Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors

Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors (1990) was the first solo album that rock singer Fish released after he departed Marillion in 1988. Although the recordings for this album finished as early as June 1989, EMI Records decided to delay the release until early 1990, to avoid collision with Marillion’s album Seasons End (September 1989). However, the track State of Mind was released as a single as early as 16 October 1989, more than three months ahead of the album.

Further singles from the album were Big Wedge (the actual lead single, 27 December 1989), A Gentleman’s Excuse Me (5 March 1990) and The Company (18 July 1990, only released in Germany).
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The only Fish album to be released by EMI (see below), it was also his most commercially successful. In February 1990, the album peaked at number 5 in the UK Albums Chart, with the singles reaching no. 32 (State of Mind, October 1989), no. 25 (Big Wedge, January 1990) and no. 30 (Gentleman’s Excuse Me, March 1990) on the UK Singles Chart.

The cover art was by Mark Wilkinson, who had illustrated all Marillion albums and singles while Fish was their singer and went on to design almost all Fish solo covers. The front cover features a close-up from a larger, very detailed painting/collage inside the gatefold LP cover and the CD booklet. The painting contains many references to the lyrics, political allusions as well as “hidden” messages only understandable to fans (such as the faces of Marillion’s keyboarder Mark Kelly and manager John Arnison).