Fish (aka. Derek W. Dick) -
Lead Vocals, Liner Notes
The Band:
Frank Usher - Lead Guitar
Andy Trill - Guitar
Tony Turrell - Keyboards
Steve Vantsis - Bass
John Tonks - Drums
Deborah Ffrench - Backing Vocalist
Calum Malcolm - Mixing and mastering
Chris Archer - Engineer
Steve Rispin - Engineer
Mark Wilkinson - Artwork, Cover Painting
Lars K. Lane - Photography
Roel Schrijvers - Photography
All tracks recorded live at Tilburg 013, Holland 13/11/2005 except track 13 CD2 recorded at Koln, E-Werk. Germany 18/11/2005
UK release date April 24th 2006, North America release date May 16th.
This live album, Return to Childhood,
was recorded on Fish's 2005 tour of the same name, because after a
first set featuring the Scottish prog rocker's best solo material, the
second set (or disc, here) is a 20th anniversary live re-creation of
Marillion's 1985 album Misplaced Childhood. Somewhat surprisingly, the
new version works quite well, with all of the technical mastery of the
familiar album but adding a bracing immediacy that dated mid-'80s
production values can't touch. The highlight, as on the original album,
is the unexpectedly poppy ballad "Kayleigh," the closest Marillion ever
came to a standard love song and by far their biggest single; in this
version, the lower register that is Fish's normal range these days
allows for a somewhat bitter, rueful edge to creep into the "I never
meant to break your heart" refrain. The addition of an encore of three
older Marillion favorites including an epic closing version of "Fugazi"
makes the second disc a must for fans. As for the first disc, for all
of the striking similarities, vocally speaking, between Fish and Peter
Gabriel, the former did not manage to make the artistic leap from group
to solo artist as gracefully, with even the best songs here sounding
like pale imitations of Marillion. Even hardcore Fish-heads will turn
to the second disc more often.
Stewart Mason - All Music Guide
Marillions Misplaced Childhood gehört zu den wichtigsten
Progressive-Rock-Alben der achtziger Jahre. Auf der Doppel-CD Return To
Childhood lässt Ex-Sänger Fish den Klassiker noch einmal
livehaftig auferstehen. Mit Misplaced Childhood und den Single-Hits
"Kayleigh" und "Lavender" feierten Marillion 1985 ihre
größten Erfolge. Wenig später stieg Fish aus, um eine
Solokarriere zu starten und sich von seiner Vergangenheit zu
emanzipieren. Dass er seine Jahre mit Steve Rothery & Co. nicht
vergessen hat, beweist der Konzertmitschnitt Return To Childhood, auf
dem nicht nur das komplette Misplaced Childhood-Werk originell
interpretiert wird, sondern auch ganz frühe Marillion-Klassiker
wie "Market Square Heroes" und "Fugazi" zum Zug kommen. Die Stimme des
hünenhaften Schotten kann auch nach mehr als zwei Jahrzehnten
immer noch aufs Angenehmste verzaubern, und seine versierte Band
meistert das Marillion-Material genauso problemlos wie die zahlreichen
Fish-Solo-Songs, die das 22 Stücke starke Prog-Paket abrunden.