THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER

This concept album is based upon the tale by E. Allan Poe, a jewel of theatrical darkprog. In fact this re-recording and re-remix concerning the famous theatrical dark project of HAMMILL, which has been the main reference for a lot of dark prog bands, including DEVIL"S DOLL, is the best effort by this versatile UK artist in the recent times, talking about his music adaptations. This excellent plot by E. Allan Poe, featuring also Lene Lovich as Madeline Usher, is developed like a theatrics' act and well constructed too!! This great vocalist has a strong expression during his vocal excursions, as long as the plot lay-out is completed by the original tale's development of the characters. It's difficult to compare this work to those ones of V.D.G.G., but in my opinion this is the peek of his career and also a true HAMMILL trademark !! It is very comfortable for him, by standing here as a one man band, regarding of his total personal control over the construction of the opera... moreover by demonstrating also his maturity in this fresh remake! I hope that such re-make and the re-recording of the whole opera as well, keep on maintaining the original mood as a secure reference for the next theatrical music acts.

Highly recommended, not for the fans of V.D.G.G. only !!

Since I haven't read the original Poe story, I have some difficulties to enter into this storyboard.

For sure, it is an album apart in Hammill's long and productive career. Unfortunately, I am not touched by the grace while listening to this album. About eighty minutes of complexity, weirdness and little, very little great moments.

I was thrilled with Lene Lovitch's participation. She released two great albums in the late seventies and I was quite of fan of this Lady. But her role as "Madeleine" is only three songs long, so don't expect too much from her parts. And to complete, I'm not impressed by most of the guest vocalists invited here.

Of course, the same magic as usual does work when the man (Usher/Hammill) enters the scene. Poignant, emotional, tortured. Almost vomiting his words as if his life depended on his performance. I can only be moved by a track as "the Sleeper"; even if the pomposity of the church organ is maybe a bit too much.

But this work as a whole is somewhat too hermetic ("Leave This House") and would hardly please the traditional Hammill fan. Even less traditional ones as I am.

"Dreaming" is the very much expected entrance of Lene, but even if she's brilliant in her vocal part, the backing instrumentals are just too loose and chaotic. This ain't a lucky number.

There is nothing I can do about it, but I am only touched by "Usher", and preferably when he sings on his own. This role is of course held by Peter (only for three songs out of the many from this album). Which is a bit short to my taste.

Most of the time, I have the impression to listen to a West End musical. Sound without vision in this case. Not a great experience I have to say. To be fairly honest, I believe that this album can only please an extremely limited amount of people.

I'm not saying that it is an elitist attempt but even if I have praised the man in lots of his albums (this one being at the very middle of his work so far - 2008), this one just doesn't work for me.

No surprise that the last appearance of "Madeleine" is one of the best song of the whole (It's Over Now) . But I'm probably biased by this great Lady. I miss her so much. Just two great albums and then the silence. Why did you do this to me, Lene?

This is a difficult Hammill album (as if there were "easy" ones). One has to hold on tight throughout these long seventy minutes. There are some passionate moments ("An Influence"), but too scarce to make this one a good album, IMHHO.

Two stars. This is how far I can go for "The Fall Of The House Of Usher": the last act (sixteen minutes) being particularly weak.

I hate musicals. I think you need to keep that predisposition in mind for understanding my estimation here of Hammill's rock opera: The Fall of the House of Usher. Oh, and I hate rock opera. You better take note of that partiality as well.

Hammill had been working on this work for around 20 years. So, despite me loathing musicals, I was still expecting something. After all this was still Hammill right? Unfortunately, I couldn't believe my ears when I heard it.

After 20 years of hard work, Hammill couldn't have chosen a worse moment to actually record and release this. First of all, around 1991 he was close to hitting rock bottom of the continuing creative downfall that had set in with the ill-conceived ballad-collection The Love Songs. Secondly, at that time he was still fumbling around with premature midi-equipment and was releasing one exercise in plastic rock after the other. So instead of releasing this as a proper band effort or just as a low-fi play for piano and voice, he employed his entire midi-orchestra again, complete with toy-box drum computer and amateurish sounding violins and keyboards.

If that wasn't bad enough yet, the actual music is poor as well, entirely made up of all musical clichés from the Handbook For Derivative Musical Writing. (By the way, in case anyone's interested, I will be glad to dispose of my copy of that very handbook for a buck, shipment excluded.). Of course Hammill uses his harsh voice on occasion, but it is rather preposterous then it is effective here. In fact, this whole undertaking has only one track of note, Architecture, where Hammill sets off for an impressive dialog between his different vocal persona. Similar to Medieval on the album The Future Now, but nearly not as good as that song was. Oh, and I hate rock opera and after hearing this album again, I fully remember why.

No, all musical-bashing aside, I really can't see this as an accomplished piece of work. It's way below many other weak albums that Hammill released in the 90's and with hardly 3 minutes of music that I can stomach, this will be just 1 red dwarf.

Edgar Allan Poe reimagined...

I must admit, although I am a fan of both Edgar Allan Poe and Peter Hammill, this release left me rather cold. It simply is overdone and does not feature enough melodic memorable tracks to warrant repeated listens. However, in saying that, it is a one of a kind project, and deserves at least one listen, and it is quite an absorbing experience initially. Hammill is more bombastic and vindictive than ever with his narrative storytelling vocal style. He incorporates many guest artists to retell this macabre infamous tale of a house that possesses its occupants to the point of utter madness. Hammill plays "Roderick Usher" and "The House" as well as all instruments, which is a feat in itself, and he is joined by Sarah-Jane Morris as the "The Chorus", Andy Bell as "Montresor", Lene Lovich as "Madeleine Usher", and Herbert Grönemeyer as "The Herbalist".

Indeed, the Poe story emerges in snippets of dialogue or the author's famous lines, though these are repeated ad nauseam. At first the album is a curio that grabs my attention, but the idea soon wears thin and then becomes stale. This is very unfortunate as I expected something special given the content and the artists involved. The Alan Parson's Project did it better on "Tales of Mystery and Imagination"; the reason it worked was simply great compositions, musicianship and attention to detail encompassing many of the tales, rather than labouring on the one solitary tale. Poe's tales are short little shockers and they are meant to be enjoyed in one sitting like a one act play.

There are some stunning pieces of classical music and it is all rather dark in passages. This is apt to build a threatening atmosphere of foreboding and gloom. It is perhaps an experimental approach that failed in many respects as Hammill never returned to this type of self-indulgent album making (though he did release a remaster with added features).

It is impossible to recall any particular track as it merges together as a whole. Though I firmly believe the first track and the last part of the album are gripping and definitely deserve attention. Act IV with Lene Lovich is one of my favourite segments; I always loved her voice, and the music dominated by cathedral organ, is very dynamic and ethereal. Act VI is very interesting as it incorporates my favourite Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart, reimagined by Hammill as 'Beating of the Heart', and then the climax is the girl rising from her grave to exact revenge and the house crumbles into the Tarn.

The reason I believe the album should be listened to, despite its flaws, is to experience the dramatis personae of the visionary, who had the sheer audacity of releasing it in the first place. The drawcard is obviously Hammill's inimitable vocals, and he revels in the dark power of the text. He is better off with Van der Graaf Generator when his musical genius is at the height of its powers, but nevertheless his solo material is always an intriguing project. Every Hammill solo album rings differently, and it doesn't get much more different than this! This is one to savour as a curio and certainly will generate a topic of conversation.