Review: Fish - Weltschmerz Deluxe Edition

Fish has released what he says will be his final album and it’s hard to imagine the big Scotsman going out on a better note. Weltschmerz is his best album in years and the deluxe edition is filled with bells and whistles that add true value to spending the extra money.

I ponied up the additional cash just to get the album in 5.1 surround sound audio. Oftentimes a deluxe edition has a few nice, if non-essential, extras, but Fish included plenty of bonus material that make it truly worthwhile to have in one’s music collection. I spent hours yesterday going over these features. In addition to having 5.1 DTS Master Audio (48k, 24 bit) and PCM Wav (48k, 24 bit) mixes of the entire double album, the Blu-ray contains four live audio tracks from Fish’s 2018 tour. 

When playing the Blu-ray audio tracks, Mark Wilkinson’s outstanding artwork appears on screen during each song in stunning detail, making for an interesting overall experience.

But it’s the video features that help set this version of the release apart. Included is a lengthy conversation between Fish and interviewer Will Smith about the making and background of the album. This video clocks in at a mammoth hour and 20 minutes and provides tremendous insight into the album’s songs, as well as Fish’s personal life during the lengthy process of making Weltschmerz. Another interesting video provides insight into the album’s unique artwork, featuring interviews with artists Mark and Julie Wilkinson. This one has a run time of 25 minutes.

There are also promotional videos for “Man with a Stick,” “Weltschmerz,” “Garden of Remembrance,” and “This Party’s Over.” Each promo video has a corresponding “making of” video that explains details on how each video was made and the thought that went into them. And they include insights into the songs themselves.

The packaging of the deluxe edition is outstanding in quality. The thick outer box and the inner hardback book feature Wilkinson’s haunting and amazing imagery. The hardback contains the two CDs in pockets inside the front cover and the Blu-ray disc in a corresponding pocket tucked inside the back cover. In between is a 100-page book filled with Fish’s thoughts/sleeve notes on the marathon process of bringing this album to fruition — a journey that began as an idea in 2015 — plus the full lyrics from every song, couched in detailed and incredible artwork from the Wilkinsons for every track. A great deal of care and thought obviously went into this book and the packaging overall.

Then comes the music itself. The subject matter is serious and often dark, but Fish also offers hope, or at least the possibility of hope, by the conclusion of the majority of the tracks. The double album clocks in at an hour and 24 minutes. There are 10 tracks and they range in length from 4:23 (“This Party's Over”) to 15:43 (“Rose of Damascus”). Three of the 10 songs top the 10-minute mark. In addition to “Rose of Damascus,” the epics include “Waverly Steps (End of the Line)” at 13:48 and “Little Man What Now?” at 10:54. Thematically and tonally the songs are linked nicely, making for a cohesive work overall — no easy task with a double album. It’s more than just a collection of disparate tracks.

The subject matter mainly concerns mental states and forms of mental illness. But Fish, in his true storytelling fashion, makes each song about individual people. He’s telling these stories in vivid detail but also in the metaphor and language you expect from Fish. The video interview and the deluxe edition book’s narrative both indicate how much care Fish took in writing these songs and how difficult it was to get them exactly right, particularly given the backdrop of the singer's health issues and the death of his father. 

Fish assembled outstanding musicians who serve his vision well. The use of horns and strings add tremendous texture to these songs. Some of that texture requires multiple listens to fully grasp properly, which (to me) is the hallmark of a great album with the potential to remain interesting for years.

Now, let's talk about the music.

The album opener, “Grace of God,” is kind of two songs in one and both are good. There’s a noticeable shift from the first to the second part of the song, but the two parts work well together, and the second section builds nicely throughout to a bit of a crescendo with strings. Lyrically they’re linked by the title phrase that served as the germ of the entire song.

My personal favorite so far (and more will be revealed on subsequent listens, I imagine) is the second track, “Man with a Stick.” Rhythm and percussion take the forefront immediately and drive the song forward. An intensely enjoyable keyboard solo is one of the album’s true highlights — and it sounds fantastic in 5.1. This is probably the track I enjoyed most in surround sound. The chorus is simple but memorable and enjoyable.

“Walking on Eggshells,” which deals lyrically with issues of anger and bipolar disorder, also uses strings to build and build the song as it goes along. It starts off as a pleasant and fairly simple song, but it climbs to a dizzying height and then finishes with a soft, lovely denouement.

