FISH OUT OF WATER

This 1975 disc proves two things: that Chris Squire's incredible bass playing with Yes belies a composer as capable as any other in the Progressive Rock idiom. And the other is that his influence in Yes songs has either gone unnoticed or uncredited for a long time, as this remains the only release he's ever done- he's since been concentrating exclusively on Yes fare.

The songs are as sweeping and complex as anything Yes have done; the style is unmistakable and many people has named this as a 'lost yes album', something which I totally understand. Not a second of Vinyl has been wasted; all the tracks shine here- although 'Lucky Seven' is a marked departure from the style evident in the lush orchestral arrangement of "Hold Out Your Hand/You By My Side", "Silently Falling" & "Safe (Canon Song)", it is by no means filler- indeed, a single edit was made of that track and released in America.

[this is included in the special edition CD, along with a superb bonus DVD containing TV recordings of Squire & co. perfroming the first track(s) and an interview with Squire]

Squire's vocals and lyrics, as well as the superb bass playing that totally eliminates the need for guitar from the album (and literally does), as well as the sensitive, thoughtful arrangement (and yet bold & agressive too), marks this apart from a normal Yes release. Squire's voice is much more straightforward and easier on the ears than Jon Andersons high register alto, and the harmonies he constructs work beautifully. His lyrics are simpler and provoke emotions from the listener without resorting to nonesenscal phrasing, although Anderson's influence obviously apparant.

All in all, this is a masterful recording of symphonic rock of the highest order, and deserves to be ranked as high as any other more well known releases by Yes or any other.

It was made during a period where all the members of Yes were releasing solo efforts, and this is the only one that wasn't followed up by other releases- and the one that should have been much more than the others.

Share this CHRIS SQUIRE review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to retrorocker
• Report this review (#267572)
• Buy CHRIS SQUIRE music online with PA partners
• Show all CHRIS SQUIRE MP3/Stream
• Go to CHRIS SQUIRE page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Fish Out Of Water page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for CHRIS SQUIRE related discussions