I missed the 27th(!!) anniversary of Fish's Sunsets on Empire yesterday. I was going to post another tune from his show in Milwaukee on that album's tour but that will wait until next year. Instead I am going with "Jungle Ride" live in Poland a couple months after the Milwaukee show at Shank Hall.
Sunsets on Empire is definitely a favorite album of mine. Not just of Fish's, but by anyone, of all-time. I think he described it as "progressive nouveau" at the time of its release. Fish and his co-conspirators crafted songs with great melodies that often times, usually when he was in league with Steve Wilson, utilized all the latest/trendiest technology so we had samples and loops as well as all manner of sounds that had never been on a Fish album previously.
While these types of technologies had been utilized to a degree on the previous album, Suits, here they're more prominent and better integrated. Loops are supported by real instruments more there and seem to stand out less, seem less of a novelty. Plus, the rhythms have a bit more groove to them and a bit more punch too.
"Jungle Ride" is a hazy, almost hallucinatory trip through the male psyche. About 3 minutes in a violin slithers into the soundscape with its Middle Eastern vibes and the song settles into a great trippy groove.
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