Fish Out of Water (Chris Squire) - Extended Play Lounge: Episode 29
Added 2022-10-04 23:02:19 +0000 UTCY'all...I love this album. I had a wonderful experience listening to this today for the first time. The only song I had heard previously was Safe (Canon Song), and that was only once a few months ago. And, I had the added bonus of having the audio come directly from the turntable. I explain this in the video, but I imported the audio first, cleaned it up a bit, and then listened via the computer...instead of via the turntable in real time.
I hope you enjoy as much as I did. Cheers.
Unlisted Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/756972666/c327ce7bff
Comments
This makes clear to me that this album is my favorite of all the Yes solo albums (including the earlier Rick Wakeman ones!). Not a moment that I'm not loving it 😀 I always thought this was a little treasure that very few knew anything about - I'm so glad that Helvering's Army are such connoisseurs that this won the poll. BTW I'm thinking that at the end it's not a quote from Close to the Edge, but could be from Gates of Delirium.
Adie
2024-03-02 22:47:09 +0000 UTCP.S. I'm a much later man, I was born and grew up in CD era, so I don't get the hype about vinyls. I've listened to vinyl recordings here and there, yes, they have high quality sound, but CD and digital is just as good and without any crackling. I see a lot of people have sentiments towards that little crackling sound, while I find it straight annoying.
Einaras Sipavičius
2022-10-11 20:37:24 +0000 UTCExcellent! I always liked the sound of this album more than any album by Yes. No offense to maestro Steve Howe, but in most cases I'm not a fan of his guitar sound, even more so on faster passages. Somehow Steve made Yes sound a little bit more 'bluegrass' and Fish Out of Water sounds to me simply heavier with that fat bass and lots of organ / piano. And composition-wise this album is on the same level as best Yes albums. I might have a slight problem with Safe (Canon Song), the instrumental section is a bit too meandering and too long, but only slightly. But Silently Falling and Lucky Seven are almost better than any Yes song for me. Again, heavy and groovy sound is what makes it so attractive to me.
Einaras Sipavičius
2022-10-11 20:33:11 +0000 UTCThanks so much Ron. I'll make sure I tell her when I meet her in person.
R. Douglas Helvering
2022-10-09 20:23:55 +0000 UTCI have a Dak vinyl brush. Don't yet have a needle care kit.
R. Douglas Helvering
2022-10-09 20:23:05 +0000 UTCYou can hear how important Chris was to the sound of "YES"! Nothing better than a rip right from the vinyl ... sounds just as Chris intended. I will send you a good record care kit to keep the vinyl clean and minimize the pops but nothing sounds better than the 1st generation mixes ripped right to .wav files or even better .flac files ... excellent Doug!
Stop Propaganda
2022-10-09 01:22:34 +0000 UTCHi Doug, I want to mention here your interview with Rachel Flowers because in your interview she mentions this album and I have a Youtube link that I don't believe Youtube allows. Until your interview, I had heard the name but not the music or really anything about her. How refreshing that someone her age has such affection for all the 70's prog that I/now you love. I now have purchased all 3 of her records without hearing any of them except for the song you played. I want to share with you a video I found of her (much to my surprise and delight) playing guitar with Frank Zappa's son Dweezil. The song is Montana and she does her own solo and then traded solos with Dweezil (who by the way is as good and talented a guitar player as any of the well-known guitar heroes we all are familiar with). The video just warms my heart and I hope it does the same for you. Watch it on your own or share it with us if you'd like, either works. Thank you for this wonderful interview and keep up the great great & hard work you're doing. send my best to Megan as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBiWNLhX3Vc
Ron Swirson
2022-10-08 01:47:53 +0000 UTCA somewhat different opinion: I bought the album in 1975 as a Yes/King Crimson fan and was a little disappointed. It lacked the rock element I was expecting and there was hardly any soloing like The Fish (Yessongs, not Fragile). On top of that the voice of Chris wasn’t, and still isn’t my cup of tea but that’s purely my personal taste. Through the years I have played it from time to time and I bought the 5.1 BLuray version last year, which sounds great btw. I think I appreciate the album a little more now, after watching your reaction. It does contain some beautiful music.
Frits van Voorst
2022-10-05 20:06:04 +0000 UTCI think Doug used the original vinyl recording for this. The remaster is better. I was thinking more of other EPLs .
Andrew Mellor
2022-10-05 15:36:05 +0000 UTCThe production leaves a lot to be desired to me, I find it to be very muddy with a low top end, a re-mix would improve the sound immensely I think, different strokes.
BarryLI
2022-10-05 15:32:07 +0000 UTCWas going to comment about this being our chance to finally hear Chris as a lead vocalist away from Jon's powerful leads and whamo, Doug comments on it, caso cerrado. For more Squire-centric goodies I would humbly suggest a listen to The Syn's 2016 album Trustworks with Moon Safari's amazing harmony vox along for the ride, a collaboration that really kicks ass (minus Chris of course as he had passed the prior year sadly), Jonas Reingold of The Flower Kings acts as his replacement here.
