Fish 13th Star

"The 13th Star Deluxe 2023 Remix" track list contains a brand new 2022 remix of the original album by Calum Malcolm and material including previously unreleased acoustic tracks from BBC sessions for Bob Harris and the Fishheads Club show at St Mary’s Church in Haddington, a rare 2007 demo and tracks from the album performed live at the Nearfest USA show in 2008 only previously available on DVD. All the tracks on this collection were remastered in 2022 by Calum Malcolm.

This Scottish rock vocalist enjoyed success both as a solo artist and with progressive rockers Marillion.
13th Star was written as a concept album, although this applies mainly to the lyrics presenting a narrative throughout - the concept was of someone on a journey of self- discovery, with the 13th Star serving as the guiding light or the destination. From the first chords of the opening track, "Circle Line," the influence of Vantsis can be heard as the album has a more rocky feel, more akin to Sunsets on Empire than more recent albums. After this fast start, the album slows down on the third track, "Miles de Besos," which is Spanish for "Thousands of Kisses." The fifth track, "Arc of the Curve," was the first single released from the album, but as expected, it did nothing in the charts. After this track, the album picks up the pace again with one of the disc's highlights, "Manchmal"…

Songs from the Mirror was the third studio album that Fish released and it was the second of his two albums to fulfill his contract for Polydor. Fish needed more time to write a new album and he decided that to complete his current contract he would release an album of cover versions, an idea first conceived when he was with Marillion. The band was the same as the previous album except that Foster "Foss" Paterson replaced Mickey Simmonds as he had done on the tour. The songs chosen were personal favorites of Fish and are not all prog rock tracks as may have been thought from listening to his music. Of the tracks on the album, a number are fairly faithful to the originals; "Question" (Moody Blues), "Boston Tea Party" (Sensational Alex Harvey Band), and "Jeepster" (T. Rex). Fish did tend to adapt the slower songs on the album (e.g. Pink Floyd's "Fearless" and Sandy Denny's "Solo") to his own vocal style and his added depth to the music…

1988's The Thieving Magpie is a sprawling double-disc live set which manages to tie up virtually all the loose ends from Marillion's years with charismatic frontman Fish. Like 1984's Real to Reel mini live album, Magpie offers mostly sterling performances packed with both feeling and technical precision, which often times manage to better their studio counterparts thanks to their road-worthy fluidity. But unlike that seamlessly assembled mini live album, it does suffer from the occasional silence between tracks, or even noticeable variations in sound quality, crowd noise, and general ambiance. Sure, most listeners won't give a hoot about such details when faced with the sheer creative breadth (some would say absurdity) of such Marillion magnum opuses as "Fugazi," "Script for a Jester's Tear," and "Chelsea Monday" to name but a few…