ROOM TEMPERATURE LIVE

This wonderful live album serves both as a souvenir for Hammill fans and as an introduction for his solo work. Recorded along several concerts in North America during his 1990 tour, with a backing band of only two musicians (longtime bassist Nic Potter and violinist Stuart Gordon), "Room Temperature Live" offers a complete concert (well, pieces of different concerts gathered together to duplicate a typical songlist of the tour), in more than 140 minutes of music. And great music is offered here: almost all songs came from various solo albuns, with only "The Wave" and "Cat's Eye/Yellow Fever (Running)" (both from "The Quiet Zone, The Pleasure Dome") representing his work with Van Der Graaf Generator. Hammill sings with passion (sometimes he sounds a bit desperated), and offers a good job playing acoustic guitar and piano; Nic Potter provides rhythm and pulsation to the songs (and sometimes, by using some distortion, he pushes his bass to the front); and Stuart Gordon, often featured as a soloist, makes a significant contribution to the album's sound. IMHO, the highlights are: "Cat's Eye...", "If I Could", "Hemlock" and "After the Show". The only reason I didn't gave this album five star is: sometimes the sparse instrumentation makes it a bit tiring. Try to listen CD one, go to other CD, and then listen CD two; this will make listening to "Room Temperature Live" more easy.