Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors
| Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors | ||||
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| Studio album by Fish | ||||
| Released | 29 January 1990 | |||
| Recorded | 1989 | |||
| Genre | Rock, neo-progressive rock, pop rock | |||
| Length | 50:38 | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Producer | Jon Kelly | |||
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| Singles from Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors | ||||
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| Allmusic |   |
Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors (1990) is the debut solo album by Scottish neo-progressive rock singer Fish.
Fish had departed Marillion in 1988. Although the recordings for this album finished as early as June 1989, EMI Records decided to delay the release until early 1990, to avoid collision with Marillion's album Seasons End (September 1989). However, the track "State of Mind", featuring guest musician John Keeble from Spandau Ballet on drums, was released as a single as early as 16 October 1989, more than three months ahead of the album. Further singles from the album were "Big Wedge" (the actual lead single, 27 December 1989), "A Gentleman's Excuse Me" (5 March 1990) and "The Company" (18 July 1990, only released in Germany).
The only Fish album to be released by EMI (see below), it was also his most commercially successful. In February 1990, the album peaked at number 5 in the UK Albums Chart, with the singles reaching no. 32 ("State of Mind", October 1989), no. 25 ("Big Wedge", January 1990) and no. 30 ("Gentleman's Excuse Me", March 1990) on the UK Singles Chart.
The album was recorded at Townhouse Studios, London, during the first half of 1989, and produced by Jon Kelly.
The cover art was by Mark Wilkinson, who had illustrated all Marillion albums and singles while Fish was their singer and went on to design almost all Fish solo covers. The front cover features a close-up from a larger, very detailed painting/collage inside the gatefold LP cover and the CD booklet. The painting contains many references to the lyrics, political allusions as well as "hidden" messages only understandable to fans (such as the faces of Marillion's keyboardist Mark Kelly and manager John Arnison). The central element is a "hill" consisting of junk consumer goods in a post-apocalyptic landscape, on top of which a couple clad in pseudo-oriental clothes stare into the distance, holding an hourglass. The man's cape, flapping in the wind, resembles the east of Scotland, with the Southern Uplands (Fish's home region) lit by light beams apparently emitted by the hourglass – a reference to Fish's interest in Scottish culture. Only the couple and the top of the hill are on the front cover. The TV sets and the Amiga 500 computer set the couple is standing on show pictures of Fish's face; on the larger version inside, these are replaced with faces from Ingres's painting The Golden Age.
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