D’Arby Hopes ‘Fish’ Follow-Up Isn’t Foul

When Terence Trent D’Arby’s debut album was released in 1986, the cocky young pop-soul singer boldly described it as “better than ‘Sgt. Pepper.’ ”

Even though the album sold an estimated 8 million copies worldwide, the brash remark didn’t sit well--and there seemed to be a lot of chortling when D’Arby’s 1989 follow-up, “Neither Fish nor Flesh,” flopped.

His brashness even apparently alienated some executives at Columbia, his own record company. They charged that D’Arby had tied their hands with unreasonable restrictions, including a refusal to do normal press promotion or even let them release a single. He wanted the album to be perceived as a whole.

Now D’Arby, 31, is back after a four-year layoff with a third album, “Symphony or Damn,” due in stores on May 11.

The question already brewing around the industry: Can the once-adversarial parties now work together on this project?

Yes, they all insist.

D’Arby--who won wide critical acclaim, including favorable comparisons to Prince, for his singing and imaginative mix of soul and rock--says he was “humbled” by the failure of the second album.

“I actually believe it may have prolonged my career, in a perverse way,” he says. “It gave me a lot of time to step back and answer some basic questions about myself as to who I am and what I want to do.”

D’Arby, an American who rose to fame in England and now lives in Los Angeles, says he is ready to work to find an audience for this release. He’s currently in the middle of a grueling press tour of Europe (he’ll do the U.S. later) and has given the green light to releasing two of the album tracks as singles in this country--one for “alternative” radio and one for urban contemporary. After that: a worldwide concert tour.

And Columbia is also apparently committed to returning D’Arby to star status, pledging financial support both for the tour and for elaborate promotional and video campaigns.

“It’s such a long time, a long gap between the albums, that the vibe here is, ‘Hey, it’s still Terence,’ ” says Diarmuid Quinn, Columbia vice president of marketing.

But four years since his last album and six since his last hit, does D’Arby’s name mean anything anymore in the worlds of radio and record retail--not to mention with record buyers?

“There’s a tremendous excitement in the industry for this album,” says Lenny Beer, editor-in-chief of the music trade magazine Hits. “I don’t think he was damaged (by the last album) at radio. The market is always looking for stars and he still has that potential.”

And how’s this for a changed attitude? Given a chance to boast about the new album as he did the first one, D’Arby, sounding truly modest, merely says, “It’s not bad.”