Fish Rising

Steve Hillage had recorded the album Space Shanty with Khan in 1972, for which Hillage had composed all the songs. He was writing material for a second Khan album when the band split up. After joining Kevin Ayers' band for a few months, he was offered a position in Gong at the end of 1972. At this same time, the newly formed Virgin Records approached Hillage about recording a solo album for the label; however, he told them he wanted to see how he would fare in Gong, and that he would approach Virgin again when he felt ready to do a solo project.^[3] Hillage then went on to record the acclaimed Gong albums Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg and You for the Virgin label, which built the band a large cult following although none charted. After the completion of You, Hillage felt confident enough to re-approach Virgin about doing a solo album, to which they said yes.

Two of the compositions for the album, "Solar Musick Suite" and "Salmon Song", were among those considered back in 1972 for a second Khan release; both were in an incomplete state but now expanded and finished for the new solo project. "Aftaglid" was a newer composition written while a member of Gong.^[3]

Recording began in September 1974 at The Manor Studio in Oxfordshire where You had been recorded that summer, using a band comprising all the members of Gong except Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth: Bassist Mike Howlett, drummer Pierre Moerlen, synthesizer player Tim Blake, saxophonist Didier Malherbe and keyboardist and vocalist Miquette Giraudy. Two guest musicians also appeared: bassoonist Lindsay Cooper of Henry Cow and Hillage's former Khan bandmate Dave Stewart, a keyboardist who was currently in Hatfield and the North. Recording paused that fall as Gong began a mammoth tour for You, then finished in January 1975 at the Manor Mobile before the group continued the tour.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1][4]
Uncut	[5]

Fish Rising was released on April 11, 1975 on Virgin Records. It was a surprising success, peaking at number 33 on the UK charts,^[6] which was better than any Gong album. This success, compounded by Daevid Allen's abrupt departure from Gong on the day before the album's release, encouraged Hillage to leave the band by the end of 1975 and begin a proper solo career with no Gong-associated musicians outside of his girlfriend Miquette.^[3]

Upon release, a review in Disc gave a largely positive appraisal, opining "Hillage's guitar work is impressive and...produces some excellent passages of tight, funky blowing" yet also stated that some of the "cosmic stuff" and lyrics were tiring.^[7]

Retrospective reviews have been even more positive. Chris Nickson of AllMusic wrote "it is a very sophisticated record, with interesting arrangements and some innovative production -- a harbinger of Hillage's future career behind the boards. On the occasions he does unleash the fretwork, it's quite glorious".^[1] Simon Reynolds at Uncut raved "the guitarist’s flashy pyrotechnique is frequently a thing of sheer splendour",^[5] while Udiscover concluded it was "a far-reaching space-rock soundscape that set the scene for Steve’s huge solo success of the ensuing years, notably with the follow-up L."^[8]

In 2007, Virgin issued a re-mastered version with two bonus tracks. "Pentagrammaspin" was an outtake from the sessions that had originally appeared on the Virgin V sampler album in 1975, while the "power trio" backing version of "Aftaglid" consisted only of Hillage, Howlett and Moerlen.^[9]

All music composed and arranged by Steve Hillage, lyrics by Hillage and Miquette Giraudy; Fish co-arranged by Dave Stewart

• Steve Hillage (listed as Steve Hillfish) – lead vocals, electric guitar, cover concept
• Miquette Giraudy (listed as Bambaloni Yoni) – background vocals, keyboards, synthesizers
• Mike Howlett – bass
• Pierre Moerlen – drums, marimba, darbuka
• Tim Blake (listed as Moonweed) – synthesizers, tamboura
• Didier Malherbe (listed as Bloomdido Glid de Breeze) – saxophone, Indian flute
• Lindsay Cooper – bassoon
• Dave Stewart – organ, piano

• Official Planet Gong website: lyrics, tabulated music
• Fish Rising at Discogs (list of releases)