Internal Exile (2024 Remix)

MARILLION時代から変わらぬシアトリカルなストーリーテリングとドラマティックな楽曲を生み出しつづけてきた名ボーカリスト/ソングライター、英Polydorから発表された'91年作が自身のレーベルChocolate Frogより新規リミックス音源を使用した拡大版3CDとして'24年再発!

CD1には'91年作本編とアルバム未収のシングル曲"Poet's Moon"Carnival Man"の'24年リミックス&リマスター音源、CD2には今回初登場となる'91年作/シングル収録曲の各種デモ音源、CD3には『SUSHI』『UNCLE FISH & THE CRYPT CREEPERS』などの過去に発売されたコンピレーション盤/ライブアルバムから抜粋された'91年作/シングル収録曲のリレコーディング音源/ライブ音源をそれぞれ収録。バックにRobin Boult(g)、Frank Usher(g)、Kevin Wilkinson(drs)、元PILOTのDavid Paton(b)、元CAMEL/RENAISSANCEのMickey Simmonds(key)を迎え、MARILLION期のシアトリカルかつドラマティックな音楽性をベースに、自身の出自に焦点を当てたコンセプチュアルな一作。タイトル曲を筆頭に"Credo"Just Good Friends(Close)"Lucky"等々、"道化師"の仮装を落とし、スコットランド人としての自身の出自/有り様を赤裸々に音楽に反映。以降の作品にも継承されていく大らかさと開放感に満ちた、転機作となる秀作です!!

It's a comparison that has dogged Fish throughout his professional career, but it's hard to listen to his music -- either his work with Marillion or his solo albums -- and not be reminded of prime-period Genesis, when Peter Gabriel was fronting the band. It's not only because his voice uncannily recalls Gabriel's and that the musical approach is heavily influenced by Selling England By the Pound and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, but it's also because Gabriel has stopped recording the kind of fruity, pompous prog-rock that dominates Fish's second full-fledged solo album, Internal Exile. That might sound like a harsh criticism, but it's meant as a compliment, simply because in 1991 -- or for that matter, the '90s -- nobody does classic British prog as well as Fish. True, Internal Exile relies a bit too much on contemporary studio techniques, resulting in a clean, almost sterile sound, but it's appropriate for such precise, mannered music. At times, it's a little too mannered, but much of the album delivers exactly what Fish and Marillion fans need -- and what old-school Genesis fans have been waiting to hear. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine