CHAMELEON IN THE SHADOW OF THE NIGHT

Peter Hammill's second solo album represents one of the absolute masterpieces in the history of author rock for three factors: the songwriting, which features existentialist texts of a complexity and depth that only very few can afford; the musical score, both in terms of writing and arrangements; the performance of the musicians, in particular the superlative vocal performance of Hammill.

The incipit, "German Overalls", seven minutes, is slow, prudent, guitar and vocals. Intimate. But even when he is romantic, Hammill breeds embers if not magma ready to explode and in fact the song passes from serenity to neurosis to anguish. The vocal performance is superb and leads the piece to high peaks of pathos, the musical arrangement is perfect and refined in its sobriety. The song proceeds always with the same melodic line but enriched by the harmonic variations of the singing; there is mostly voice and guitar arrangement but with a hieratic solo of existential prog organ (thank you, Hugh Banton!) in the middle. This music is prog folk written by an existential philosopher. Masterpiece. Rating 8.5/9.

"Slender Threads", five minutes, is the second fok song, acoustic guitar and vocals, in the wake of the first, but more narrated; there are more melodic variations but overall it's calmer than the previous one, less original, more conventional. Rating 7,5.

After two acoustic folk songs, comes "Rock and Rôle", almost six and a half minutes of rock music, with drums (Guy Evans), bass (Nic Potter) and electric guitars in the foreground. Good rhythm, great arrangement thank to the sax played by Jackson, powerful song. It fades away very slowly, maybe the final tail is too long. Rating 8+.

Fourth song: "In the End"; seven and a half minutes made of piano and voice. Beginning muted, brooding, then, after one minute of shy piano music, arrives Hammill's reflective voice. At the second minute the voice become dramatic, and then after 5 minutes there is a pause. After that, starts the grand finale, final rush, voice that comes magnificent, impressive, produces a great pathos, a wonderful climax. Then, final tail fade. Rating 9. Masterpiece.

End of A Side.

Second side opens with "What's It Worth", a folk song that lasts four minutes. Acoustic guitar, wonderful flute (thank you, Dave Jackson!), voice and little else. Relaxed, blissful, pastoral piece. Rating 7,5.

"Easy to Slip Away", almost five and a half minutes, is another wonderful piano ballad. It reaches the climax thanks to Hammill's voice performance towards two minutes, after a beautiful progression, when Hammill sings: "Susie!" Then there is an instrumental piece almost dissonant, very proggy; after about four minutes resumes the voice. Final very dramatic: "It's so easy to slip away." Rating 8.5.

"Dropping the Torch", four minutes, is a semiacoustic song very dragged, slow and melancholy; it's the weaker piece of the album, rating 7,

Then starts with the piano "(In the) Black Room/Tower", eleven minutes, a piece typically Van Der Graaffy, certainly the progger song of the Lp, with the whole group that repeats paranoid and obsessive phrases, and changes of rhythm that recall "Pawn Hearts". In any way, the instrumental variations rest on a clear melodic line, evident even in the continuous variations of tone executed by voice and rhythm section and sax. Towards the middle the piece becomes paroxysmal, repeating the same rhythmic phrase until it fades. There is a dramatic theatrical pause, piano and voice, then screams accompanied by dissonances on the sax, finally a threatening rhythmic progression that leads to a pause (perhaps not necessary) before returning to the original melodic theme, repeated with enthusiasm until the grand finale. Historical piece. Rating 8,5/9

This record is the album of a talented folksinger-songwriter (songs 1, 2, 5, 7); it's the album of one of the most gifted vocalist of prog rock, author of wonderful piano music (songs 4, 6); it's the album of great composer and arranger of prog rock music (songs 3 and 8, but even song 1).

Very inspired album. Absolute masterpiece of progressive rock.

Medium quality of the songs 8,16. Rating 9,5. Five stars.