Does it matter that this waste of time is what makes a life for you?
Totally agree - a fine run of albums. Personally I'd say House of Usher (either version but I prefer the later one) was one of his best, but I admit that isn't going to appeal to everyone. But I'd have thought Patience and Enter K would appeal to even those who only have a passing liking for Hammill - they represent one of the best combinations of 'standard rock band lineup' with 'intelligence' I've ever heard.
My fav from this period (PH7-Patience) is actually Sitting Targets, I adore this album, but all are great IMHO.
Also agree about Usher (though like I said - my favourite is the original), PH at his most dramatic / demented / emotional.
The run from the Future Now to Patience is my favourite PH period. You could argue that albums like Chameleon and the Silent corner still had the footprint of VDGG on them. From the future now onwards he achieved his own unique style but still every record had its own distinct character. Expecially the lyrics on these albums are the strongest he has ever written.
My fav is PH7.
My progressive music site: https://pienemmatpurot.com/ Reviews in English: https://pienemmatpurot.com/in-english/
If you're not careful, every album he's made will be recommended to you at least twice...
I'd say that you've got what's more or less essential (the 70's stuff)... I'd tend to forget most what he's done in the 90's (really don't care for his two Usher version) and most of the late-80's (despite two "proggier" album sleeves and titles).
If you want 00's Hamlmill, check out Incoherence first
I'd say that only PH7 and TFN are close to essential >> they follow the Black Box direction... as for Fool's Mate, I find it totally anecdotic and mostly forgettable (for ultra-fans only) and I could never get into the K albums with Guy Evans in the mid-80's, though
Last edited by Trane; 01-26-2015 at 11:32 AM.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
I probably have just about everything, even the 'German' album, but I find a lot of his early catalogue has not aged well. I try to see him as often as he does his solo tours, so for me it's the live albums that I turn to most often. Having said that, the recent triple-CD just grows and grows.
I have everything, and I mean everything, except for Otherworld and Appointed Hour, both being collaborations ...by chance? I also don't have the live CD from the 2000s, Veracious. Do have a whole bunch of bootlegs, live recordings, even stuff on VHS that I got from the guy in Saskatoon. I also have an extra sealed copy of Vision on LP.
What would I listen to of all of this? The latest, which is just fantastic, Clutch, and Sitting Targets, and the Vision compilation.
BTW, Spur of the Moment was fun, I was able to see that live in London in 1988 or so.
"Always ready with the ray of sunshine"
Here's a version of Siren Song you may not have heard
Flick along to the one monute mark for the music to start. You'll find the album on itunes.
I picked this up this week, so the "need" pile shrinks by one more.In The Passionskirche (live Berlin '92)
Still wondering about Tides though... that doesn't seem like an official release to me. Is it?
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
I believe Tides came out on Caroline if I'm not mistaken. Anyway, I think it's complete garbage and not something I would want in my collection, and I love PH. Of the things you listed in your initial thread, the only thing that I would get would be the "Polaroid" 7 inch. I adore that tune, and with any group/artist I obsess over, it's always nice to have a few little curiosities represented. Since you're such the Hammill enthusiast, I would love to know where you would rank "Clutch" in his oeuvre? I think it's the best work he has put out in 20+ years.
I think Clutch is excellent, as well as Singularity, Thin Air and Consequences. He really stepped it up in recent years, although I've always liked the majority of his output. I did find something of a lull with albums like X My Heart, Everyone You Hold and This, although they all have their good tracks. But beginning with What, Now? I thought there was a climb back up. That album opens with a killer track, one of the best of his latter-day career. And I think Clutch continued that trend.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
+1 I share the same sentiments.
And re: tides, as far as I know it was put out without PH consent, and he tried (and succeeded, afaik) to stop its distribution.
It is as good as any other "good" bootleg out there- ie good audience recording of a fine show , not a match to any of the official releases and also there are boots which are more essential (ie skeletons of songs, or stations of a lonesome trip).
I do not know why Tides got a different treatment compared to other bootlegs - ie why is it sometimes listed as an official release. I think it might be because the rights of the recording are somehow owned by the "legit" company that put it out, or some other legal loophole.
Im sure someone here (Bucka? Hint hint ) has more info about this.
I heard last week the Hammill/Lucas album
OK, but nothing to write home about, IMHO
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
Ha! the answer comes from Sofa sound, from the man himself:
"Some of you may aready have come across a CD of my performance at the Lanzarote festival some years back, called "Tides" , which occupied a curious position between being bootleg and official. That is to say it was on a normal label but without the slightest approval coming from my direction. I've therefore had to spike it. At one point it seemed likely that we would sell it through Sofa Sound, but this proved altogether too difficult. Just to show you how much care was taken over the production of this CD, 4 out of 8 track listings were wrong, including "Still Life" going under the "Untitled" moniker! I do now have the masters, though, so there's some possibility of an official release at some time in the future."
And in another instance, when talking about live albums:
"Perhaps it was the appearance a little while ago of the neo-bootleg of the Lanzarote show, "Tides" which eventually focussed my mind on the matter. (I say neo-bootleg, incidentally, because while it was - temporarily, at my insistence - released on a bona fide label it had been presented to the label by somebody who had come across the tapes and thought that I would be delighted for it to be put out without receiving any royalties myself.) In my own view the performances on this artifact were convincing but the recording itself seemed to come from Mars.
"
I have the first album all the way up to "The Love Songs." I stopped there, because the rest are generally not as good (IMHO). I only kept "Loops And Reels" of the later albums.
So, for me:
- Fool's Mate
- Chameleon In The Shadow Of The Night
- The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage
- In Camera
- Nadir's Big Chance
- Over
- The Future Now
- PH7
- A Black Box
- Sitting Targets
- The Love Songs
- Loops And Reels
Ordered Spur Of The Moment from an E-bay seller. Mint condition but it ended up costing me 30 bucks with the lousy Canadian dollar right now. Oh well, cross another off the 'need' list! That leaves:
Tides
Offensitchtlich Goldfisch
The Fall Of The House Of Usher (second version 1999)
"The Polaroid" 45 single
... I'm getting to the bottom of the barrel, as it were. None of these are particularly necessary, other than to say I have the 'complete' collection. I'll get them eventually.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
I have the 2007 "And close as this" remaster, does anyone know why it was pulled? I read there was a problem, but don't know what it was?
I was going to stop my Hammill collection around the "Out of Water" album, but think I might go forward...?
You need this, because it's the only live DVD of a PH solo concert available ánd because is was the only tour he did the Usher medley. That medley is great!
And yes, you need the PNO GTR VOX BOX. And may I add one boot to this list? Skeletons Of Songs, with solo live recordings from 1978.
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