Snapper UK
2005
Bouillabaisse - The Best Of Fish Balladeer
About This Album
This double disc by the enigmatic Fish -- aka Derek William Dick from Edinburgh, Scotland -- is exactly the perfect kind of constructed best-of for a performer who is as theatrical, dramatic, and utterly exposed as his lyrics, through all of his musical phases. Divided thematically between ballads and harder tracks, Bouillabaise showcases Fish the poet on "Balladeer" (disc one) and the rock singer on "Rocketeer" (disc two). Each disc includes moments from his years fronting Marillion. The ballads on disc one include "Kayleigh," from Misplaced Childhood, as well as "A Gentleman's Excuse Me," from Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors. But the finest moments occur in his duets, with the beguiling and sublimely talented Sam Brown on "Shot the Craw," from 2004's Field of Crows, and "Scattering the Crows." Then there's "Incomplete" with Elizabeth Troy Antwi, from 1999's Raingods with Zippos. "Tara" is also here as well as an edited version of "Raw Meat," from Suits in 1994, and thankfully, his wondrous cover of Sandy Denny's "Solo" from Songs from the Mirror in 1993. The combination of Fish's lyrics in these songs and the grain of his completely vulnerable and bewildered voice makes him a singular talent.
Track List

Disc 1

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Disc 2 (try tracks 4,5,6,11,14 and 15)

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