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List Price: $16.98 |
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Publisher: Roadrunner Records
Salesrank: 179446
Released: 1999-04-20
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Tracklisting:
1. Tumbledown
2. Mission Statement
3. Incomplete
4. Tilted Cross
5. Faithhealer
6. Rites Of Passage
7. Plague Of Ghosts: (I) Old Haunts
8. Plague Of Ghosts: (II) Digging Deep
9. Plague Of Ghosts: (III) Chocolate Frogs
10. Plague Of Ghosts: (IV) Waving At Stars
11. Plague Of Ghosts: (V) Raingod’s Dancing
12. Plague Of Ghosts: (VI) Wake-Up Call (Make It Happen)
Customer Reviews:
Fish - Worth Owning For Plague Of Ghosts 
After dealing with record company woes from his previous release, Fish signs on to Roadrunner records for this album with the strange title. I’ve listened to this album many times and I still don’t know the meaning of the title. Maybe it’s a Scottish thing. “Raingods” gets incredibly mixed reviews from Fish fans. A lot of people thought it was pure crap while other thought is was one of his best. For me it is not his best release, but there is a lot to enjoy here. The first half of the album is shorter songs, none of them spectacular, but a few stand out. “Tumbledown” is a nice leadoff track and probably was written as a single. “Incomplete”, “Tilted Cross”, Rites Of Passage” are all decent enough songs and work fairly well with Fish at the helm. The songs that don’t work as well are “Mission Statement” which is just kind of an overall weak track. Fish also does a cover of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s “Faith Healer”. It is ok, but really does not add much from the original. By far the highlight of the album though is the final section of the album, the 25 minute plus epic “Plague Of Ghosts”. “Plague” is the most prog oriented work that Fish has tackled since the “Vigil” album, and for the most part it works very well. “Plague” is divided up into 6 sections that run in the 3 to 6 minute range. My only complaint is that the whole thing kind of peters out towards the end as the last section “Wake Up Call” is kind of a soft ending to the whole thing. That being said, this album is worth owning for “Plague Of Ghosts” alone and for me this was a good solid album from Fish.
A comeback of sorts.
I want to state this for the record, so that I don’t come off as another “Freak” with hero-worship and absolutely no sense of discretion when it comes to all things Marillion.
I came to this album cautiously, actually very reluctantly. I had given up entirely on Fish after having purchased (and subsequently sold) the horrible disaster “Suits”. On the strength of some of the songs I heard live when Fish toured the States, I purchased (and really enjoyed) “Sunsets On Empire”, but was afraid its follow up might be yet another disappointment. When a good friend (and fellow Marillion fan) failed to convince me to go out and buy “Raingods With Zippos”, she bought it for me, assuring me that I’d like it. I didn’t like it, I loved it.
Maybe it was the fact that I was expecting so little to begin with. Maybe I just didn’t realize that Fish still had enough creative energy left in those old bones to propel him through another album. Whatever it was, I found myself falling in love with some of the songs on the CD; namely, the 20-minute-plus epic “Plague Of Ghosts” which musically and lyrically recalls some of Marillion’s earlier days. This offering is far from perfect. There are moments of weakness (the unlistenable “Mission Statement” is one) but overall, this is an impressive release from a guy I had given up for dead.
INCREDIBLE! 
I missed this album from my collection after reading some dodgy reviews. Instead I wanted to wait for the new album which I hoped would be more mature. But after reading his new book MASQUE, I could not resist. Boy O Boy have I been missing out! This album is incredible. By far the best yet. No wonder Brian May of QUEEN was begging to be on the his new album called FELLINI DAYS.
Disappointing.
As a vocalist and lyricist Fish is an exceptional talent. As a solo artist he has not lived up to this talent. The difficulty in being a vocalist/lyricist who does not read, write or play music is that you are dependant upon your collaborators. If your collaborators are up to the task of matching your talents the output can be exciting and adventurous (see the Fish fronted Marillion output). If they are not up to the task then your efforts will be pulled down by the inadequacies of the supporting cast. Raingods With Zippos fails for this reason. This failure is particularly disappointing as Sunsets On Empire seemed to offer such promise. On that effort Fish paired up with Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree to release his strongest effort since Vigil In a Wilderness of Mirrors. There were a couple of clunkers but for the most part Empire had the power, energy and musicianship one has come to expect of Fish. Production and musicianship and collaboration in songwriting were all strong. Not so here, There are some decent moments, parts of the Plague of Ghosts suite work well, Tumbledown and Tilted Cross are also well done. But much of the album sounds energy-less, tired and weary. The production sounds dated and flat. Fish should have stuck with Wilson as a producer and collaborator as he has been the first in years to successfully light a fire under Fish’s passion. It’s a shame, a waste of talent. Perhaps it’s time for Marillion and Fish to re-group as they are equally guilty of producing directionless/passionless recordings since their split up. Either that or Wilson should welcome him in to Porcupine Tree. Give this one a pass, pick up Sunsets On Empire and Vigil In a Wilderness of Mirrors instead…Simon
How far the mighty have fallen 
When Fish broke with Marillion after their excellent Clutching At Straws album, it heralded the beginning of the end for both artists. With his first two albums, Fish mixed a fling with pop stardom with exploring being a balladeer. Since then, though, his hooks have become less catchy, his songs less tight, and his albums less meaningful or enjoyable.
Raingods with Zippos seemingly completes the descent: “Tumbledown” has a vague infectiousness, but the light arrangement seems rather silly. “Raingod’s Dancing” has some impressive power in Fish’s vocals, but doesn’t go anywhere once you sit up and take notice. Most of the album is either unremarkable, or (as with “Faith Healer”) feels disastrously heavy-handed.
At this point, it seems clear that Fish’s strength was to take the churning miasma of musical talent in Marillion and forge it into an album of coherent melodies with clever lyrics. (You can clearly see this evolution on Marillion’s first four albums.) But as a frontman, it seems that Fish either pursues writing cloying little ditties, or tries to match Marillion’s musical chops, to similarly scattershot effects. I don’t know whether it’s because his backing band just isn’t at Marillion’s level, or because Fish needs someone else to push the hot licks while he molds it into a workable melody. In any event, the end result here is listenable, but not especially memorable.
The worst of it is, there aren’t even any little glimpses of Marillion at their height here. Sadly, those days are now completely past.
admin | 
03 31st, 2009| 
