Following the release of Marillion’s June 1987 album, Clutching at Straws, with its darker exploration of excess, alcoholism, and life on the road representing the strains of constant touring, Fish took the decision to depart from the band to pursue a solo career. Fish’s debut solo album, Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors, was released in January 1990. Several well-known musicians contributed to the record, including former Dire Straits guitarist Hal Lindes, who played guitar on most tracks and also contributed to the writing of three of the album’s songs. Frank Usher, a Fish companion from pre-Marillion times, also contributed.

"The 13th Star Deluxe 2023 Remix" track list contains a brand new 2022 remix of the original album by Calum Malcolm and material including previously unreleased acoustic tracks from BBC sessions for Bob Harris and the Fishheads Club show at St Mary’s Church in Haddington, a rare 2007 demo and tracks from the album performed live at the Nearfest USA show in 2008 only previously available on DVD. All the tracks on this collection were remastered in 2022 by Calum Malcolm.

1988's The Thieving Magpie is a sprawling double-disc live set which manages to tie up virtually all the loose ends from Marillion's years with charismatic frontman Fish. Like 1984's Real to Reel mini live album, Magpie offers mostly sterling performances packed with both feeling and technical precision, which often times manage to better their studio counterparts thanks to their road-worthy fluidity. But unlike that seamlessly assembled mini live album, it does suffer from the occasional silence between tracks, or even noticeable variations in sound quality, crowd noise, and general ambiance. Sure, most listeners won't give a hoot about such details when faced with the sheer creative breadth (some would say absurdity) of such Marillion magnum opuses as "Fugazi," "Script for a Jester's Tear," and "Chelsea Monday" to name but a few…

Before the arrival of the deluxe, double-CD reissues that restored Marillion's entire discography to glory in the late '90s, 1988's B-Sides Themselves was the only source for Fish-era fanatics to experience the many rarities of the colorful progressive rockers' career. Sure enough, no time is wasted with subtlety here, as the monumental "Grendel" opens this collection with 18 minutes of over the top pomp and grandeur. Less challenging, but equally entertaining nuggets like "Charting the Single" and "Three Boats Down From the Candy" follow, but the clear highlights are contained in the songs previously heard on the band's live albums; first single "Market Square Heroes" and the exquisite "Cinderella Search" were featured on 1984's Real to Reel, while the punchy "Freaks" was first heard on 1988's The Thieving Magpie…

Songs from the Mirror was the third studio album that Fish released and it was the second of his two albums to fulfill his contract for Polydor. Fish needed more time to write a new album and he decided that to complete his current contract he would release an album of cover versions, an idea first conceived when he was with Marillion. The band was the same as the previous album except that Foster "Foss" Paterson replaced Mickey Simmonds as he had done on the tour. The songs chosen were personal favorites of Fish and are not all prog rock tracks as may have been thought from listening to his music. Of the tracks on the album, a number are fairly faithful to the originals; "Question" (Moody Blues), "Boston Tea Party" (Sensational Alex Harvey Band), and "Jeepster" (T. Rex). Fish did tend to adapt the slower songs on the album (e.g. Pink Floyd's "Fearless" and Sandy Denny's "Solo") to his own vocal style and his added depth to the music…

This Scottish rock vocalist enjoyed success both as a solo artist and with progressive rockers Marillion.
13th Star was written as a concept album, although this applies mainly to the lyrics presenting a narrative throughout - the concept was of someone on a journey of self- discovery, with the 13th Star serving as the guiding light or the destination. From the first chords of the opening track, "Circle Line," the influence of Vantsis can be heard as the album has a more rocky feel, more akin to Sunsets on Empire than more recent albums. After this fast start, the album slows down on the third track, "Miles de Besos," which is Spanish for "Thousands of Kisses." The fifth track, "Arc of the Curve," was the first single released from the album, but as expected, it did nothing in the charts. After this track, the album picks up the pace again with one of the disc's highlights, "Manchmal"…

After six years of absence from the studio, Scottish progressive rock singer Fish has returned with a startling level of inspiration in the form of 2013's A Feast of Consequences. Fish's first album since 2007's Thirteenth Star was released after experiencing events that would be nothing less than traumatic for most people - going through both the end of a marriage and a throat cancer scare in a narrow window of time can't be easy, but as we saw on Marillion's Clutching at Straws, Fish's personal struggles often inspire some of his strongest work. A Feast of Consequences once again demonstrates this to be true. The album shows Fish continuing to mature the sound that he has been toying with for most of his solo career. Sophisticated art rock characterized by melodic songwriting, witty lyricism, and influences from folk music is the name of the game on A Feast of Consequences…

This Scottish rock vocalist enjoyed success both as a solo artist and with progressive rockers Marillion.
‘Vigils End’ was filmed and recorded at Leamington Spa Assembly Rooms on the 24th November as the final show on the short 7 date UK tour in 2021 These were the only dates performed on what was originally planned to be an extensive International tour that was postponed and finally cancelled due to the covid pandemic. The shows were to feature the new ‘Weltschmerz’ album and the final performances of the entire ‘Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors’ album on its 30th anniversary and had begun on March 13th 2020 at Aberdeen Lemon Tree. 48 hours after the first gig the tour was brought to a close and a week later the first lockdown began…

After the album-tour-album cycle of Script for a Jester's Tear, Fugazi, and the subsequent Euro-only release of Real to Reel, Marillion retreated to Berlin's Hansa Ton Studios with Rolling Stones producer Chris Kimsey to work on their next opus. Armed with a handful of lyrics born out of a self-confessed acid trip, Fish came up with the elaborate concept for 1985's Misplaced Childhood. Touching upon his early childhood experiences and his inability to deal with a slew of bad breakups exacerbated by a never-ending series of rock star-type "indulgences," Misplaced Childhood would prove to be not only the band's most accomplished release to date, but also its most streamlined. Initial record company skepticism over the band's decision to forge ahead with a '70s-style prog rock opus split into two halves (sides one and two) quickly evaporated as Marillion delivered its two most commercial singles ever: "Kayleigh" and "Lavender." With its lush production and punchy mix, the album went on to become the band's greatest commercial triumph, especially in Europe where they would rise from theater attraction to bona fide stadium royalty.

Derek William Dick (aka Fish) was the dramatic lead vocalist for prog rock band Marillion until beginning a solo career in 1988.
"The Last Straw" was recorded on multitrack at the final show of the "Clutching at Straws/Weltschmerz" tour in the O2 in Glasgow on 13th December 2018. Mixed and produced by Steve Vantsis and mastered by Calum Malcolm this double CD features the entire performance of the "Clutching at Straws" album, Fish's last with his former band Marillion and acknowledged as his favourite of that period in his career. "The Last Straw" also features the debut performances of 4 of the songs from his latest album "Weltschmerz" including the award winning "Man with a Stick" and the epic "Waverley Steps".