OVER

It doesn't get much more personal than this does it ? These are for the most part songs about Peter's breakup with his first wife Anna. It's like he allows us to peer into his soul and experience his anguish and pain. It's not exactly uplifting music but no one writes better lyrics than Hammill, and the way he expresses himself here is worthy of some kind of award. He's helped out by VDGG members Guy Evans and Nic Potter while we get violin from future VDGG member Graham Smith.These are words from Peter himself. "Here be pain; here be raw emotion; here be a degree of measured narrative...It had come to me (not for the first or the last time) that if I was to consider myself something of a songwriter then I could hardly avoid documenting my feelings as life gave me a bit of a turn on a bumpy stretch of road...So when I wrote these songs it was in a strange mixture of professional compunction and a magma flow of outpouring of feelings. I was not, though, so lost in misery and self-pity that I lost all touch with self-awareness. Equally, I was not exactly a bundle of laughs at the time,either."

"Crying Wolf' is interesting as we get this simple riff with Hammill's passionate vocals. Catchy stuff. Piano before 3 minutes followed by guitar. Organ before 5 minutes to end it. "Autumn" is the only song not about the breakup. It's still a sad song though about the time in life when your children leave home for good. Could he be thinking "What if ?" here. Violin and piano help out on this one. "Time Heals" is the longest track, close to 9 minutes. Reserved vocals and piano to start. Drums before 1 1/2 minutes as the tempo starts to pick up. It picks up even more after 3 minutes. Amazing tune.

"Alice (Letting Go)" features strummed guitar and solemn vocals. It does brighten a little though. It's still so sad. "This Side Of The Looking Glass" opens with fragile vocals only as violin joins in.This is a very orchestral-like track. "Betrayed" opens with strummed guitar and vocals.Violin joins in.The vocals are pretty passionate at times. "(On Tuesday's She Used To Do) Yoga" is a sad slow paced song with laid back guitar. "Lost And Found" is that glimmer of hope really. Drums and bass to open as almost spoken vocals join in. A change 2 1/2 minutes in with passionate vocals. I like the guitar before 4 minutes.

This one is certainly all about the lyrics and mood. Many have told Peter over the years how much his words from this album helped them get through a similar experience.