THE SILENT CORNER AND THE EMPTY STAGE

Peter Hammill

Eclectic Prog

4.31 | 969 ratings

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Dark Nazgul

Sometimes it's very scared. Sometimes it's very sad. Sometimes is something else. It's Prog!

I think "The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage" is the best album of PH. The previous work ("Fool's Mate" and "Chameleon In The Shadow Of The Night") are full of songs that are very intimate and very personal. Compared to the first two records, "Silent Corner" is much more closer to the style of VDGG.

Certaily, it is very difficult to remain indifferent to an album like this. Without doubt those who do not know Hammill might find some parts of this album almost insufferable: if you are not prepared for the brilliant and unconventional way of making music of PH, you might find difficult to digest some songs (Modern for example is a piece incredibly experimental, very rough and full of dissonance). However there are more melodic moments like Wilhelmina and Forsaken Gardens (this latter is a song that could be part of any album of VDGG). More modest and bland Rubicon, which reveals a fleeting return to the simplicity of "Fool's Mate".

But now the masterpieces: Red Shift, manages to be incredibly harmonious in its disordered succession of echoes and sound effects. Randy California plays something here. The Lie dramatic and intense, is the apex of the Gothic style of Hammill. A Louse Is Not A Home is probably the best song of the album: after starting apparently sad and resigned, the song develops in an extraordinary way with continuous changes of time signatures and different atmospheres: yes, it's Prog! The decisive contribution of the other members of VDGG (and in particular David Jackson at sax) is very evident here.

In conclusion, a masterpiece of Prog. Five stars and a final rating of 9/10.

Best song: A Louse Is Not A Home

Dark Nazgul | 5/5 | 2011-12-10

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