OFFENSICHTLICH GOLDFISCH

Peter Hammill's music, in German? Is it so surprising, from an artist that's so complete, in many people's view? Not at all, the album's quite the enjoyable and refined type you should treat yourself with, even if also catchy beyond its standard.

Made in simple colors, almost like "ein deutsches album" with nothing more to it (and here Peter Gabriel also got us used to something like this), it's also a characteristic, even full of fantasy spin in Hammill's extensive collection, lacking completely any tiresome or disappointing areas, but staying light and sugar-free. Of course, being more of a compilation doesn't make it totally valorous above many other original Hammill works, still the master's own involvement in this seems to be more than you could anticipate at first. Singing in German, many of the compiled compositions breeze out a switch of sensation and going through the German delicacy sounds almost like a bit of the atmosphere, the message, the poetry or inner music - as we'd previously, originally known it - undergo tiny changes. Reality check works in the end, cause, in essence, Hammill just transposes its art, without seriously different perspectives. The project, therefore, is kinda worthy for putting up for the fans a new way of tasting Hammill prog-pop-rock, the old fashioned way. In a time when the affection for good ol' progressive music was more than pale (retro prog not being an exception of quality), such a compilation isn't dry and uncaring, but certainly beats the standards, avoids confusing art with similaritudism, while on the other side it's equally nothing close to majestic, doing no other good and delivering no other happiness than those of casual, fun listening.

The approached language should be the one thing you'll specifically think about, whilst or after listening, impressed or not. German proves to be a suspenseful, emotional lyricism, quite as much as the original sounded, with all its messages and deep words, quite as much as the poetry the Englishmen wrote with imagination, feeling and clean gut. Hammill adapts the character, otherwise said, instead of letting the lyrics get adapted. Surely not by superficial views, Hammill resumes in Offesichtlich Goldfisch, from motives all the way to music, his own progressive language, giving to words the proper savor and articulation. The concept sounds awfully simple for what kind of a hard work needed to be in order for everything to turn out right, but there's no room for considering this "Hammill in German" edition a banal one, cause it's the other way around.

Now the instrumental music that backs up Hammill's singing is strictly familiar, it is probably here that Hammill didn't change a thing. The repertoire is not quite from the classic and classy 70s, but from Hammill's easy music of the following decade or from the 90s themselves. Retro or dramatic, un-dissimulated or basic-colored, it's all been tasted at its time, it's all been compiled the same way. Therefore, basically, the music that's to like makes you smile, whereas when the music is susceptible of being "just music", nothing from these pale reinterpretations save the bad touch of the original, English pin. This compilation of Hammill's solo music is certainly filled with contrasting songs though, being here aggressive, there full of accents and subtlety, here melodic and tastefully pop, there dreamy or coursively art-rock, sometimes abstract (as Hammill got us used to, even after VdGG and the wonderful 70s), otherwise rigid (as Hammill managed to suddenly disappoint us, in certain flavors of the 80s and 90s, right when it shouldn't have happened).

An interesting recommendation and I believe it's more than a compilation with Hammill singing in German. It has an extra vibe.