FIELD OF CROWS

Not really a progressive album in any real sense of the word, but a really strong rock album with progressive tendencies is what we have here. Fish has gone through many different phases in his career, beginning with his early days as the front man for seminal Neo Prog group Marillion, and then breaking away in 1988 to pursue a career of his own, and continuing with his solo works in the 90's, which stray from the Marillion sound in favor of a harder, more guitar based sound. However, despite this change of sound, Fish maintains his cool and offers a great album filled with biting social commentary and exceedingly strong vocal and musical melodies. This musicians on this album are newcomers with Fish, with the exception of Frank Usher (who has been essentially on all Fish albums) and Steve Vantiss, who was on Fellini Days (Fish's previous solo effort).

The Field is easily the strongest track on the album, with sensitive and imaginitive lyrics, as well as a sensational build-up of instruments from each of the musicians that help Fish create a sense of mystery and magic. The Celtic feeling is strong on this track, with Fish creating more music that gives nods to his homeland of Scotland. Moving Targets is the first of two songs relating to 9/11, and the voice that is so identifiable with Fish returns once again and really steals the show. Not saying that the music is bad, the band really grooves on this song and takes the feeling to a whole other dimension of sonic power. The Rookie and Zoo Class are similar tracks in my mind. Both have similar sounding guitar lines and beats, but the topics at hand in each of these songs are completely different. Frank Usher really shines on these tracks. The rest of the album is a mix of strong guitar sensibilities, some great keyboard works from Tony Turrell and more sniping social commentary from Fish, on top of that, Fish sounds great on each and every one of these tracks.

Overall, this is a very strong work from Fish. It may not be progressive, but it certainly is entertaining hard rock with some overly progressive tendencies in moments. If you like Fish, then this is a must have. If you are a Marillion fan expecting something similar to the old Fish era works, then you'll be left with an album that has no connections with that time. It's a good album, but not near Fish's best. 3.5/5.