pH7

by

Peter Hammill

Edit

I think this is one of Peter Hammill's best albums. I listened to it a lot in high school and college. Porton Down and Not for Ketih are two of his most ineresting songs. People who like Early Gabriel, Talking Heads, Fripp and the like will like this album, though it sounds very late 70s. Singer Songwriter stuff but almost all electric and no pop melodies so it isnt easy on the ears. listen to a few times though and it will be very interesting. Sitting Targets is more commercial but similar in tone. Not as reflective as Over or as sweet as Fool's Mate. Does not sound like Van der Graaf, a real move in his own direction.

Peter Hammill apparently thought it was best to abandoned the creative futuristic-sounding experimentation of The Future Now and either go back to his usual brand of personal balladry that made him successful, or attempt to be diverse but missing the mark for whatever reason. It's definitely disappointing. I thought Peter had a heck of a lot of potential with his experiments from the previous album (and Nadir's Big Chance) and would go on to do more of the same, but... apparently he wanted to take his career in another direction. Oh well.

An example of Hammill's fine display of balladry is found right in the beginning with "My Favourite". A beautiful though *very* typical (especially by his standards) vocal melody. It's short and it's nothing Peter Hammill hasn't already perfected on better albums in the past, but I love it all the same. An example of a failed experiment can be heard by the time the second track rolls around titled "Careering". An extremely ugly vocal melody- and I'm referring to every single aspect of this song. It's really terrible if you ask me. Hammill repeatedly sings/screams the same line over and over, and it sounds like it consists of only a few notes and that's it. The screechy Brian Eno-resembling guitar solo is the only interesting feature.

"Porton Down" actually reminds me of the Firm- that 80's band with Paul Rodgers. It's because of the crunchy electronic sounds that take up most of the song... unless that's actually an electric guitar I'm hearing and it's combined with messy saxophone work. Hmmm... Not a very appealing track to me personally, but I respect a modest attempt at variety. I wish the song actually went somewhere though. The first couple minutes are alright, but it eventually dissolves into a bunch of dated and uninteresting computer sounds/messy guitar work along with some deep growling vocals that neither appeal or distract. I believe Peter Hammill was admiring the Bowie/Eno collaboration at the time.

"Mirror Images" is a nice ballad, and now I strongly get the feeling *this* is what Peter Hammill should have doing all along while recording PH7 because his attempts and diversity are just not working for me. "Handicap & Equality" is another decent track with a strong emphasis on thought provoking lyrics. The vocal melody isn't the least bit challenging like how Peter Hammill had created them in the past, and that's a theme I've been noticing so far, but it's not enough to cause a distraction. The more I listen to this song the more I admire the seriousness of the lyrics (along with how devastatingly surreal they are- what IS this song about anyway?) and the pretty arrangements. The piano in the middle definitely reminds me of a sad situation.

"The Old School Tie" sounds like a throwback to the 50's rock scene, but of course done in an original kind of way with Hammill's trademark style. I like the vocal melody quite a bit perhaps becaues it's a nice break from all the weirdness and gives us a wonderful example of a normal, easy to digest written song. "Time for a Change" might be a hint that Peter Hammill was in fact changing at the time, at least musically and well... didn't he get married in the late 70's and battle other relationship problems? This song would fit in perfectly with his Over album, no doubt about it. Not just lyrically either- the acoustic guitar and the homemade feel gives it a strong Over feel. However, I'm not a fan of that album so I believe this sounds a little bland.

For some reason "Imperial Walls" reminds of Pink Floyd's The Wall. It has that same serious/bloated feeling, and I'm personally not a fan. Both albums came out in 1979, and perhaps that's another reason I'm drawing a similarity. There's no interesting vocal melody to speak of either so it's definitely forgettable. The marching drums are sort of annoying and out of place. The line "Its mighty builders tumble crumble" makes my stomach turn because of how bad it sounds. "Mr. X (Gets Tense)" is not a tribute to Mr. X- the slow-walking bad guy from Resident Evil 2, haha. Interesting how some of the lyrics actually match up with the Mr. X character though. The vocals actually have a really fierce and demanding vocal melody, and rough around the edges like a classic Van Der Graaf Generator song. It's highly enjoyable. "Faculty X" is officially good based on the vocal melody alone.

Overall, it's probably the worst or second worst Peter Hammill album from the 70's, and I don't really recommend it because it's too hit or miss, but it's not a bad way to end the decade.