Which 5 Peter Hammill albums are 'essential'

I have this way of looking at it:

I find that the (classic) VdGG studio albums and the first 6 Hammill solo albums are one body of work, preferably heard in order,  which would then be:

Aerosol Grey Machine
The Least we can Do is Wave to Each Other
H to He Who Am the Only One
Fool’s Mate
Pawn Hearts
Over
Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night
The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage
In Camera
Nadir’s Big Chance
Godbluff
Still Life
World Record
The Quiet Zone - The Pleasure Dome

So for me personally the first actual PH solo album is The Future Now.

I can't vote on this because each one of those PH albums above is essencial.

And although I'm a Graaf and Hammill fan, I don't think any of the PH albums after and including the Future Now are really essential. I always found them to be a weak echo of the VdGG that went before and never got anywhere near what they achieved as a unit. Perhaps not the general point of PH's output, but it's what I was looking for.


Edited by npjnpj - January 17 2012 at 05:48

Woops, the order was screwed up, sorry.

I agree with your assessment of the brilliant run of albums, but at the same time I still don't find them essential. The problem here might be that we differ on the word 'essential'  (to what or whom), lacking a general definition of the term.

If my CD collection got destroyed or stolen, I'd replace the albums from my list immediately, but I don't think I'd bother replacing the other PH albums, at least not for quite a while.

I think that what bothers me most about them is that I have to be in the right mood to be able to listen to them, whereas I can always play and enjoy a VdGG album. Most of his later output I see as being too whiney, and even the run of good late 70s and early 80s output suffers from bad production and (worse) inept instrumentation and playing. Not all of it, but a lot.

Whiney is OK in small doses, but not over several albums and over several years, even if it does go under the guise of deep philosophical thought (This applies mainly to his guitar only or keyboard only albums). Privately the guy is supposed to be quite cheerful, but then again I suppose he'd have to be or he'd have committed suicide a long time ago.

VdGG material can be quite dismal at times, indeed a lot of times and herein lies a lot of its appeal, but it also all contains an abundance of contrast which his solo output would largely lack. Additionally, his decision to release a lot of albums without any  rhythm section at all is a big mistake in my eyes.

I admire him for sticking to his guns for such a long time though, but the decision to reform VdGG was the best thing he could possibly do, for himself and for us.


Edited by npjnpj - January 17 2012 at 07:53

npjnpj wrote: Woops, the order was screwed up, sorry. I agree with your assessment of the brilliant run of albums, but at the same time I still don't find them essential. The problem here might be that we differ on the word 'essential'  (to what or whom), lacking a general definition of the term. If my CD collection got destroyed or stolen, I'd replace the albums from my list immediately, but I don't think I'd bother replacing the other PH albums, at least not for quite a while. I think that what bothers me most about them is that I have to be in the right mood to be able to listen to them, whereas I can always play and enjoy a VdGG album. Most of his later output I see as being too whiney, and even the run of good late 70s and early 80s output suffers from bad production and (worse) inept instrumentation and playing. Not all of it, but a lot. Whiney is OK in small doses, but not over several albums and over several years, even if it does go under the guise of deep philosophical thought (This applies mainly to his guitar only or keyboard only albums). Privately the guy is supposed to be quite cheerful, but then again I suppose he'd have to be or he'd have committed suicide a long time ago. VdGG material can be quite dismal at times, indeed a lot of times and herein lies a lot of its appeal, but it also all contains an abundance of contrast which his solo output would largely lack. Additionally, his decision to release a lot of albums without any  rhythm section at all is a big mistake in my eyes. I admire him for sticking to his guns for such a long time though, but the decision to reform VdGG was the best thing he could possibly do, for himself and for us.

bucka001 wrote: friso wrote: I do agree that the musicianship on a lot of Peter Hammill's albums is lacking a professional attitude. The rhythms are often unstable, the guitars by Hammill himself often sound a bit out of pitch and the production of some albums isn't always too pleasant. It would have been nice if Peter Hammill would have had a network of professional musicians to help him record his songs. Still the pure energy and 'realness' of Hammill his style keeps impressing me (over time).   Again, I hear you and he probably would have been more 'successful' if there was better musicianship on some of those albums. But, he did put together the K Group (w/great musicianship) and I don't think those albums were any more successful (sales-wise) than any previous efforts. Of course, with Hammill, I'm sure none of us base our love/disappointment of his work on sales!

Yeah we tend to look at artistic success. Fully agreed upon.

A little late but......

Chameleon
In camera
Silent corner
Room temperature (he does some amazingly passionate live versions here)

The 5th one is difficult but I have to go with 'This'.

The five from Chameleon to Over all must be heard.

moshkito wrote: Out of Water has one of my favorite pieces by Peter ... "A Way Out". It's so simple ... that no one gets it! What a concept, hey?

In camera (by some distance)

Come on, I am dark green with envy. Flight is one of his best. However, I would also be flying on a real wing if I, say, saw the VdGG of Vital Live (naturally with Jackson!) play Flight on a stage. I think this is the strength and calibre of the best PH / VdGG big, complex prog pieces (like eg. Still Life).

Over