Next up is the most jubilant-sounding track on the album, “This Party’s Over.” This song sounds like it could be on Internal Exile and something about it also reminds me of some of Fish’s work on the Ayreon album Into the Electric Castle. It’s probably the Celtic vibe and pipes. It also utilizes interesting saxophone flourishes by David Jackson from Van der Graaf Generator. Despite the aforementioned pipes and Celtic vibe, it’s the closest thing to a pop track on the album. Lyrically, the song is a mishmash of Fish’s autobiographical decision to give up alcohol and a larger global message.

Disc 1 finishes with the sprawling epic, “Rose of Damascus.” This story follows a girl’s idealistic dreams of fighting for democracy in Syria, the horror of things going wrong, and the conditions that turn people like her into refugees. Fish leaves the conclusion open-ended with the protagonist sailing into an uncertain future, clutching a Damask rose from her homeland, hoping to replant it at some later, more settled time. For me, the beauty of a prog epic lies in section changes to keep things musically interesting. I think here the length is mainly to fit in all of Fish’s story. It can drag a bit on early listens. Strings and acoustic guitar shine on this epic track, which also contains two of Fish’s patented spoken word sections.

The incredibly heartfelt “Garden of Remembrance” kicks off Disc 2. It’s a soft and haunting ballad. Dripping with emotion, the song deals with dementia — the promotional video for it on the Blu-ray is striking and immensely powerful. The lyrics nicely juxtapose the heartbreaking effects of dementia on the memory and the periodic triumphant breakthroughs into clarity. Piano and Fish’s vocals (and lyrics) take center stage on this track, which is an album highlight for me.

Acoustic guitar, subtle keyboards, an accordion, and lush backing vocals highlight “C Song (Trondheim Waltz).” For me, this song speaks to refusing to give in mentally to dire news and instead determining to carry on as positively as possible. 

“Little Man What Now?” is the first of back-to-back epics on the second disc. Strings, Jackson’s sax, and a slow tempo drive this song relentlessly forward. The chorus is simply a repetition of the song title but it’s still a memorable one. Despite having a slow, steady pace, the song never gets boring. It also seems to go by quicker than its 10-plus-minutes of run time.

The final epic, “Waverly Steps (End of the Line),” is the longest song on the second disc. It’s a winding story based on a news story Fish saw about a homeless man who froze to death outside a train station. Fish did what Fish does and constructed an entire story around an idea and the result is the centerpiece of Disc 2. Horns are used to great effect on this one. There’s an early tempo change that launches the song on its way, riding along on rhythmic acoustic guitar. I like this song, but I think that it drags a bit when the tempo slows down again. Luckily, that dragging bit ends when a tasty John Mitchell guitar solo kicks in. That gives way to a nice keyboard solo that plays through to the end. I suspect I’ll need a few more listens to this nearly 14-minute song to fully grasp it.

The title track closes Weltschmerz in style. Fish’s vocal over a tasty guitar riff kicks things off with the lyrics describing the effects that world news have had on the big Scot. The German word ‘weltschmerz’ means “world pain,” which is a topic one can honestly see resonating with Fish.

I’ve formed the opinion that things can’t stay as they are
My anger and my fury trapped like a wasp in a jar
It’s never too late to make a brave new start
When the revolution is called I will play my part.

The lyrics are defiant about the state of things (climate change, politics, etc.), as Fish exhorts the listener to “stand up for your world.” And yet the final lines of the album — an album often tinged with hope — is not a hopeful one.

The shells of cathedrals, the yellowing grass
The plum dark tornadoes, fluttering flags
The queues at the foodbanks, the raging typhoons
The gangs on the corner, the shadows that groom
The fading of dahlias, the forests of fire
The walls in the desert

The rapture is near.

It’s an ominous final lyric, especially knowing it’s Fish’s last, barring a change of heart and another album in the future. But it’s also quintessentially Fish. 

On the whole, I haven’t yet decided where I think Weltschmerz ranks among Fish’s works yet. I already like it better than A Feast of Consequences, Suits, and Fellini Days. I’m fairly certain I won’t have it as high as Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors or Internal Exile, but further listens await and we’ll just have to see. Regardless, it’s an impressive effort, and if he wants to end his solo recording career on a high note, he’s certainly accomplished that goal.