Fish Out of Water (Chris Squire album)

Fish Out of Water
Studio album by Chris Squire
Released	7 November 1975 (UK) 30 December 1975 (US)
Recorded	Virginia Water, Surrey Sound Studios and Morgan Studios, London, February - September 1975
Genre	Symphonic rock, progressive rock, baroque pop
Length	42:30
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Chris Squire
Chris Squire chronology
Fish Out of Water (1975) Chris Squire's Swiss Choir (2007)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Fish Out of Water is the only solo album by English bass guitarist Chris Squire. It was released in 1975 on Atlantic Records during a period of inactivity from his progressive rock band Yes. Bill Bruford and Patrick Moraz of Yes contribute to the record, while Squire employs his signature bass skills as well as 12-string guitars and vocals. Also on the album are Mel Collins on saxophone and Squire's friend Andrew Pryce Jackman on piano. The album is in the same vein as the Yes album of the previous year, Relayer, though the sound is more fleshed out with the help of a full orchestra and the jazz context of "Lucky Seven". It was a moderate success, reaching number 25 on the UK Albums Chart.

Overview

Andrew Jackman, Squire's former bandmate in The Syn, partnered with Squire in arranging and conceptualizing the album.^[2] Over the course of sketching out the album, he ended up making some compositional contributions. Because of this, Squire offered to give him some co-writing credits, but Jackman declined.^[2]

The title refers to his nickname "Fish", and being "...Out of Water" due to being away from the Yes context. The title of "Lucky Seven" refers to the song being in 7/8 time signature.^[2] Musically, a melodic passage from Yes' song "Close to the Edge" re-appears in the finale of "Safe".

The first track begins with a short fanfare style introduction played on the organ at St. Paul's Cathedral, London by the cathedral organist Barry Rose. The organ continues throughout the song creating an original sound and revealing Squire and Jackman's experience together as church choristers in their boyhood.

The closing passage on "Safe" was played on the 4-string bass section of a double-neck guitar using only the pickups of the 6-string section.^[2]

It had been out-of-print outside Japan and Europe, but was reissued in the United States by Wounded Bird Records on 28 February 2006. Subsequently, a deluxe edition of the album was released on 25 June 2007 on Squire's own label, Stone Ghost Records, distributed by Castle/Sanctuary Records. The album was remastered and features as bonus material the single edit version of "Lucky Seven", the promo video for "Hold Out Your Hand" and "You By My Side", audio commentary, and a 40-minute interview with Chris Squire.

Track listing

All songs written by Chris Squire.

Side one

1. "Hold Out Your Hand" – 4:13
2. "You by My Side" – 5:00
3. "Silently Falling" – 11:27

Side two

1. "Lucky Seven" – 6:54
2. "Safe (Canon Song)" – 14:56

Personnel

• Chris Squire – lead and backing vocals, bass guitar, twelve-string guitar (tracks 3 and 4), drums (track 2)^[2]
• Andrew Jackman – acoustic and electric pianos, conductor, orchestration
• Bill Bruford – drums, percussion
• Patrick Moraz – bass synthesizer and organ (track 3)
• Jimmy Hastings – flute (track 3)
• Mel Collins – tenor saxophone (track 3), alto saxophone (track 4)
• Barry Rose – pipe organ (track 1)
• Adrian Bett – woodwinds leader
• Jim Buck – horns leader
• Julian Gaillard – strings leader
• John Wilbraham – brass leader
• Nikki Squire – backing vocals (track 1)

Production

• Chris Squire: Producer
• Greg Jackman: Engineer
• Nigel Luby: Assistant Engineer
• Phil Carson: Overdubs, Mastering
• Trevor Spencer: Mastering
• Graham Preskett: Mastering

Charts

Album

Samples

Samples from "Silently Falling" were used in P-Money's "Falling Down" on his 2010 album Everything.

References