BarryLI
2022-10-05 15:26:53 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed that - thanks Doug. Also the sound quality was really good, indicating that perhaps some of the sources used previously are lossy. Squire had such brilliant tones from his bass, his voice works really well, and the orchestration is fantastic. This was for me the strongest of the solo albums of Yes members at that time.
Andrew Mellor
2022-10-05 12:16:58 +0000 UTCFunny thing about that taped copy of FISH...after the end of "Safe", my friend put the song "Loved By the Sun" by Jon Anderson from LEGEND after it. For a long time, I thought the bass fade-out from "Safe" was the beginning to that song...
Joseph Maurone
2022-10-05 06:47:53 +0000 UTCKids today have it easy...when I was in high school, late 80's, I heard snippets of "Hold Out Your Hand" on the YESYEARS documentary, and had to rely on a taped copy of the album provided by a friend, which I wore out. Couldn't find it on CD until late 90's, when I got it as a German import (along with OLIAS OF SUNHILLOW) . Funny story about that: I got Chris to sign it at a signing for MAGNIFICATION. He was kinda grouchy, it seemed, too. He asked me if I was going to sell it on Ebay, and I said "Hell, no! It took me forever to find it, and it was an import!" He asked if it was Japanese, and I said, "no; German." He suddently shot up, grabbed it, and examined the print on the cover for a good minute, and said "SO IT IS...THANK YOU!" I guess he was unaware of its release, maybe not getting paid for it? Anyway, that's my Chris Squire experience!
Joseph Maurone
2022-10-05 06:37:46 +0000 UTCLove this album. Oddly, though, "You By My Side", always reminds me of music from THE GOLDEN GIRLS...not quite sure why...and the intro to "Silently Falling" reminds me of Vince Guaraldi's music for the PEANUTS cartoons; makes me think of the Halloween and Thanksgiving specials, with the autumnal watercolor skies...and then,the rhythmic keyboards in "Silently Falling" sounds like one of the Munchkin songs from THE WIZARD OF OZ...OH! And the horns during "Safe" sound like the melody from Renaissance's "The Discovery", from the AZURE D'OR album. (not a complaint, mind you; I like making such associations...)
Joseph Maurone
2022-10-05 05:48:19 +0000 UTC1 other thing. The strange tone at the end was created by playing on the 8-string neck of a doubleneck bass while having the pickups on the 4-string neck active. This causes the pickups to amplify the overtones of the notes as they resonate through the shared body of the instrument. This creates a ghostly impression of of what he is playing. And the melody he is playing is a restatement of a theme from this piece.
Gregory Robert Goddu
2022-10-05 05:35:30 +0000 UTCI'm actually glad there aren't any blazing guitar solos on this album. I find it so refreshing to be able to focus on the rhythm section. I love that you can really hear the many basses Chris uses and his 12 string guitar tone is so cool. I'm glad it's not buried under a lead guitar. I say this as a guitarist and big Steve Howe fan.
Gregory Robert Goddu
2022-10-05 05:27:01 +0000 UTCThere is SO much going on in the "Canon Song" latter section of "Safe (Canon Song)"—I have the advantage of having listened to it since the album came out...but so many interweaving themes, duelling time signatures and rhythmic crosstalk, subtle variations (most of it's in 11/8, but listen carefully to moments when he switches up the beat...) This is such an accomplished album, I'd say easily the best of the Yes solo projects of the era. Jon's album is pretty revelatory and wonderful (I look forward to your analysis, eventually)...while Steve's has some decent songs, some more sketchy songs, but...he just isn't a lead singer. It's a shame he didn't find someone else to do the leads, charming though his singing may be, it just doesn't hold up in the end...
Jeff Norman
2022-10-05 04:09:38 +0000 UTCOne word: Atom Heart Mother. Surely Chris' Canon was inspired by Floyd's stentorian and timpanic tonitruations down ancient boulevards of aural atmospherics. When this dropped, and was duly absorbed, it was done so in an Abbey Road White Beetle with an 8-track player with only one working speaker. Imagine my delight at hearing it, in a proper state, with other proper headgear.
MrWondrous David Beckwith
2022-10-05 02:13:06 +0000 UTCLong time Yes fan, and I haven't yet heard this. Looking forward to the listen.
JT Siren
2022-10-04 23:43:12 +0000 UTCThe changing the beat of the snare is Bruford's signature, he used it on Long Distance Runaround as well.
Tamás Polyák
2022-10-04 23:39:22 +0000 UTCThe Patrick Moraz organ solo section in Silently Falling is so intense.
Gary Thobaben
2022-10-04 23:19:07 +0000 UTCAaaaaahhhh this is the best!
Gary Thobaben
2022-10-04 23:13:31 +0000 UTCI immediately sought out a vinyl version of this record when this was a consideration for your review. My friends and I would spend many hours enthralled by the brilliance of this record. Chris was an amazing player. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyG08QMKt8o
Sid Levy
2022-10-04 23:12:54 +0000 UTCHold out your hand...immediately popped to mind. Looking forward to hearing this again, after decades away.
MrWondrous David Beckwith
2022-10-04 23:06:38 +0000 UTCOne of my all-time favorite albums, what a treat! I just got this one on vinyl too. :)
Kyle Marie
2022-10-04 23:03:52 +0000 UTC
