Songs From The Mirror | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 18 January 1993 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1992 | |||
Studio | Funny Farm; Haddington, Mid-Lothian, Scotland | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 44:53 | |||
Label | Polydor | |||
Producer | James Cassidy | |||
Fish chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Singles from Songs From The Mirror | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
Songs from the Mirror is the third solo album by Scottish singer-songwriter Fish,released in 1993 as his final album for Polydor. It does not contain any original material;instead it is a cover album featuring Fish's versions of songs by artists who inspired him before his career started. It reached 46 on the UK Albums Chart. [3]
The album was influenced by David Bowie's 1973 covers project, Pin Ups . Fish included a version of his favourite Bowie song,"Five Years". [4] He also recorded versions of songs by The Moody Blues,Alex Harvey,Pink Floyd,The Kinks,Argent,Sandy Denny,Genesis and T Rex. The songs all date from a period between 1970 and 1976 and reflect Fish's taste in music when he was 12 to 18 years old. The title is a reference to the time when he would impersonate his teenage idols in front of a mirror.
Polydor initially rejected the idea of a cover album,but eventually accepted it as the second album Fish was obliged to deliver under their contract. As of April 2016,Songs from the Mirror is Fish's last ever output on a major record company;however,he did record for Roadrunner Records in the late 90s,an indie label with major distribution later sold to a conglomerate.
The core line-up on this album is the same as on the 1992 tour. Since the recording of Internal Exile,keyboardist Mickey Simmonds had been replaced with Foster Paterson,while drummer Kevin Wilkinson had taken over from session player Ethan Johns. The spots for guitars (Robin Boult,Frank Usher) and bass (David Paton) had remained unchanged. Other than that and backing vocals,only two tracks ("Solo" and "Jeepster") feature an additional guest musician,Ben Molleson on violin and tin whistle. Fish tried to get David Bowie to play the saxophone solo on "Five Years",but he didn't manage to get hold of Bowie,and the saxophone solo was skipped. [5] The album was mixed and produced by James Cassidy,who Fish had met while recording guest vocals for Jeff Wayne's musical Spartacus. Cassidy would also produce and co-write Fish's next album Suits (1994).
Only a lead single was released from this album,with Argent's 1972 hit "Hold Your Head Up" as the A-Side. This was actually marketed as an EP entitled Never Mind The Bullocks (featuring Hold Your Head Up) even though the 7" and CD single only contained two and three songs respectively. Also,these songs were to be found on the album,providing little incentive for fans to purchase the single. A second single with David Bowie's "Five Years" as the A-Side was in the pipeline,but never officially released;only a radio promo exists.
Songs from the Mirror is the only regular Fish album not to be designed by Mark Wilkinson. Fish had deliberately decided to not use Wilkinson,as he didn't want to give the impression it was an album with original material. Instead,he chose "The Guddler" by Scottish painter Keith McIntyre as the cover. "The Guddler" had also been the working title of the project.
The album was followed by a tour,which was significantly longer than the previous tour promoting Internal Exile. After the 1992 "Toile Tour" in club-sized venues,this tour saw Fish return to large-capacity halls. However,this was also the last time he regularly played such venues. The stage design initially featured 'nets' which separated the band from Fish. Some found this somewhat egotistical while others saw that it allowed Fish to interact with the audience and heighten the sense of atmosphere. However,after morale began to fall in the band,Fish finally decided to get rid of the nets and resumed with his normal stage setup. The double live album Sushi (1994) was recorded during this tour and features five Songs from the Mirror.
After Fish signed with Roadrunner Records in 1998,Songs from the Mirror was re-released on this label along with the other studio albums from his back catalogue. The re-issue featured a changed track-list:"Jeepster" was removed,two other cover versions were added,"The Seeker" by The Who and "Time and a Word" by Yes,which had previously been released on the compilation Outpatients '93 . "Time and A Word" was also part of the compilation Yin (1995).
Country | Peak position |
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Switzerland [6] | 30 |
Germany [7] | 44 |
Netherlands [8] | 16 |
United Kingdom [9] | 46 |
Total time 44:53
Total time 48:16
Disc One
Total time 56:39
Disc Two
Total time 67:47
Disc Three:DVD
From original release liner notes:
Alexander James Harvey was a Scottish rock and blues musician. Although his career spanned almost three decades,he is best remembered as the frontman of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band,with whom he built a reputation as an exciting live performer during the era of glam rock in the 1970s.
Argent were an English rock band formed in 1969 by former Zombies' keyboardist Rod Argent. They had three UK top 40 hits:"Hold Your Head Up",which reached number five and spent 12 weeks on charts,"Tragedy" (#34),and "God Gave Rock and Roll to You" (#18). Two of their albums charted in the UK:All Together Now,which peaked at number 13 in 1972,and In Deep,which spent one week at number 49 in 1973.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1972. Fronted by Alex Harvey accompanied by Zal Cleminson on guitar,bassist Chris Glen,keyboard player Hugh McKenna and drummer Ted McKenna,their music was a blend of blues rock and hard rock,with cabaret elements. Their stage performances incorporated theatrical elements. The band were popular in continental Europe,and influential in Australia,most notably on AC/DC and on the young Nick Cave and his first band The Boys Next Door.
"Sorrow" is a song first recorded by the McCoys in 1965 and released as the B-side to their cover of "Fever". It became a big hit in the United Kingdom in a version by the Merseys,reaching number 4 on the UK chart on 28 April 1966. A version by David Bowie charted worldwide in 1973.
"Apeman" is a 1970 song by the English rock band the Kinks. It was written by Ray Davies and appears on the album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround,Part One.
