Yin and Yang (albums)
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.
Yin and Yang were released on Fish's independent label Dick Bros Record Company. There also was a "radio edits" promotional release containing eight tracks, each with a roughly one-minute-long introduction spoken by Fish. This CD was also available as a fan-club mail-order edition.
Music
Some of the 26 tracks have been re-recorded or remixed, others remain in their original versions.The re-recorded Marillion tracks are "Punch & Judy", "Incubus", "Kayleigh", "Lavender", "Incommunicado", "Sugar Mice". Another track is a new version of a Marillion song they demoed but never properly recorded.
The re-recorded solo tracks are "State of Mind", "Credo", "Lucky", "Favourite Stranger", "Just Good Friends" , "Somebody Special".
The title track of the 1991 album Internal Exile appears in its previously unreleased original version recorded in 1989. It would later become a bonus track on re-issues of that Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors.
The set also contains three cover versions:
Sandy Denny's "Solo" appears as found on the 1993 covers album Songs from the Mirror.
"Time and a Word" is a Yes song recorded during the Songs from the Mirror sessions, but left off the original version of that album. Instead, it appeared on the compilation Outpatients '93 first. It has since been included on a re-issue of Songs from the Mirror. Yes guitarist Steve Howe, who appears as a guest musician on this track, was not yet in Yes when the song was written.
There is a version of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band's "Boston Tea Party", which is not identical with the one on Songs from the Mirror, but was newly recorded with the members of the original SAHB line-up.
Personnel
Other than that, all new versions were recorded by Fish's then-current line-up: Frank Usher, Robin Boult, Foster Paterson, David Paton, Dave Stewart. Stewart had replaced Kevin Wilkinson who had moved on to The Proclaimers. "Just Good Friends", originally from Internal Exile, is now a duet featuring Sam Brown, which was also released as a lead single.All new tracks were mixed and produced by James Cassidy, who had previously worked on Songs from the Mirror and Suits.
Cover
The outside cover, a relatively simple concept based on the yin and yang symbol surrounded by a circular Celtic knot pattern, was again designed by permanent Fish collaborator Mark Wilkinson. The Yin version of the cover has a black symbol on a white/greyish background, the Yang version has a white symbol against a dark-red/black background. "1980 1995" is written in the upper left corner, apparently in reference to Marillion. Actually, Fish did not join Marillion until 1981, making this a somewhat dubious attempt at citing an anniversary as the occasion for this retrospective.The booklets contain several photographs of Fish mostly taken on the Scottish coast.
Single
The new version of "Just Good Friends", a duet with Sam Brown, was released as a lead single on 14 August 1995. It failed to enter the UK top 40, spending one week at #63 in the UK Singles Chart.Tour
The album was surrounded by an extensive 80-date world tour, at that time the longest Fish had undertaken since leaving Marillion. It included several countries never covered by any previous tours, some of which are rarely visited by international acts, such as Argentina, Bosnia, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Estonia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Slovakia, Turkey. There were also six gigs in Poland, one of which would later be released as the video and live album Krakow.The tour was briefly stopped when, while in Estonia, bassist David Paton was called away on a family matter but never returned. He was replaced by Ewen Vernal.
Track listing
Note: "Dick" is Fish's actual surname.Yin
- "Incommunicado" – 5:08, originally from the Marillion album Clutching at Straws
- "Family Business" – 5:14, from the Fish album Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors
- "Just Good Friends" – 5:46, originally from the Fish album Internal Exile
- "Pipeline" – 6:55, from the Fish album Suits
- "Institution Waltz" – 4:03, originally by Marillion, previously unreleased
- "Tongues" – 6:17, from the Fish album Internal Exile
- "Time and a Word" – 4:22, Yes cover, originally released on the compilation Outpatients '93, later included on the re-issue of Songs from the Mirror
- "The Company" – 4:05, from the Fish album Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors
- "Incubus" – 9:40, originally from the Marillion album Fugazi
- "Solo" – 4:10, Sandy Denny cover, from the Fish album Songs from the Mirror
- "Favourite Stranger" – 6:03, originally from the Fish album Internal Exile
- "Boston Tea Party" – 4:58, Sensational Alex Harvey Band cover, originally on the Fish album Songs from the Mirror
- "Raw Meat" – 6:52, from the Fish album Suits
Yang
- "Lucky" – 4:55, originally from the Fish album Internal Exile
- "Big Wedge" – 5:49, originally from the Fish album Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors
- "Lady Let It Lie" – 6:56, originally from the Fish album Suits
- "Lavender" – 4:59, originally from the Marillion album Misplaced Childhood
- "Credo" – 6:46, originally from the Fish album Internal Exile
- "A Gentleman's Excuse Me" – 4:16, from the Fish album Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors
- "Kayleigh" – 4:10, originally from the Marillion album Misplaced Childhood
- "State of Mind" – 6:50, originally from the Fish album Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors
- "Somebody Special" – 4:23, originally from the Fish album Suits
- "Sugar Mice" – 6:19, originally from the Marillion album Clutching at Straws
- "Punch & Judy" – 3:28, originally from the Marillion album Fugazi
- Fortunes of War – 8:08, from the Fish album Suits
- "Internal Exile" – 4:48, this version originally recorded for the Fish album Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors, a different version from this one appears on Internal Exile
Charts
Yin| Country | Peak position |
| Netherlands | |
| United Kingdom |
Yang
| Country | Peak position |
| Netherlands | |
| United Kingdom |