Fish Rising - STEVE HILLAGE***

Solar Musick Suite/Fish/Meditaion Of The Snake/The Salmon Song/Aftaglid

Fish Rising was the debut solo album from guitarist Steve Hillage who was formerly a member of the progressive band Gong. During the mid 1970s he received some critical acclaim as well as modest commercial success. (UK:33)

“For my money, this album offers up a vision of what Gong were trying to achieve better than any other album of theirs. Hillage quite simply offers up one of the finest, if not criminally overlooked albums of the prog genre. Centred around a loose theme of fish and water, he shows some incredible guitar skills, and even smarter studio skills to give the listener a truly unique trip. The two longer pieces which bookend the album are magnificent with their airy mix of phase shifted guitar and keyboard.”

“Fish Rising sounds a lot like Gong, but with much more emphasis on the guitar. While with Gong he was content to play second fiddle to all the craziness that was a feature of the band's sound. Here it is the other way around, Gong type sounds and textures mostly sit in the background embellishing Hillage's awesome guitar.”

“Quite a trippy album, that is very similar to Gong but with more focus on Steve Hillage, an underrated guitar player. If you like spacey prog, give this one a spin.”

“Fish Rising is the result of Hillage stepping into his own. It was still recorded with the remaining members of Gong but without the pressure of the Gong legacy hanging over him. Hillage was able to create something totally fresh, unique and more aligned with his own vision. An incredible debut, filled with exciting guitar sounds and solo work, amazing time signature changes and a wonderful spacey production.”

“Fish Rising serves as a continuation of the musical format presented on You by Gong. Just like its counterpart, the music here is very spacey with loads of atmospheric synthesizer work, technically superior drumming, virtuosic guitar work, and rumbling bass. However, the complexity of the ensemble work and arrangements has increased to a degree that is at times staggering. Conversely, the whimsical side of Gong is also present as on the shorter piece Fish. Steve Hillage is a gifted musician with considerable compositional skills and a great singing voice.”

“Hillage writes spacey psychedelic jams that rock really hard in spite of their cosmic layering, detail and ethereal hippy soundscapes.”