fish's solo works. The set contains mainly the more up tempo, rocky songs from his repertoire, with only "Goldfish And Clowns" and the "Raingods Dancing" falling more in the category of ballads. So, here we have excellent versions of "Brother 52", "Goldfish And Clowns" and a moving of "Raingods Dancing", among others. "Credo" sounds especially energetic to my ears. "Big Wedge" and "Raingods Dancing" are probably my favourite tracks in this first part of the album. After that, the band exits the stage one at a time before a short break in anticipation of the evening's main event, the live performance of "Misplaced Childhood".

The second disc contains, obviously, the integral performance of "Misplaced Childhood" as well as some more Marillion's classic tracks, as encores. The rendition of "Misplaced Childhood" is fairly close to the original, despite the addition of a female backing vocalist, and that it was played in a more heavy and modern way. The backing vocals of Deborah French make a nice addition to Fish and work pretty well, although she does occasionally try to upstage him, I think. The crowd is absolutely bonkers, at this point, and needless to say that it's really ready for more Marillion's material after Fish and his band takes their bows. For the encores, the Paradiso is treated to "Incommunicado", "Market Square Heroes" and a supposedly unrehearsed "Fugazi" all performed with great perfection. All this was a must have to all Marillion's fans of the Fish's era. All in all, we have here two fast hours and fifteen minutes of great music, really.

Conclusion: As happened with most of you, the main reason that led me to buy this live album was de CD 2 and that was the CD I heard first, really. However, if we want to be totally fair, this live album is much more than "Misplaced Childhood". Relatively to CD 1, I'm not an expert on Fish's solo material. I merely know some few Fish's solo tracks, particularly his two first studio albums. So, I can't say if all these live versions are different or better from their original versions. But, I can say that for my surprise that they're all great and that I was very pleased when I listened to them, especially "Big Wedge" and "Raingods Dancing". Relatively to CD 2, it exceeded all my expectations, really. It's truly impressive that 20 years later he did it different but also excellent. We may say that it sounds more heavy and modern than their original versions. To my ears, it continues sounding fresh and new as if it was the first time. This live version is as good as the original. "Return To Childhood" is a great live album and an excellent addition to any prog collection. I think it's very curious that was Fish and not Marillion that celebrated the 20th anniversary of that great masterpiece.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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