After Fish first left Marillion, he released a respectable number (five in four years) of discs leading into 1994. That year alone, though, saw four new Fish albums hit the stores. There were no new Fish discs released in 1995, and going forward from there he reverted to his earlier pace for the remainder of the twentieth century.
Krakow
A live album recorded in 1994, "Krakow" was a two-CD set. A lot of the success and failure in terms of listener perceptions derives from particular tastes towards various eras of Fish' career. Those who felt his best performances came from the Marillion era would be disappointed as the songs from that period were few and mostly medleys.
However, those who preferred Fish's solo works to those with Marillion would find a lot to like on the set. The disc would be Fish's only release for 1996, but one that would keep fans engaged and entertained.
Sunsets On Empire
While Fish had been releasing discs on his own label for a while, 1997's "Sunsets on Empire" found him back on a record label that didn't belong to him. Amazingly enough, "Sunsets on Empire" was just his third full length studio album of original material.
The lyrical concepts varied from personal songs to more universal ones. There was a lot of dynamic range to be heard in the music, but it wouldn't be a big surprise to longtime fans, but rather precisely what was expected from Fish. Still, it was a strong disc, just not one that showed a lot of musical growth or change.
The Complete BBC Sessions
As one might guess from the title, 1999's "The Complete BBC Sessions" was a live album composed of various appearances on the BBC. With excellent performances and recording, it was a strong album. The source material spanned Fish's time with Marillion along with his solo works. The one oddity, though, is because it was put together from various performances, some songs are represented more than once on the set.
Raingods With Zippos
With Fish's next solo album, he chose to switch things up in terms of musicians, bringing in several new people to the mix. The most prominent of those was Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree) who has become something of a progressive rock "go to" person in recent years. Another notable name was Bruce Watson of Big Country fame who played mandolin.
The 1999 disc (his final studio album of the 20th century) would continue the basic musical and lyrical themes present in Fish's solo recordings. It consisted of shorter tracks and one twenty-five minute, multi-track suite. The disc certainly pleased long time fans, but the presence of Steve Wilson allowed some new listeners to hear his music. The music on the disc was strong enough to convert some of them into Fish fans.
Tales from the Big Bus
Fish's final release for the 20th Century was another two-disc live album entitled, "Tales from the Big Bus." The set was recorded in Koln, Germany in 1997 and Fish shows off his multi-lingual skills by addressing the audience in German.
Overall the album succeeds at times and fails at others. While some performances are stellar, others don't work as well. There are quite a few songs from the "Sunsets on Empire" album presented, along with cuts from other points in Fish's career (both Marillion era and solo). While hardcore fans certainly would want the album, the question of "when is another live album one too many?" certainly had relevance.
While Fish had slowed from his peak in terms of number of releases from 1995 to the end of the century, the discs certainly kept coming. Going forward, Fish would release seven albums in the first decade of the 21st century.
