PH7

This album was my first venture in Peter Hammill's solo albums. I had ventured into van Der Graaf Generator by way of Robert Fripp's performance on "H To He", and eventually found this album is a used record store. After a somewhat maudlin opening piece, My Favorite, I found the album to be very enjoyable.

Careering is a biting, slightly dissonant song that has Hammill overdubbing on guitar, bass, drums, and odd background vocals. This song has a very Eno-esque sound. What new wave should have been. Porton Down follows, with an eerie synth track, and Hammill angrily singing about the dangers of toxic waste. Cool and political. I like that.

Then there's Mirror Image. A very proggy ballad, with some great, deep lyrics over some tasty baroque sounding keyboards. Handicap And Equality is an okay ballad, but here Hammill gets a little too preachy, although I admire the sentiment. Not For Keith is a ballad that sounds very personal to Hammill.

The first side of the LP ends with Polaroid, an odd, jokey song, sung in a Cockney accent. The song, not listed in the album notes, is similar is spirit to some of those throwaway ELP songs that cause so much controversy. Maybe that's why I like it.

Side two begins with The Old School Tie, another song with biting lyrics aimed at future politicians being coddled in a college or prep school. It feels like a companion piece to Careering. And it's a great song. Time For A Change is one of those songs in a style that I usually don't like. A guitar/vocal ballad usually isn't my style. But Hammill puts so much into it that it just grows on me. Imperial Walls is so creepy, it's cool.

Mister X (Gets Tense) may be the closest hammill gets on this album to tradition prog, and it's just fantastic - and creepy. Faculty X springs from the end of this tune, with a slightly jazzier riff, but is no less exciting.

You know what? It's still my favorite. 4.5 stars, rounded up.

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