IN A FOREIGN TOWN

For those of us who make Midi-music, this album was an early inspiration and example of composing and arranging expressively with samplers & sequencers, combined with live guitars. It has some wonderful song- writing, including biting political satire that's more than relevant today (Hemlock, Vote for Brand X) and lovely ballads (Time to Burn). I disagree with those who characterize the sound as cold and sterile, he was one of the first to really dive into the possibilities of composing and arranging via MIDI and samplers. Many artist's efforts of this period carry the drawbacks of being the first to go this route, even Zappa's earlier Synclavier efforts, and some of Gabriel's Lind drum & sequencer stuff. The only real drawback is the the overuse of big, loud snare drum samples, a typical flaw of the Midi music of the late 80's (see Kate Bush), but NEW WAVE it ain't! As Mozart says to Harry in Hesse's "Steppenwolf" (about Wagner's over-orchestration) "it was a fault of the times". But the song-writing and singing is first class, and that's what pH has always been about.