Following Fish's acrimonious split with Marillion in early 1988, wheels were set in motion for a full-on U.K.
press inquisition.
Pitting band vs.
singer in a classic tabloid war of words, mud was flung, lawyers were hired, lawsuits were filed, and Marillion quickly moved to hire new vocalist Steve Hogarth.
Soon thereafter, the band released the excellent Season's End to much critical and commercial acclaim.
Also, from a fan's point of view, it's important to keep in mind that any time a band of Marillion's stature splinters into two factions, anticipation for new product from both sides is always enormous.
And much like the Van Halen/David Lee Roth divorce, each respective singer sought out counterparts/collaborators who would at least equal or better their bandmates (not an easy feat by any stretch of the imagination).
But, unlike Roth's "let's pick the best session cats money can buy" campaign, Fish had other ideas.
Taking baby steps, Derek Dick (aka Fish) took a more organic approach in enlisting the services of keyboard man Mickey Simmonds to help with the creative process.
But unlike David Lee Roth, Fish already had a few ideas kicking around.
One of these included the genesis for "Family Business" (originally intended as the music bed for a track that would later be called "Berlin" on Season's End).
Also under wraps was a cut titled "The Company" written at the request of producer Bob Ezrin after a meeting at David Gilmour's house just prior to the post-Clutching at Straws writing sessions (which would put the final nail in the Fish-led Marillion coffin).
As tracking for Vigil got underway, Fish handpicked Big Country drummer Mark Brzezicki and Dire Straits guitarist Hal Lindes to join his team.
Vigil would also feature an array of special guests, including future Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers, responsible for the main riffage on "View from a Hill," and backing vocalist Tessa Niles (who also appeared on Clutching at Straws).
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vigil in a Wilderness of MirrorsDerek William Dick, Mickey Simmonds | Fish | Play | 08:47 | 20 MB | 53 MB |
| 2 | Big WedgeDerek William Dick, Mickey Simmonds | Fish | Play | 05:22 | 12 MB | 38 MB |
| 3 | State of MindDerek William Dick, Hal Lindes, Mickey Simmonds | Fish | Play | 04:46 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 4 | The CompanyDerek William Dick, Mickey Simmonds | Fish | Play | 04:08 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 5 | A Gentleman's Excuse MeDerek William Dick, Mickey Simmonds | Fish | Play | 04:19 | 9 MB | 21 MB |
| 6 | Family BusinessRobin Boult, Derek William Dick, Hal Lindes, Mickey Simmonds, Usher | Fish | Play | 05:17 | 12 MB | 32 MB |
| 7 | ClicheDerek William Dick, Hal Lindes, Mickey Simmonds | Fish | Play | 07:10 | 16 MB | 46 MB |
| 8 | The Voyeur | Fish | Play | 04:45 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 9 | View From A Hill | Fish | Play | 06:41 | 15 MB | 42 MB |
| 10 | Jack And Jill | Fish | Play | 04:28 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 11 | Internal Exile | Fish | Play | 04:51 | 11 MB | 36 MB |
| 12 | The Company (bonus - demo) | Fish | Play | 04:30 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 13 | A Gentleman's Excuse Me (bonus - demo) | Fish | Play | 03:54 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 14 | Whiplash | Fish | Play | 04:25 | 10 MB | 25 MB |
| 73 mins | 168 MB | |||||
| 73 mins | 468 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robin Boult | Composer |
| 2 | Mark Brzezicki | Drums |
| 3 | Derek William Dick | Composer |
| 4 | Fish | Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 5 | Per Gessle | Composer |
| 6 | John Giblin | Bass |
| 7 | Louis Jardim | Percussion |
| 8 | John Keeble | Drums |
| 9 | Carol Kenyon | Vocals (Background) |
| 10 | Hal Lindes | Composer, Pipe, Whistle (Human) |
| 11 | Tessa Niles | Vocals (Background) |
| 12 | Mickey Simmonds | Composer, Keyboards |
| 13 | Usher | Composer |
| 14 | Frank Usher | Guitar |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |