OUT OF WATER

In '97 I got the 'PH fever': for the first time I studied any artist's discography thoroughly in the Internet (and printed lyrics), and I started to get his albums. My expectations on Out Of Water were high as it was described having "long, calm, ethearal tracks" or something like that. But no sooner than in '01 I finally bought it.

Two first songs - mediocre pop - were nearly a shock to my expectations. 3rd, 'No Moon in the Water', was an ethearal and somewhat meditative track but boring. With 'Our Oyster' and 'Something About Ysabel's Dance' it calmed down further... hmmm, not bad. Then another crappy faster pop song, and then 'On The Surface' which dragged me deeper into Hammill's gloomy inner world, but very differently than VDGG does. The machine-like cold instrumentation felt disturbing to go on over 8 minutes. All in all I was very baffled about the plastic sound and very uneven songs.

But the highlights I grew to like more and more, including Oyster and Ysabel; in the latter Stuart Gordon's violin is nearly a solo instrument. And the disturbance of 'On the Surface' is exactly the point (though it's not for casual listening). 'A Way Out' is a stunning passionate song with spellbinding lyrics. One of his best ever. These things are enough for 4 stars despite some songs I usually skip.