RETURN TO CHILDHOOD

"Return To Childhood" is a DVD of Fish and was released in 2006. It was also released as a double live CD that contains precisely the same songs in the same order. And 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 live show is divided into two distinct musical parts. The first part is entirely made of live songs of some of Fish's solo studio albums. The second part is entirely filled by Marillion's songs when he was in the group, and it was especially focused on their third studio album, "Misplaced Childhood", which was entirely performed. So, "Return To Childhood" is divided into two discs, disc 1 and disc 2. Disc 1 has nine tracks, all belonging to the solo repertoire of Fish. So, the those nine tracks are: "Big Wedge" from "Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors", "Credo" from "Internal Exile", "Brother 52" and "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". Disc 2 has thirteen tracks, all belonging to Marillion's catalogue. The first ten tracks all belong to the third studio album of Marillion, "Misplaced Childhood". The remaining three tracks are from other works: "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). The magic of a Fish's concert is, especially in these days, the enormous charisma that he still has today. That charisma translates particularly well onto the screen on this DVD. The emotion, the heart and the soul that Fish pours into all his performances is absolutely fantastic. The solo hits section of the live collection goes to show that Fish has produced some strong material in his seven studio albums since his departure from Marillion, a collection of albums that has often been overlooked. "Big Wedge" starts everything off in rousing fashion and features some stunning guitar work. "Brother 52" is also great, while the proggy "Moving Targets" is drenched in keyboard sounds. "Goldfish And Clowns" is a real highlight and Fish confirms what a competent front man he is at the start of "Innocent Party", commanding the audience. Anyone who has seen Fish live will know exactly what a huge presence he always has on stage. "Return To Childhood" was a number one album for Marillion, in 1985, and the songs on the second disc still stand up, even today.

The footage is well captured and edited, doing full justice to Fish's antics. Fish's expressions are particularly very well captured by the many cameras around the stage. The footage itself is somewhat dark. There's an occasional spotlight aimed to Fish, but the rest of the band are largely obscured in the shadows. There's also a projection screen behind the band, but the footage that is shown on this screen is hardly ever captured by any of the cameras. The DVD has also an hour long interview with Fish conducted by John Hotten from the Classic Rock Magazine. On it, Fish elaborates the origin of "Misplaced Childhood" and how the album came about. The interview was taken in Amsterdam along one of the many canals of the city. The place of the interview is magnificent for a person like me, who was in Amsterdam few years ago. So, it was magic and a real pleasure for me revisit so beautiful place, also known as the Venice of the north.

To finish, the DVD comes in a slipcase and has a little booklet based on the original "Misplaced Childhood" tour book.

Conclusion: Throughout all the live show we can clearly see that Fish loves Holland. He says to the audience that he has many things in common with the Dutch like that he is a very tall guy, to a Scottish, and that in Holland the Dutch look people straight in the eyes, like Scottish people use to do. So, it wasn't a real surprise this DVD, so important to him, was recorded in The Netherlands. "Return To Childhood" is a great concert, really. The emotion, the heart and the soul that Fish pours into any of his performances are absolutely astonishing. It even makes you forget that his voice isn't as good as it was twenty years ago, or the fact that the music sounds a bit odd when played in a higher key than the original recordings. Concluding, this is a nice release that worth buying if you're a Fish's fan. It shows what a great performer Fish is, and his performance comes across really well. This is an automatic purchase for fans of the big man.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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