After releasing two singles on U2’s Mother label, the Dublin four-piece signed a megabuck deal with East West, that was supposed to shoot them to the same stratospheric heights as their former benefactors.
The Fish certainly did their bit by going into Windmill Lane and making an album that matched the intensity of their frenetic live shows.
“It was a very human experience,” singer Ger Whelan mused at the time. “Every mood that occurred in the studio ended up on the record.”
He wasn’t joking. From the lupine howls of ‘Lace Virginia’ to the hummably malevolent ‘Celebrate’, An Emotional Fish was the sound of the band exorcising some very harrowing demons.
Unfortunately, hitching themselves to the BBC Radio One Roadshow at a time when the national broadcaster was still going through its Smashy ‘N’ Nice phase caused the British inkies to turn against the band. Sales faltered, and the Warners conglomerate turned their attentions to fresh meat.
The album still sounds amazing though, and begs the question ‘What if?’