A Black Box

Release type:What's this?
studio album
First released:
1980

Overview Edit

A Black Box is an album by Peter Hammill, originally released on S-Type Records in August 1980.

Hammill performed nearly all the instrumentation himself, including the drum parts, a task he had first undertaken on his previous album pH7. His ex-Van der Graaf Generator colleague David Jackson also made a guest appearance, along with David Ferguson of the new-wave band Random Hold, whose debut album Hammill had produced.

Side A of the record featured a collection of shorter songs, however side B was devoted to "Flight", a lengthy multi-section song. This was the first time Hammill had included a lengthy song of this type on one of his solo albums since the early 1970s.

The short-lived S-Type label (the name was a pun on "stereo-type"), on which the album was originally released, was set up by Hammill and his then manager Gail Colson. Colson had formerly been a director at Hammill's previous record company, Charisma Records, who had dropped him from their roster just prior to the recording of A Black Box. The S-Type label does not appear to have been a successful business project, and the album was later licensed to Virgin Records, who have since also acquired Hammill's Charisma catalogue.

The Overview appearing in this section is attributed to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Black_Box. Portions of this Overview may be available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, version 3.0 or any later version, available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Additional terms may apply. See Wikipedia Terms of Use for details.

This particular version Edit

Record label:
Catalog number:
unknown
Release dates:
  • Nov 28 2006

Genres

Progressive Rock, Pop, Rock. Vote on Genres

What do Amazon.com customers think?

5 stars One of the best along Peter Hammill's flight path
The remastered 'A Black Box'. Originally released in 1980, this, one of the first 'indie' albums but now an EMI product, completed the trilogy of 'monochrome' albums that kicked off with 'The Future Now' in 1978 and 'PH7' in 1979. These albums marked a stylistic shift, Hammill largely dispensing with the complex, labyrinthine arrangements that had been the hallmark of his earlier solo albums and his work with Van der Graaf Generator. This new style was stripped-down, concentrated and concise - a…
Written by Stephen Andrews "salvation21"
2 stars I just don't like it
I am a prog music fan, I like old Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, The Flower Kings, Spock's Beard, Neil Morse as a solo artist, Peter Gabriel and so on. I am sorry to tell that I just don't like this cd. Sorry, but I have to leave a rating reflecting my idea. Don't take it too personnal, it is just a matter of taste.
Written by Guy Campeau

Track listing Edit

  • CD 1 : Black Box (Reis)

    format:
    number:
    title:
    number name artist hh:mm:ss
    1
    Golden Promises
    ?:??
    Play Buy track
    2
    Losing Faith in Words - Peter Hammill, Ferguson
    ?:??
    Play Buy track
    3
    Jargon King
    ?:??
    Play Buy track
    4
    Fogwalking
    ?:??
    Play Buy track
    5
    The Spirit
    ?:??
    Play Buy track
    6
    In Slow Time - Peter Hammill, Ferguson
    ?:??
    Play Buy track
    7
    The Wipe
    ?:??
    Play Buy track
    8
    Flight: Flying Blind/The White Cave Fandango/Control/Cockpit/Silk Worm
    ?:??
    Play Buy track

Credits Edit

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Other versions Edit

A Black Box 8 tracks format: 1 x CD
record label: EMI Europe Generic
release dates: 1980 in United Kingdom
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