Internal Exile is Fish's second solo album after leaving Marillion in 1988. The album,released 28 October 1991,was inspired by the singer's past,his own personal problems and his troubled experiences with his previous record label EMI.
Alistair Macdonald "Zal" Cleminson is a Scottish guitarist,best known for his role in the Sensational Alex Harvey Band between 1972 and 1978. He was subsequently a member of Nazareth for three years. In 2017,Cleminson put together a new rock band - /sin'dogs/,which recorded and released a four-song CD and toured Scotland and England at the end of that year.
Framed is the 1972 debut album by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. The title track is a cover of a Leiber and Stoller song originally recorded by The Robins. Other tracks include a cover of the Willie Dixon song "I Just Want to Make Love to You",originally performed by Muddy Waters. Both of these songs had appeared on Alex Harvey recordings as far back as the 1963 live recording from Hamburg,released in 1964 as "Alex Harvey and His Soul Band". "Hammer Song" and "Midnight Moses" are two Harvey originals that first appeared on his solo LP Roman Wall Blues in 1969. "Hole In Her Stocking" had been recorded by Alex Harvey in 1970 on the Rock Workshop eponymous release of the same year.
Next is the second album by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band,released in 1973.
The Impossible Dream was the third album by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band,released October 4,1974. The album was released separately on CD but can be hard to find;however,the CD is widely available on a 2-in-1 album,the other album being Tomorrow Belongs to Me. It was the band's first release to chart,peaking at No. 16 on the UK Album Chart. "Anthem" was the last single released by SAHB in the U.S.
Live was the first live record by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band,released in 1975. It features a cover version of the Tom Jones song "Delilah". Donald A. Guarisco of AllMusic writes "Live is a double-triumph for the Sensational Alex Harvey Band because it functions both as a strong live souvenir for the group's fans and also as a solid introduction to the group's highlights for the novice".
Tomorrow Belongs to Me is the fourth studio album by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. It was released in 1975 on Vertigo Records. While no A-side singles were released from this album,three compositions were used as B-sides to other SAHB singles:"Soul in Chains",as a live version taken from the subsequent tour,"Shake That Thing" and "Snake Bite". The album's title track was a cover of a key song in the 1966 musical Cabaret and its 1972 film adaptation.
The Penthouse Tapes is the fifth studio album by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. Unlike previous releases comprising predominantly original compositions.The Penthouse Tapes consists largely of covers,ranging from The Osmonds' "Crazy Horses" and Alice Cooper's "School's Out" to Lead Belly's "Goodnight Irene". Of the three originals,"I Wanna Have You Back" and "Jungle Jenny" open side one;a third,"Say You're Mine",was written by Alex Harvey and appears on side two. The album was released in 1976 on Vertigo Records.
SAHB Stories is the sixth studio album by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band,released in 1976. It features their hit single "Boston Tea Party",as well as a cover of the Jerry Reed song,"Amos Moses". Harvey left the band shortly after this album was released,but returned in 1977. The album was re-released in 1984 on the Sahara Records label.
Fourplay is the seventh studio album by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band,and the first of the group's albums to be made without Alex Harvey:the band was identified as "SAHB " on the album cover. Harvey had quit the group and was recording another album called Alex Harvey Presents:The Loch Ness Monster at the time. Most of the group had recorded two albums under the name Tear Gas in the early 1970s,and John Neil Munro states in his 2002 book The Sensational Alex Harvey that they had been planning to record without Harvey for at least a year prior to the split. Harvey helped to select songs for the album and contributed some production assistance. Some songs,such as "Smouldering" and "Outer Boogie" had been road-tested by the group during portions of shows for their 1976 tour of Europe during which Harvey was required to rest. In 2004,Ted McKenna told John Clarkson:
Rock Drill is the eighth studio album by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band,which was released in Europe in 1977 and in the UK in 1978. The album includes Tommy Eyre on keyboards;the band's original keyboardist Hugh McKenna was absent due to an internal dispute - however,three songs from the album are co-credited to him. McKenna has since recorded his regrets at the dispute,given what lay ahead in the next five years.
Zalvation:Live In The 21st Century is a live album,released in 2006,which served as a The Sensational Alex Harvey Band reunion notwithstanding that Harvey himself had died in 1982. This was the third SAHB album to be made without Alex Harvey,the others being the band's seventh studio album,Fourplay and another reunion album Live in Glasgow 1993. This album features Max Maxwell on vocals,and sees the return of Hugh McKenna to the band,his last appearance being on the Fourplay album,for which he had been vocalist. The album commemorated a reunion tour,but was also intended as a farewell tour;however the tour had been so successful that the band decided to continue. The album release contains 2 CDs and comprises new versions of songs written or covered by the original SAHB. Although four fifths of the group on Zalvation were responsible for 1977's SAHB album Fourplay,no songs from this album are included.
Christopher John Glen,known simply as Chris Glen,is a Scottish rock musician. He is best known for playing with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band from 1972 to 1977,and The Michael Schenker Group from 1980 to 1984,2008 to 2010,and 2016 to 2020. He also performed with Michael Schenker Fest,featuring original MSG band members.
Yin and Yang are the titles of two separate compilation albums by Fish co-released in 1995. They are a retrospective on Fish's four solo albums and four albums with Marillion.
Edward McKenna was a Scottish drummer who played with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band,Rory Gallagher,The Greg Lake Band,and The Michael Schenker Group. He also toured with Ian Gillan for a short period of time in 1990,alongside fellow former SAHB member,bassist Chris Glen. He lectured in Applied Arts at North Glasgow College from 1996 to 2011.